Well after my tpi to carb swap everything seems good except the timing i dont know what its at i have a timing light and i dont kno what my tab goes up to so right now the timing is set at the very end of the tab not on any marks but the need of the metal tab itself. On the last mark on the left side what is that? Im trying to set it to 12. Right now at 5200+ it pings and rattles i thought i had it at 12 but i guess not.

 

there are tech articles here that will help allot with your timing.
These articles make it very easy to do this.
if you have your timing set all the way to the end of your tab, then you are way off 12.

 

The engine does not care what the "number" is. It does not carry around its timing light, and whup it out however often and see what "number" it reads, and decide accordingly how it's going to run.

Therefore, screw the number. Forget the tab. Ignore the mark. Put down the light. Instead, adjust it until the engine runs its best. The engine will tell you when it's happy.

Right now, it's pinging, right? That's how it tells you it's NOT happy. You have too much advance, NO MATTER WHAT THE "NUMBER" IS (or isn't). Back it off until it quits pinging.

 

are you running manifold, ported, or full advance?

 

I agree with sofa but.. if you want to understand what you are doing (and you should) figure out how to use your timming light and adjust it to 32-36 total. you will need to mark your balancer with tape. just because it pings does not tell us squat. it might be pinging do to your advance curve comming in to hard, wrong fuel type for compression ratio. dont just guess. understand what you are doing or have someone help you who does. that rattling can destroy things quickly. your timing curve is built into the distributor and you should visibly see it on your timing gun to understand how agressive it comes in. hence the recurve kits that people talk about.
that summit hei has about 20 degrees advance built into it. set it to 16 to get 36 total. 16 may or may not be to much for your setup.

unhook your vacuum advance for the testing and when everything is good hook it up and tune just that. 50 degrees total timing with the vacuum is good. 14 degrees vacuum advance.

 

i understand how to set timing i just wanted to know about the tab after some scrubing with sand paper i can read the tab now i had it set at 16 now i dropped it down to 12 and it runs fine.

 

yeah but now the thing to do is to try running 13 or 14 degrees

 

i say its at 13 now its in between the 12 mark and the 14 mark but more close to 12. also for you question earlier i run ported vacuum for the vacuum advance.

 

If your mark is mismatched, then any "number" you come up with until such time as you ACCURATELY find TDC and make a new mark yourself, is TOTALLY MEANINGLESS.

I don't think pinging at 5000 RPM is going to have too much to do with the curve coming in too fast. I could be wrong; but I'm just thinking here...

Back the timing off until it quits pinging, so you don't destroy your motor. It'll be closer to right than it is now, no matter what "number" you come up with. Listen to what your engine is telling you. Even if YOU think some random "number" like, say, 12 or 57.4 or -11.873, is PERFECT, if the engine is pinging, it doesn't agree. And in the end, the engine wins the argument. Right now, your engine is telling you you've got it advanced too far.

 

yes i understand that 12 is just a base i set up as a starting point i havent drove it yet since i keep it at my work tommarow during lunch ill drive it and see if it pings if not ill try 14 and if i does ill back it down.