I've never done it before,what do I do and how do I do it?

Thanks.

 

Borrow a timing light. Go to the passenger side of the car follow the distributor down to the bracket thats holding it in place, lossen the bolt until you can turn the dist hook up the timing light start the car flash the light on the timing teeth and turn the dist till the groove thats cut in the crankshaft pulley is where you want the timing. Not sure what the timing is for your car. 10*BTDC?

 

Dont forget to disconect the dist wire by the strut tower on the passanger side its a single wire otherwise your timeing will be way off

 

i just did the timing on muy car for the first time today. it was at 16 BTDC, and i got good acceleration, and when i put it to 10, it purred like a kitten but haas NO torque or acceleration. so you can choose what u want: milage or performance. (sucky world, huh)

 

I have a mysterious problem with my timing but I think I found the answer. I checked my timing the ther day and it was at 30-something BTDC and needless to say it ran rough.
I reset it to 16(I find the car likes this best) and it ran fine for a day or so then got way out again....And before anyone say tighten the bolt next time It was tightened...
So I reset it again and have not had an probs with the timimg but now it is idle surging...going down to 500 RPMs then reving to 25-3k after a while it settles down to 1k and runs fine...
I will try again setting the timing(while that damn dist wire is off(Opps...I had 2 2nd gens before this one so I missed that wire...)

 

I use a ratchet, long extension, universal joint (swivel), and 15mm socket to get to that bolt, if that helps.

This might help other people- 85-86 cars have three marks on the balancer. The widest one is the one you use for timing. The #1 cylinder is the frontmost passenger side, NOT the driver's side like other engines.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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may I suggest that if you have access to a tech 2 ecm reader you can get a MUCH better and accurate reading of your timing. I used a timing light to set timing to 14* and then checked the tech 2 and it read 11* not too big a difference but enough to make a difference in performance