can somebody tell me what my timing should be? i have a stock 305 with a 600 cfm edelbrock carb on it and its at 4 over center right now, and its runnin a bit weak. thanks alot

 

Have the engine running and your distributor hold down clamp losened up. Turn the distributor anti clockwise and listen to the engine- keep turning it as long as it keeps speeding up. Tighten your distributor and slow down your idle. Then make sure it drives as good as it idles. This is how I find the "best" timing for my car.

 

..."4 over center right now...".

Not sure what you mean by that. If "after top-dead center", that's not good, and will definately slow you down.

The "best" way to set timing is to set it to a known point (like 4 degrees "before" top dead center, otherwise known as 4 degrees advanced), see how it runs & drives; advance it 2 degrees more, see how it runs & drives; keep doing that until it runs worse or pings excessively, then back it down to the previous setting.

Any type of "set-by-feel" method is going to be imprecise and ill-advised. The only reasons to set it at other than "factory" setting are variations in tolerances, and possible damper ring slippage.

 

As far as a performance engine goes, I think this statement isnt totally true. I mean, even looking at the tips you gave him, arent you doing essentially the same thing? All my method does is save time. You advance it to the point that it runs best, and then you double check by driving it and listening for pinging. Of course you'd do this with a light and make sure your timing isnt completly out of wack. an example would be if it takes +30 degrees at idle just to keep running. Then you know something's wrong.