SO I finally got the girlfriends 82 Camaro running after sitting in the garage for 4 years. Its a v8 305 4bbl with the E4ME Quadrajet carb, fully loaded with P/S, A/C, and all the bells and whistles offered in 1982. The VEIP sticker on the fan shroud says that the timing should be set to 6, but when I set it to 6 it has a slow idle and stalls out when I give it gas. So I adjusted it to between 8 and 9 and it idles better and actually revs up when I give it gas, but kinda pops a little at high rpms. Question is, is it ok to set the timing higher than factory recommends? Also, can I set it just a little bit higher, say to possibly 10 for improved acceleration? What could happen if I set it too high? I just replaced the cap, rotor, coil, ICM, wires, plugs, PCV valve, fuel filter, and air filter yesterday. Sorry for noob question, I'm not a trained mechanic. I basically got it running by reading this site and trying different things, and voila it runs.

did you disconnect the 4-wire plug from the distributor to set base timing?-disconnecting this plug will disable the computer controlled timing so that initial timing can be set correctly.

Hey 8t2, thanks for the response. I just went out and looked, and I don't have a 4-wire plug. I have a 3-wire plug (black, brown, and pink) that goes to C, B, and Grd. I'm guessing computer, battery, and ground ;P I have a 1-wire plug (pink) for Tach and another 1-wire plug (yellow) for Batt. It is a MGD HEI cap with the coil on top of the cap. Am I supposed to disconnect the 3-wire plug to set timing? I read a lot of posts saying to plug the vacuum advance port but I don't have one of those, and never read anything about disconnecting a plug to set timing.. maybe that is the issue. I will try that later today when I get home. Thanks.

You have a 4-wire connector. It comes from the base of the distributor and goes to the harness on the firewall. It can be hard to find, even when you know what you're looking for. It's all packed pretty tight back there.

Disconnect the plug when the engine isn't running. Start the engine (your SES light will come on, but don't worry about that). Set the timing to 6 degrees BTDC. Shut off the engine before you reconnect the 4-wire connector.

If you look at the timing after plugging it back in, you'll find it's up around 20 BTDC now. And the SES light should be off.

If you disconnect the 3-wire connector to the cap, the engine won't run.

What part of Colorado do you live in?

Hey five7kid, thanks for the reply. I found that 4-wire connector after moving a few wires and getting back there with my flashlight. I never noticed it before. It is actually idling pretty smooth and revving up ok right now with the timing I have set. But I will go out in the morning and check the timing with the plug unplugged. I am in Wellington, about 15 minutes from the Wyoming border, and about an hour and a half from Littleton. Now if I could only get this issue with the instrument cluster figured out I'd have this car on the road for the first time in 4 years.