i installed a new distributor and now need to time this 305, 4bbl. i read that i have to disconnect the four-pin connecter at the the distributor then time it like a "normal" old car. is that true? it will run with this connector off?

 

Does it run?

If not, get it to where it does. Then:

Crank the dist one way or the other from wherever it happens to be. Doesn't too much matter which way; although, just being the way I am, I'd recommend trying cranking the dist body CCW first. Move it a good bit: about to where a plug wire boot on the cap moves approximately its own diameter. One of 3 things will happen:

Nothing
It'll run better
It'll run worse

"Better" is ENTIRELY up to you. IMO it might consist of some combination of any or all of: better throttle response, more power, lower 1320' ET, lower 60', quieter, cooler running, better (i.e. higher) gas mileage, tendency to knock/ping, hard starting esp when hot, and/or any other differences that may become apparent to YOU.

OK, so, in each of the 3 possible outcomes:

Nothing happened: put it back where it was, it's already as good as it can get, close the hood and leave it alone. (If I was the betting kind I'd bet this won't be the outcome)

Ran better: crank it the same amount more in the same direction, and test drive again.

Ran worse: crank it back to where it was, then about the same amount further, and test drive again.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Better/worse?
Better: crank it the same way some more and test drive.
Worse: crank it back to where it was plus a little more and test drive.

Repeat until any adjustment you make in either direction results in the opposite of "better" IN YOUR OPINION. Once you reach that point, it is PERFECT: no amount of "setting" the "timing" will EVER make the car run any BETTER.

Easy, no??

Efff a bunch of "mark", "light", "book", "spec", and all that. If for no other reason than, the fuel for which "spec" was designed, hasn't existed since the early 90s. But also because, there is less than a 5% chance that "mark" is ANYWHERE NEAR right, since it's on a piece that isn't really "connected to" or "part of" the engine, but rather, is on an external piece that's only loosely associated to the engine with a blob of spooge.

But there are other reasons too. Not least of which is, "spec" was intended to optimize emissions; CAFE compliance; emissions; one-size-fits-all w.r.t. altitude, temperature, humidity, etc; emissions; warranty; emissions; grandma complaints about "harsh shifting" and the like; emissions; emissions; and emissions. Note that NOWHERE on the list is, max power, most fun, crispest throttle response, best running, .... NOWHERE on the list.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, in addition to all those other things I mentioned, the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING to the factory engineers who wrote "spec" was, EMISSIONS.

This is a time-honored process known as "tuning". It's where, instead of looking up "spec" in "book" and applying it to conditions that differ from those for which "book" was created, we ASK THE ENGINE WHAT IT WANTS and we give it to it. Pure and simple. THE ENGINE will tell you in poistively unmistakable terms when you are giving what it wants, by RUNNING BETTER.

Allow me to paraphrase one of The Great Ones in an entirely unrelated field, yet his wisdom applies perfectly to this situation:

"if it RUNS good, it IS good".

Yes it REALLY IS that simple.

THEN AND ONLY THEN, once you have it set PERECT, disconnect the connector, measure the "timing" with "light" and "mark", write it down, and store it in your glovebox so that if/when somebody else comes along that thinks they know better than the engine does WHAT IT WANTS, you can put it back afterwards.

 

THANKS!

that's what i was going to do but thought i'd get a standard reference point. it's idling very high all the time so i'm guessing it's too advanced. which way retards? counter or clock?