Ok guys, ive been hanging around the forum for a while but never really had a reason to post, but now i am in over my head right now and could really use some help. ive had my 92 RS for 3 years now and decided it was time to get an f body in good condition and with more power and ttops of course lol. so i searched for about 6 months and finally found something interesting, an 89 Firebird Formula 350 with Ttops, Performance package, and absolute zero rust, which is hard to find in Michigan. So i bought it last weekend, has a fresh 350 roller engine with about 4000 miles on it, drove it all the way home and on the way home once off the freeway at a stoplight i decided to put the foot down and see what she could do, and she was just popping and backfiring, but if i took off slow or floored it at freeway speeds it was fine, i figured it just needed a tune up, got home and parked it till i got the bugs worked out to drive, just small stuff like making the hatch close and putting the interior back together, and a tuneup i thought.so i put plugs in, wires, and new cap and rotor and she ran great, but i noticed the problem was still there, So i noticed that the timing was a little high, so the other night, i started her up, let her warm up to about 180 and started to time her. well i found out she was really advanced, so i set it at 6 degrees, then noticed steaming and bubbling into the overflow, so i ran to shut the car off and it was at about 260-265!! I noticed the fans never came on either. then i let her cool down and decided to mess with it yesterday morning, now its not running right, you can tell theres a definite miss or 2 if you put it in drive and dont feather it, she really bogs down. i also hear a noise coming from the right side of the engine, not like a lifter tick but like a valve really tapping the seat?? i have no idea, tried to do a compression test but couldnt get the tester in there because of the headers. I dont know what to do, im pretty sure it at least needs a head, but not totally, what else could it be, does anyone have any insight at all? Thank you

 

stock time is 10*

 

Ok, that may make some sense, I was going off the hood sticker. I also have a question on the timing tab, should it be at 12:00 or 2:00 on this engine? And which points are 0,2,4,6,8 and 10?

 

I believe its at 2:00. And 0Deg. is the biggest knotch on the marker. I believe its the second one from the right.

 

Ok, its in the right spot, do you know the increments? Is it 2 degrees every valley or is it 2 degrees per every point and valley?

 

Ok guys, I timed it at 12*, put on the cold air intake kit, and swapped the wires from my RS, there's no ping or anything, and now she runs great and the noise is gone, I don't know what it was but it could have been the MAF or the wires, but its fine now.

 

Stock timing is 0* on truck TBI motors and 6* on TPI motors.
You can run 10-12 and be fine with TPI, just don't rattle the motor.
Your balancer may have slipped or you don't have the correct balancer with the timing cover..

 

Uhhh no...its 10 deg....and second whats "rattling" the motor?

 

have a look

 

rattling refers to engine knocking.

 

I have seen quite a few TPI motors but I dont mess w tbi stuff,I know the TRUCK tbis I have done are 0*.
Please show me a FACTORY 10* base timing sticker from a TPI. ALL 6 of my TPI cars are a base of 6* 89-92 350 and on 305 5speed. (most motors will handle more base timing buuut the question is, "what is base timing?")
Rattling a motor is to much timing resulting in detonation. Even w the almighty POS knock sensors these cars have, it can happen.

A quick search found another post with the TBI timing question..
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ecs-92-rs.html

 

it sounds like a tambourine. Very light mettalic sound

 

My motor is set at 10 deg ignition timing I mean...runs fine at it.
Also iv never heard some one call it "rattling a motor".

 

There are a lot of things you will hear for the 1st time as you venture thru life. I'm hoping this won't be the last time you hear something new.
Detonation sounds a lil like rocks "rattling" in a can. Hence the name.
You have learned some new things today.

 

Foo I know what detonation is....nobody calls it rattling the motor. :P

 

Congratulations you should consider learning that 10* base is 100% WRONG as the stock timing for TPI for your next lesson.

As Ttop350 has been trying to tell you 6* is the stock and correct setting although some people run 8* and 10* with success. There is much debate however over whether anything more than 36 or 37* of total timing will net anything performance wise.

Personally I'm running 8* at the distributor with my JET chip kicking in an additional 2* at WOT on 89 octane without any audible knock. However I am having a custom chip being programmed and the tuner is insisting that anything past 36* total timing is pointless.

To the OP, are you unplugging the EST bypass wire while you're setting the base timing?

 

You guys can run what ever time you wanna run, mine is set at 10 deg and I run 93 oct.

 

I run 14* base timing and I run 93-110 also. With a stock chip on my ole TPI clunker.
The OP wanted to kno what the factory setting is, not the performance settings.

Old timers like me got the term from some really super old time street racers... (yoda says, "When gone am I, last of the street racers you will be, pass on what you have learned".)