during the summer i had to replace the distributor gasket do to a small oil leak. and in the proccess i replaced the intake manifold gaskets and had to remover the rocker arms and push rods so in the end i had to redo the timing. but since ive done it ive noticed my car will idle at 1500 rpms then go to 700 once its warm. could it be that i still dont have my valves set right? or is it that timming is still off? What would be the best timing setting for the car to get most performance. right now i have it at about 12*, but it doesnt seem right do to high idle. also since im gonna redo the valves and stuff next weekend after i put in a new oil pan, what would be the best way to go about pollishing my intake? thanks for the help.

 

So you're saying that when it starts it is at 1,500rpm then slowly works it's way down to 700rpm right? If that's the case, that's normal for what I've seen with my car. I have the timing and such all set to spec on mine. So either that's normal or there's that off chance that we both share the same hidden problem.

 

12-1500 @ idle is normal operation,normal timing is 6*,later jimmy

 

12-1500 seems high for a warm idle. It is normal for a cold start idle though. Like in the morning, it'll take my car a minute of running to let the idle start to slowly drop, but once I'm goin, it'll be down to 800.

If thats what you're experiance, it's normal. What changed? What was it doing before you replaced what you did?

 

before it would idle at 700 rpm, no problem, but that was also in the summer. I thought it was just just it being colder now, since i live in MN, havent driven it since snow but before it did snow it was pretty damn cold and thats when it started. My dad thinks its the timing is still a bit off, but were both not mechanics and im only 16 so we dont have to much exp. Is 6* BTDC a good place to be at like he has his, just want to squezze every bit of power i can out of it

 

Retarding your ignition to 6* BTDC will cause you to lose your power and it's not the correct setting anyways.

The stock setting IIRC is 10* BTDC, but you can probably take it back to 12* like you have now, if you use gas that has the octane rating to not start knocking.

Last time I adjusted my timing, it had slipped to 4* and advancing it to 10* made a big difference. Better throttle response and better mileage. So definitely don't retard yours to 6*.

 

10 degrees is right, 6 degrees is what the v8's run. i usually run mine around 12 degrees too and it seems to like that the best for 87 octane.

 

I am also from the land of snow and ice and it will idle a little higher (up around 1,500rpm) when you first start it up and it's cold out. That's just what it does, there's nothing wrong with it. Keep the timing at 10 degrees unless the engine is modified to the point where it actually requires that it be set differently.