im a little confused on the distributor part of the timing sequence. i got my base timing at 14, and by 3000rpm im about 38 degrees. i have no vac advance so its just mechanical. is that to much? its for motor in my sig. i have msd 6al and accel distributor cap. any help/enlightmnet is appreciated

 

without knowing what heads, cam, compression, etc, it's impossible to determine how much is "too" much, but generally turn it until it knocks, then back it off a couple degrees. I know that with the 461 fuelie heads on my 350, even with my fairly mild cam and flat top pistons I couldn't get any spark knock no matter how far I pushed it. I think I ran it at 40 degrees of total timing. With my new Vortec heads, I expect to use considerably less timing, probably 33-34 degrees total. Heads, and your dynamic compression both play a huge roll in how much timing you can run, plus how much timing you'll actually need.

 

i hve 210 cc 2.02/1.60 heads aluminum
edelbrock performer cam
air gap intake
670 street avenger carb
and believe 9.8-10.1 compression
i have it at 14 and my car runs really hott, so im not sure if i should bump it down or not. i had it at 20 advanced and never had a knock but starting and what not was a joke

 

The engine knows what it wants. It pays no attention whatsoever to whatever #s you think you are getting according to however you are getting them.

"If it RUNS good, it IS good".

The corollary being, if it RUNS BETTER some other way, then the other way IS BETTER; and if it RUNS WORSE some other way, then that way IS WORSE.

This is not rocket science. People get all hung up on "you have to run exactly 8.63° or the matter will come into contact with the anti-matter and annihilate the known universe in a giant black hole". They think they know better what your engine wants, than your engine does. What arrogant pompous ignorant blowhards. Ignore them and GO WITH WHAT WORKS BEST.

Your #s sounds about right, as far as they go; but then need about 12 - 15° of vac adv on top of that.

Get the vac adv working. You NEED it. The car will run cooler, have better throttle response at hwy speeds, and will get several more mpg on the hwy.

 

ok i read and was told that under wot there is no vaccum for the vaccum advance. maybe there wrong, maybe not. now knowing that the dist had vac advance before how to i hook up the canister? should i buy an adjustable or put the old unit back on?

 

Correct; no vac at WOT.

Vac adv is for CRUISE conditions.

Piece o vacuum hose

Yes.

If you actually just hacked it off for whyever, then putting it back would be a great start. If it's not appropriate then maybe you should take the next step.

 

If it was an efi car with programmable timing i would see 22-25 deg idle depending on cam and rpm. Not sure why carb guys run so little timing at idle but i understand some distributors may be difficult to dial in? If it was possible i would consider trying base around 20-25 deg and full advance of 34 for starters. A vacuum advance i think would offer some advantages. Sounds like it had decent comp with mild cam so it may not need or want the typical sbc 36-38 deg values. Like others said, run what engine wants. You have to experiment

 

it wasnt hacked of it was takenof properly. im prob going to purchase the crane cam one since it comes with everything plus the springs.