I've read the how to's on this site about timing and there very good. My question is, when it comes time to advance or retard the timing. One of the guides says "Loosen the distributor hold down bolt just enough that it takes a little effort to be able to rotate the distributor either clockwise or counter clockwise."

(1) Do I have to take off the distributor cap? Or do I rotate the entire thing. I looked and all I see was a small screw that looked like it was the screw that holds the cap on. Where is the hold down bolt? Can some one show me a picture?

(2) There are three notches on the damper, which one do I use? I see one of them is larger than the other, is that the one?

(3) For my '88 V6 camaro I looked under the hood and I read on the sticker and it says 10 degrees, does that sound right?

 

10 degrees is right (with the advance wire disconnected). The mark you are looking for is on the timing tab, at 10*. The dist. hold down is a BOLT that holds a "Y" shaped holdown at the base of your distributor shaft (at the back of the block).

 

15MM bolt. I bought a cheap a$$ "Z" wrench for a V8 and welded a 15MM socket to it to use for that purpose.

To loosen, couter-clockwise from firewall to front of engine. 2-3 1/4 turns usually does it. Just becareful when tightening cause alot of times you will bump the distributor knocking it outta wack again.

Also, alot of people that have high miles perfer 12-13* timing. the cars seem to really like it. I did on mine, and it was honestly the best setting.

Brown with black stripe wire on passanger fender with a single black pull connector is the EST. Before setting timing, unplug it. After setting replug. You want to set base timing, so you want the ECM outta the picture.

 

Sorry guys I'm still having trouble locating the hold down. I've looked on the driver side and passenger side and all I see is a small screw. How far down is the crows foot, is it close to the cap? Which side is it on?

 

pic: