I bought the 92-93 caprice 350 replacement engine off pace parts last year and I have never been able to get it idling right. I think the timing is off. I called pace parts where I bought it from and they said the timing should be at 10 degrees BTDC. I called scoggin dickey and they say 0 degrees BTDC. that is a huge gap in timing. what the heck do I do now? The timing marker is at the 12 o clock position compared to 2 o clock so viewing it is a PITA. right now it is at 6 degrees but i have a hard time getting it started when its cold. it just cranks for a few seconds. and it has a stumble in idle and the motor has nothing left to it after 4500. I mean nothing. its just revs. what should I be setting timing at?

 

Since you have an MSD distributor you can set timing any way you like.
Engines usually like between 12 and 16* intial
then 18 to 20* centrifugal.
The MSD is fully adjustable inside.
If yours has a vacuum advance that works, then just plug it in to manifold vacuum to add timing at idle.

 

dude whats it matter if I have an MSD distibutor? it still works just the same as my stock one. I have a TPI engine and the dist, dosnt use a vacuum advance. and no the MSD dist is not adjustalbe inside. you change the timing by turning the entire dist.

 

Not sure if this applies to you but I know some timing tabs and balancer are diff so you might have to make sure you have the right combo or you may be 10 to 15 degrees off. Sorry I don;t know the specific ones that are diff (ie 305 vs 350, 350 vs 350 LT1) but I know there are differences.

 

Sorry, didn't know you had a computer controlled distributor. You may need to talk to Ed Wright about your timing since he programmed it.

 

the 0* is for the stock TBI setup and computer in a Caprice. Like stated earlier, run the timing where it will run good. Between 6* and 10* base timing should be a good start.

 

Whatever the motor wants.

I mean, if you don't like how it's running, try something else, until it is working right. Doesn't get any easier than that really. Sure someone could just tell you 'set it to x', but where has that gotten you so far?

 

 

You could try the old fashioned way, hook a vacuum guage to the manifold and adjust the timing to where it has the best vacuum reading. Also be sure the vacuum reading is good (no leaks etc).

 

Might want to install the stock prom to see if that helps the prob. If so Ed Wright should help you fix it. My experiance with engine swaps from 305 to 350 is the base timing will usually work best with the 350 from the year the car was produced. 91 350 is probley gonna be 4 degrees. Your cold start issues are very doubtfull a timing problem.Might be a MSD issue but not a actual timing issue.