ok i hooked my car up to a friends gadget that reads engine rpm and timing, and it showed -8 timing at idle. the car was supposed to get a performance tune up when i had the cam installed. so we set it to about 9.5 to 10* at idle and 38* at around 2200. is this good? i guess that was the reason the car didnt run as strong as it does now.

 

Your numbers sound right on the money to me. In fact I would be tempted to keep advancing it until it rattles under load, then back it off a bit.

There's all kinds of torque to be made/lost with ignition timing and the advance curve.

 

plus, I alway check total advance at higher RPM's greater the 3000rpms. I do this to double check for any deflection of the advance wieghts. Some parts at super high rpms, say @ or greater than 6000rpms will deflect as much 2+ degrees of advance.

Ron