okay, on a mild 350 (upgraded cam, headers, and some little stuff) with a stock converter and 3.42 gears, what kind of timing should i be running? just ballpark for initial and advanced, as well as when the advance should begin and when it should be full in. and/or, a better question, how do i tune my timing for max performance without knowing the numbers? i've got a timing light and a vacuum gauge, is anything else needed? broad questions, but i'm distributor-dumb.o No:
Does your timing light have an advance dial on it. If I remember correctly you are running HEI. I would start at 12-15 initial and about 32-34 total. I like to have all my timing in by 2200. Try using the medium weights or 1 light and 1 heavy weight. that should get you close. BTW I notice you are using a stock convertor, I am selling a convertor that would be perfect for you. If you are running a TH-350 that is. It is in the for sale section. Good luck.
200r4, sorry. it's not hei per se. the dreaded pertronix. no advance dial, it's a plain-jane inductive light. i'll follow your suggestions, thanks.
David, our engines are nearly identical. If you run 14 intial and put in the medium springs you will have about 34 total all in by 2200. This is how I have mine set up. Do yourself a favor and get a light with advance. Cost like $60 from Sears. Money well spent I can't believe I screwed with a regular light for so long. You should look into changing that convertor you will gain a good bit of low end performance for the money spent.
David, 32* total is a good place to start. If you have a plain timing light, you can still set your total advance. Looking at the harmonic balancer from the front of the engine, make a second mark exactly 1 3/4" clockwise around the balancer. This corresponds to 30* of timing. With the vacuum advance disconnected, slowly rev the motor until you see your new mark stop moving upwards. Note the RPM the mark stopped moving up. This is the RPM that your total timing is in at. Now rev the motor again to that RPM with the distributor loose enough to turn. Adjust the distributor until your new mark lines up with the 2 on the timing tab. You now have 32* at that RPM. Shut the motor off, and if you have no problems starting it, your initial timing is good. Generally, get all your timing in as soon as your combo will allow, with no pinging or starting problems. 2200-2500 RPM is good. You can advance it from there and see if the motor likes it or not. Changing springs/weights will alter how quick or slow your timing is in. Hope that helps.
BTW, I have a Sears 2194 timing light and the top of the line Snap-on Digital. The Sears light is within 1*of the Snap-on.
grrrrr... with 12* initial, and my freshly rebuilt carb, it STILL is a dog. it won't even spin the tires when brough to WOT from a stop....it would do it all day long when stock. it doesn't feel like a real stumble or bog, it simply just takes off fast enough to raise the front end a little, but not burn up the tires into 2nd like it should.
David, It might have 12* initial, and no mechanical advance at all. You need to check it with the method I outlined above. If the weight pins are galled or it needs to be lubed and cleaned, it is possible for the mechanical advance to not be working at all. If you had 32* in at 2500 RPM, your car would be going sideways all else being normal.
nope gotta pick up a kit. pep boys quit carrying mr gasket stuff, apparently, i was gonna get one of theirs since it's all that's sold locally. to add injury to insult, my car (not the skylark, other car) blew the radiator hose off on the way back. i'll check the advanced timing tommorow and put a kit on order from summit.
Pep Boys stopped carrying the Mr. Gasket stuff to cary all the ricer crap. Nothin beats a nice 3' wing , 5" monster tach with a shift lite, and a nice fart can.
David, Pick up the Crane adjustable vacuum advance. It comes with 3 sets of awesome springs. You can get your timing in as early as 1600 or as late as 3200, and everything in between. The Mr. Gasket stuff is next to useless, the springs are much heavier, and don't really allow a performance curve. Just my .02
either the new craftsmen light i got is a piece of crap, or something is seriously wrong. i can't find the timing mark, so i start turning the dial...it gets to 0, and look at the back of the light....FORTY DEGREES initial. i turn the distributor until it reads about 15, and it's idling really low. so i turn the idle screw a couple times to bring back up to about 900 in park...check the timing again...it's back to 35 degrees! wtf? i fixed the timing again, and took it out with the low idle...hesitated like hell...not a lack of power, this was jus straight hesitation. i havn't bothered checking the advanced timing yet until i can figure out why it won't even idle right. should it even start with 40 degrees or timing?
okay, i'm GUESSING, the dial is in crank degrees, not distributor degrees...so 40 is actually 20? (or am i completely wrong?) i still cannot get the timing to hold still, though. bad vacuum advance?
The timing light reads * at the crank, which is what your looking for. Are you running manifold vacuum to your vacuum advance? You should be timing your engine with the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged. Are you sure you are hooked up to the #1 plug wire? The only other thing I can think of is reversed wires to the magnetic pickup. On the Stinger distibutors and the MSD distributors, if the polarity is reversed on the magnetic pickup, the timing will be overly advanced. Are you sure of your wiring of the pertronix pickup? Just throwing ideas out there trying to help.
i donno, the last owner installed it. i havn't touched it. i'll check. you're sure the dial on the light isn't reading 2x the perscribed degrees?, it runs good with 25-45 or so, bad with less. and the dial goes to 60... i ordered a crane advance kit btw. should be here wednesday (summit's free shipping takes 2 days to me...gotta love it). i'll fool with it some more tommorow...
David, do you have the ignitor LSC or the Ignitor 2? The light reads crank degrees as Larry said. Are you positve the dampner has not spun. I have heard of this happening. I was using the LSC but it cooked. I ran out and got the ignitor 2 before realizing I could have had a small body HEI for the same price. Your timing should be set with the trans in gear at about 650 RPM with the vac. advance plugged. Something goofy is going on, we just have to figure out what.
