Hey there,

Ive just had my 350 rebuilt, top to bottom, bored .30 over, new crank, lifters,rings,pistons, new Competition cam with .500/.510 lift, valve job, port/matched, the whole kit'n kaboodle.

I was at the garage when the timing was checked and set.

When he first checked the timing, it was at 12* degrees and idled really well, then, he set the timing back to 6* degrees, factory specs, which caused the motor to slow down, and he compensated by adjusting the minimum air screw.

I asked him why he didnt just leave it alone / maybe advance it a little more and he said that alot of timing is bad on a new motor.

Ive put 23 miles on the engine and I can already notice a HUGE loss in power and a very noticable hesitation from the start, heck, my car was faster before it was rebuilt.
I know that the motor has to be broken in still for the power to get here, but as it stands right now, my mom's camry feels like it could beat it right now. I still think the timing should be higher then 6* just because the mods done to it through the rebuild and the others mentioned in my earlier post.

So, is "Alot" of timing bad on a new motor or should I wait to break it in for 500 miles before I up the timing?

 

What is your cam specs? specifically duration at 050? "too much" timing is when your motor begins to detonate. Having your ignition timing too retarded may actually hurt your motor just as it would having it too far advanced. The motor would probably be running very rich and that could hurt the piston rings. Typically with a bigger-than-stock cam you'd want lots of initial timing 12-18* or so but keep the total timing around 32-36*. Every motor is different but this would put you in the right ballpark.

Also, there is no real point in "breaking in" your motor by taking it easy for the first XXX amount of miles... Drive it and tune it just like a not-so-new motor.