Ignition Timing

Do you know which distributor is being used ???  Is it vacuum or centrifical advance ???

It makes a difference in the way your timing is done..... A pic will get you a quick response...

I'm old school, for best performance set it at 30 degrees full advance at 3,000 RPM

Alan's advice is good, but if it has a vacuum can it has to be plugged off when the timing is set. And depending on the distributor, 3,000rpm may not be enough.

Yup, we need the part number on the distributor. so the answer really is it depends....

Thank you everyone. I'll get the distributor number and make plus try to take a PIC. I do know, because I just finished doing a compression check its not vacuum assist. Just that the points have been replaced with an electronic module.

Probably an 009, which is set at 28-30 degrees BTDC when advance is all in, which depends on the individual distributor. Rev it higher until you see the timing light stop advancing, then you'll know the engine speed to set timing at. Could be anywhere from 2000 to maybe 3500 rpm.

I just looked at the distributor and can not find a number. Any idea where to look. I'll take a PIC of the unit in the morning and post it.

Normally there is a tag rivited to the outside of the body, or its stamped into the body..... 

Depending on who made it...

So, it doesn't have a vacuum canister on the outside of the distributor body?

Oh- single or dual carbs?

Used a mirror and drop lite to look all around the outside and not a dam marking or riveted plate. Was in the new car I bought last year from Kirk at VS. I've attached some PICs of the unit. The engine has a EMPI dual 2 bbl carb set up. Not able to attach PICs using the "Add Attachment" button on the reply block, details in "HELP" button on this site gave me the same response- seems to do a lock out.

If it looks like Alb's picture without the flying saucer-shaped thing, it's probably an 009.  Again, those are set to 28 to 30 degrees BTDC at their full advance, which could be anywhere between 2500 and 3000+ rpms.  You'll need a stroboscopic timing light to do this.

Ted- the distributor looks like the PIC from ALB, without the saucer and capacitor. VS converted it to electronic ignition. VS suggested setting 10 BTDC at 900 idle. Then I reved the motor to 3k rpm as the forum suggested and the reading was 34 BTDC. So, I'm thinking at this point; being new to the madness, run the motor at 3K rpm and set the mark between 28 and 30 BTDC, which I think will be less what VS sets. I would not be suprised the mark at idle will be near 7.5 BTDC just as the old VS repair manual lists. If I'm wrong on any of this pls someone let me know. One other item, at 3K rpm, the mark seems to bounce around 3 or 4 degrees. I was reading this maybe an issue with the advance part (centrifigual weights) of the distributor. If this is true let me know; perhaps the distributor could be upgraded. Thank you everyone for your comments. Sorry I couldn't upload my PICs, could not and still can not get the attachment function to work for me.

That seems the most likely setting.....

Looks like you've got a handle on it.

34 degrees might not be all that bad, depending on the gas you get - if it's too much it'll start pinging on acceleration but you might not know what that sounds like and not catch it, so dropping back to 30 degrees max at 3,000-3,500 is totally OK.

With a centrifugal advance distributor, as you have, the idle timing reading is irrelevant - just go by the setting at 3+K when the advance has maxed out.  Once timing is set, just adjust your idle so it's somewhere around 800 rpm and you'll be fine.

On the timing light bounce - that could be a bunch of stuff, depending on the quality of your timing light, like cross-bounce from other plug wires to the test wire, glitches with the internals of your distributor, the quality of the electronic firing module, whether it's an optical or "Hall Effect" pickup, etc.  If it's only 3-4 degrees I wouldn't worry about it.  If you do, you could think about a Mallory distributor or something else better.  Drive it for a while and see how it feels - it may be fine for you as-is (Not everyone needs super-precise timing on these 50 year old engines).

Most of this was common knowledge back before 1995 or so, when points were more common-place and people had to tinker with their cars a lot more.  

Yes, a lot of us on here are that old....

If you are using an Apple iOS device, forget about picture uploads unless you're on OSX - it needs Flash support which iOS doesn't have.

I had an 009 that had more variation than that, about +/- 5 degrees, so 3 to 4 total isn't bad. Sometimes the spring in the distributor drive is missing and can cause what you're seeing. Or it could be one of the things that Gordon mentioned. More likely it is just typical 009 timing float. I would never let total timing exceed 32 though on a type1.

Hey Danny,

So, is that to say that you would error down to like 27/29 to account for the +/- float? (if you know your distributor has said 'float'...)

Or are you saying to aim for 30/32 - irrespective of said float?

T

I'd set yours at 28 with the 4 degrees of vague.

Just to be clear, I haven't put a scope on mine yet. I was just lurking on this thread.

T

Lurk away, it was late when I posted that! But yeah, put the timing light on it, and see if the timing moves around at 3000. Sometimes you have to keep it at 3500 to make sure all the advance is in, depending on the springs in the dizzy. It helps to have a friend hold it at whatever rpm, unless you have a hand throttle like me

Also the same is true when you synch the carbs at hi-speed.