Hey all,
What's the best way to do this? I'm ready to fire up my new ZZ4-cammed 355 TPI motor for the first time, and I'm sure I'm gonna have to set the base timing. Should I -

A. Start the car, run it as is, shut it down, then re-start and adjust the timing?

B. Start the car with the brown (EST) wire disconnected, set the timing right away, then shut it down and plug the wire back in?

C. Something else that I don't know about?

Help, I wanna get her running tomorrow!

 

TPI makes no difference.

I do it by setting the crank a few degrees advanced from the point I want the engine to fire. So if I want 12° of advance let's say, I might put the crank at 15° BTDC. Then watch the little "starwheel" teeth in the distributor, and while holding UP on the rotor as hard as I can and rotating the shaft as far CCW as I can, rotate the dist body until the teeth exactly line up.

It comes out usually within just a couple of degrees.

Then set it to where your chip programming has it designed to go, once it's running.

FINISH assembling the motor before you start it. That is, don't get all in a rush just to hear it run; don't take shortcuts or half-a$$ a bunch of stuff just to get to that point. Take your time, be thorough, finsih everything as much as possible; all fluids in, all accessories bolted up, wiring hooked up, vacuum lines run, bolts tight, TV cable adjusted, exhaust hooked up, electric fan installed and operating, etc. etc. etc. etc.; the goal being, you should be able to SHUT THE HOOD, reach in the window and prime it with the key a couple of times, and start it up with the VERY FIRST CRANK; then if you want, re-open the hood, check the timing, top off the fluids if necessary, close it back, and go straight to the car wash to clean off your fingerprints and spilled fluids as your test drive. No open exhaust so you can't hear anything if there's a problem, no running batteries down for days trying to figure out what you haven't quite half-a$$ed enough for it to run, or any of that.

 

Thanks sofaking. This is the first motor I've assembled myself (from shortblock to install) and it's nerve-wracking! I'm 99% sure everything is right on, but I won't know for sure until I hear her turn over. I've already primed the fuel system, and gotten 6 spark plug wires on. I just ran out of daylight yesterday to finish up. Today I'll run the wires for 6 and 8, check the antifreeze level, install the dipstick tube, and turn the key. I'll keep ya posted!

 

Good luck!!!

Don't forget: don't outsmart yourself, beat yourself, or get ahead of yourself; and everything will be OK.