i set my timing at 6 deg @ 500...

i have a 305 lg4 with a holly 600 and street dominator intake. i will also be putting exhaust on soon(2055s and flowmaster)

question is, is this where i should have set it? this was my first time doing it so all tips are appreciated.

 

anyone?

 

i have a 91 305 thats where mine is set at.if it runs fine leave it there.where at in n.c.? im in oxford.

 

Does the car run?

Then yes.

Is that where you should leave it?

Probably not.

Most likely, the car will run best (go fastest) with the "total" timing at 34-36 degrees. That number is the "static" timing (what you set by twiddling the distributor housing around) plus the "centrifugal", which is what the weights and springs inside the distributor create. This should be set with the vacuum advance hose disconnected.

The exact "static" setting that's best, will vary depending on how your distributor is built.

The "best" timing curve for a typical street-driven small block is usually somewhere in the range of 12-15 degrees "static", plus approx 20 degrees of "centrifugal", starting at about 1200 RPM and all in by about 2800 RPM.

 

you lost me bro......i just have a regular timing light. what the best way to get it close before i have it dynoed and adjusted professionally? sorry if i sound like an idiot

 

Forget the light then. It's altogether useless to you. Nobody can give you some "magic number" that's "right" for your engine's static timing.

People with computer-controlled systems have to set their timing to a SPECIFIC static setting, because the computer assumes that that's where it is, and it makes all adjustments from there. The actual ignition timing that it supplies under any given conditions might vary by as much as 45 degrees from that "static" setting. If it starts out in the wrong place, then it will ALWAYS be wrong; because the computer has no way of knowing that it's wrong and compensating, except for the knock sensor.

I'm assuming of course that you have a correct distributor on your car; NOT the stock one. Your stock distributor has neither a centrifugal advance mechanism (springs & weights), or a vacuum system. Your engine has no hope of running right with it. If you don't already have one, you need a complete replacement one, with those provisions.

Once you get all that ironed out, get the engine fully hot, and test-drive it in high gear at low speed. Advance it until it just starts to ping under those conditions, then back it off a little bit, until it quits pinging.

 

i do have the stock distributor on there

 

you have the stock, computer controlled distributor on, with a holley, non-cc carb?
There's a problem right there. Probably runs like a dead dog eh? Check your distributor, make sure it does NOT have a vacuum advance can. If so, then yea, stock dist, get rid of it.

You'll need an old style (not too old!), HEI dist. You can get one from summit, or your favorite auto parts store, for not too bad a price. I got one from the auto wreckers, off an '84 cutlass I think, with an LG4. I shimmed the end play, total price was $24 I think.

 

If it runs, leave it alone. Let the mechanic at the dyno do it right for you.