hi all ,
just wanted to ask about what a good base timing is for a not so stock
TPI car is ,after installing the mini ram i saw (like weeks after, there is a step for setting timing ,i didnt even read it i just installed it and set the timing by feel and left it ) It said to set it to 6 deg BTDC
so i checked it out and did just that .drove it ....no low end at all it came out of the hole like a automatic honda and so i know thats not gona help and set it back to what i feel (by driving it ) was right 16 deg BTDC is right on ....now that was with 44 psi of fuel so any ideas on if 16 deg is to much or what . thanks

 

did you set it with the est unplugged? if not you should. set the timing untill you get knock, or knock counts then back it off 2* or so. usually a total of 34 to 36 will work out good for most SBCs

 

Could you guys give me a hand. This may be the "bonehead of the month award", but I need some help. I'm doin head gaskets, rebuilt head, and headers, so: My buddy came over and took my distributor out one day before I got home from work. He came back last night to help me put it back in, and could not remember how it should go back in. He didn't make any marks on the distributor so we don't know how to put it back in. I have the #1 piston at tdc, but I guess I need to figure out where the rotor should be pointing to fire the #1 cylinder. Needless to say, this buddy didn't get any free beer last night. Anyone who can help me can have his beer though!!! Thank you.

 

You can make the rotor face whichever way you want. #1 is wherever you put the #1 wire on the cap.

 

be sure that you have it TDC on the comp stroke or you will be way off

 

So I just need to slide the distributor in, in no special way, and then line the rotor up with a specific terminal on the dist cap, and run that plug wire to the #1 cylinder. Then look in my Haynes book to see the diagram that shows the firing order on the cap. Am I understanding you correclty? Thanks for the help, and sorry for posting this ? in old threads.

 

you got it when you drop it in just see before you put the cap on where the roter is pointing and then put the cap on and align it with the termnal by moving the dist left and right when its right on plug the wires on as they need to be
and your seting the timing and done
and hey new post old post who cares
as long as you get it answered

 

Any suggestions on how to make sure I have the rotor lined up perfectly with the terminal on the cap that I designate for the #1 cylinder? Then once I get that set, I can tighten down the dist. and put on the other wires right? Then once I get the engine completely back together and turn it on, I just remove the tan w/ black stripe wire to do the timing adjustment? Do I need a timing light? Or do I just look at the timing marks? What about the fact that I've heard people talking about setting the timing to 6' before tdc. Is this the factory setting that I should set mine to?