On most setups you just go from the coil wire to ground. HEI is a little more difficult and is easiest with a second set of hands holding a wire from ground to the center post inside the cap.
The coil will fire, with your new balancer mark at 30 degrees, and the coil wire attached to coil and distributor end unhooked and place near something metal on the motor will jump the gap when the distributor body is twisted to a position where the ignition points close.
You plug the number one cylinder spark plug wire directly to the coil on one end and to a grounded spark plug on the fender, outside of the engine. Hold the rotor hard in its direction of rotation with the distributor body past firing in that direction. Then rotate the distributor body in the opposite direction of the rotor rotation until it fires a spark. To set it up, first the engine has to be on the compression stroke of number one cylinder and the distributor timing has to already be close. What I do is finger in the number spark plug hole and rotate the crankshaft until there is pressure (compression). Then set the balancer timing at 10 or 12 degrees before top dead center. With the distributor cap in place and ignition on, rotate the distributor in the opposite direction of rotor rotation, (or just back and forth for a rough position) until there is spark at number one wire on an open spark plug. After that rough setting, turn off ignition, pull the cap, plug spark plug wire directly into the coil, the rotate balancer to full ignition advance mark before top dead center (must be measured and added), then with ignition on, hold rotor hard in direction of rotation, rotate distributor body in same direction first, then in the opposite direction until there is spark.
@@rudyjhughes you are feeding a spark plug from the wire that would normally go to the centre of the cap and triggering the coil off the points in the base of the distributor.
I like your "old school" approach! I've been working on cars for over 50 years and have used almost all, if not all of your methods. FWIW, I scrapped a $1200 custom electronic ignition and went back to points because of reliability issues. The engine is just as happy with points, and it doesn't suddenly quit and leave me stranded!
Ugh.... I'm a young man, I know about points, but HEI is where it's at.... Remember back in the day, everyone used to carry spare points in their glove box? You know.... incase THOSE POINTS went out while you were out lol I carry a spare coil and module and cap in my classic and all the stuff needed to change out these parts. change them out like a set of points on the side of the road if need be... I've yet to have to use my spare ignition parts because hei is so dependable and on the money all the time. My secret? Buy the cheapest distributor in the jegs book if it's GM make sure it takes a 4 pin style module. Then.... Buy another one. Rob all the parts out of it.... CARRY THEM IN YOUR TRUNK OR GLOVE BOX Last time I bought one one was 79.95$ and it was 120$ at my local orielly for a cap, module and coil. YUCK. You get to keep the extra body incase your shaft bearing starts to go bad or something happens to your housing, AND you get all the parts to rebuild the one in your car at a cheaper price. EXTRA CREDIT : Since the housing and internal bearing never hardly go bad... take that spare body and build a tuned distributor. One with very high out put, light springs, and all the fixins... Then when it's time for a tune up, drop it in... enjoy....
If points were more reliable than electronic ignition you were doing something seriously wrong. Points you've gotta deal with every oil change. I never had an electronic ignition system that went less than 60k miles before a failure, and that was the distributor shaft wearing out.
Well I have electronic points, & carry a spare unit. If it fails, its a case of undo one screw, remove & refit new one, now adjustments required. They are magnetically operated, so no heel wear or timing changes. To hell with points.
You're one of the most knowledgeable car guys that I've ever seen I remember 33 years ago you were the first one to tell people where to set timing on a 5 liter Mustang
I got a book years ago(centuries) that I think was put out by Mallery all about timing and ignition. I read it repeatedly. It went over nearly everything you said. Since then I have never had difficulty timing engines. I don’t like vacuum advance, to each their own.
Haha, my pop said when he was in high school in the 60s, he would bump the timing up on his 55 chevy, then go lay a patch, the longest patch is where the timing was left lol.
@living in a desert it depends on the engine, but it typically sounds like one of a couple things: It'll sound like a a knocking of sorts, that happens at random in different places/different cylinders. You'll know it different from engine knock from a rod or etc, because those stay knocking at only 1 cylinder/area of the engine. It can also sound like "pinging", kinda like if something tapped a hollow portion of your engine head and it had a short ring to it, but at various cylinders and etc. Kinda like Ping-Ping-PingPing-Ping--Ping. (Hopefully that kinda explains it a little better)
I watched all your videos on timing and finally bought a dial back light, set it to 35° total 350 chevy and it runs way better switched to ported vacuum and adj the can. It completely woke it up!
This is a great video explaining total advance. I know there is a debate on full manifold versus timed versus no vacuum advance. The answer is they are all correct depending on your engine setup and most importantly what you plan to do with your car. If you are running a stock engine and only care about initial timing say at 10 degrees, then hook up that vacuum canister. It won’t hurt a thing and will help with engine idle. If you are running a mildly modified or high performance engine, then you will be better off working with total timing in the 32 to 36 degrees range. Uncle Tony hits the nail on the head when he talks about running total timing with full vacuum advance. The engine will miss fire and sputter at mid or half throttle because the timing will be way too advanced. He is also right when he talks about opening the idle mixture screws more as a possible remedy. This will work sometimes but the consequences is a rich running engine at idle that will run you out of your garage or shop and eventually foul plugs. So, disconnect that thing when running total timing or plug into the timed vac port on your carb. Your engine will thank you! Great work UT! You da man! K Roush.....
Much respect from Ontario Canada . Many years back when I was in school and worked for a gm dealership a mechanic who used to drag race taught me how to make power old school timing exhaust carbs and using a vacuum gauge Back then we made tons of power with minor mods and calibration. I became the qjet expert .They were great street carbs once you understand them and super reliable as well a great on gas
@4:15 Uncle Tony said: _"'Why don't you use timing tape?'" Because timing tape doesn't stay on forever."_ The trick to prevent timing tape from flying off is a) make sure you have an extremely clean surface on the damper before you stick it on, and b) once on, take a can of Krylon CLEAR spray paint (or other brand), and spray over the timing tape. *Once again: The key to prevent timing tape from loosening up and flying off is a **_very_** clean surface; that means NO grease, NO oil and NO rust on the harmonic balancer (aka damper) before you apply the timing tape then a shot of Krylon clear paint over it to seal the tape to the damper.*
It is best to paint your entire engine bay with clear coat. Eliminates corrosion. Helps hold things in place. Makes wiring last forever. And oh man is it a joy to work on pater. Rinse it off and she’s clean.
Use the timing tape then take a hacksaw and cut your marks into it using the tape and a guide. Any performance engine should not have a factory damper anyway.
@@philipmazzuca2269 You make a really good point here. Some of the old 60's and 70's dampers were pretty good for not spinning and being factory accurate. The later shit was literally made with not much better than spray foam. The balancer could be out by 4 to 8 degrees new. I remember back in the early 90's setting total timing on a 403 Olds motor and I'd lock down the distributor, rev the engine up a couple of times and the timing had changed. I thought the distributor was somehow turning. Took me a bit to figure out the outer ring of the damper was spinning on the rubber. So, I agree buying a good damper is cheap insurance in my opinion.
@thunderhead289 My friend, think of the haters as a gift....a sign of your success. Nobody pays attention to people who don't make an impact. You're doing great
ATI dampeners are not cheap, but the 360 degree timing marks are worth every penny. Totally agree on the dial back lights being inaccurate. Threw mine out as well. Static light and 360 timing marks are the way to go. Thanks for another great video
All good and you made it clear that "Performance" engines can get away with just mechanical advance. They are not meant to get gas mileage necessarily ... Mild street engines that haul the family around need the vacuum too. Good tip on fattening the low speed circuit to get away from lean burn and stratified charge issues at high vacuum cruise :)
something you might want to mention about static timing an engine is it works with points but not on capacitive discharge ignitions and I believe on multiple spark ignition systems. It helps when you have everything in place battery, coil, ballast resister plugs etc. along with a distributor with a cap and rotor. really enjoy your videos keep them coming stay safe.
From one Tony to a other, thank you for putting up these videos and sharing your knowledge and experiences. Please keep doing it. And by the way, your right, there are very few individuals out there (speaking automotive) that have channels dedicated to this discipline. Thanks!
Thank you brother you really know your stuff. My 1956 ford vanette step van has a 352 fe with a 2bbl carb. I had a difficult time getting my fuel mixture right. Your video was very helpful. Thanks hope all is well on your end with covid-19 stay safe now.
Wow, talk about ironic - I was just experimenting with this exact thing yesterday on my own 440. I don't have any fancy measuring devices, so I used a piece of paper to transfer the timing marks off the front of the engine to the stock harmonic balancer. Not even kidding.... and it worked, just like Tony shows here with his caliper thingy. I had two distributors that I wanted to choose from and was able to compare the two's performance easily doing this - there was quite a bit of difference in each one's built-in advance. In the end, the DC/Mopar Performance distributor won and the stock one lost and was relegated to the parts bin. Once again, VERY practical lessons being taught here at UTG! You can do exactly what he shows here easily, without a bunch of fancy tools or high tech equipment. Thanks as always, Tony. -Ed on the Ridge
9 sec street car BBF 466cu w minor mods loved 28inital w 36 total on the dizzy. Beautiful throttle response on the street w a 1050dominator. Nice to see someone who understands all this put it out there, so many guys dont know how to tune for power and cant tell them squat. Love your vids man,,,
If your real good in a first timing you can set to timing mark and turn the distributor til you hear the spark. Much love tony. Keep me interested in my projects. I’m grateful for that. Without enjoyment life ..... Ain’t good
You have some awesome old school advice, my friend!! I grew up in a time where i welded up the advance in the distributor to limit the total timing. , file to suit,. 12 initial plus 22-24 centrifugal was fairly accurate. I’m showing my age and your vids are enjoyed.!!!
Great points UT, especially on unverified dial-back lights, very well said as they can be unstable. I'd like to add, don't trust marks left by others, I've experienced situations where a motor ran like crap but good enough to pass apparently b/c the guy who marked the damper accidentally marked it twice with 2nd mark being accidental paint drip. Then set timing to the accidental mark. (Doh!) Deep boat bilge and salt-rusted damper but almost by luck I noticed the two paint marks. I'd suspected something was wrong just by listening to the motor idle, the timing sounded off and looked into it. So I encourage others experiment with igniton timing a little to gain experience and listen closely. Small tweeks can improve things like drivability, etc.
Sometimes I wish I could jump in the video and help you explain some concepts. I trained Auto-Diesel Tech for thirty five years during the muscle car era. In order to do power timing with certain degree of accuracy, you best have access to a chassis dyno and the proper test equipment. Power time a stock engine at peak torque rpm under load was best practice at the time. A modified engine is best power timed on an engine dyno. Although it can be done if you have proper component specs. You can still semi-power time an engine under no load, by moving the distributor until you achieve best vacuum at peak torque rpm and go from there. I have a question: how lean is too lean? During the early 70's, while doing R&D work, I had carburetor curves set at 21:1 at cruising speeds and with the proper engine timing. I know you were trying to show how to "static time" an engine. I think it would have made more sense to the viewers if the distributor cap had been on the distributor and at least #1 cble had been on the cap Keep up the good work! It's fun and instructional watching your videos. Cheers!
Good video , never built compete race engines , but for the standard engine tuned it by ear , slight cam changes the marks some does it not , anyway , slight ping when hitting it , back it off till none , and your done , quite an educational video keep them coming .
I made my own marks using masking tape. Put the masking tape on top of the timing tab, mark the lines, they are 2° apart then put the masking tape on the damper. Kinda like using timing tape, then use a marker to mark the damper up to 40°. On my small block n big block Chevy, full advance running the engine using a timing light, hit on 36° full advance, which was coincidentally at about the 12 o'clock position on the damper. I used a medium n light spring on the HEI distributor. Both engines run great! Great drivability, and good getup n go when I need it. Passing gear kicks in good n hard n works great as well.
Man I hate that you have to automatically pre defend your video information because of the naysayers, I think you are talking from past experience and that's what it takes to teach. I would have already wanted to pinch their heads off! but you keep your cool, keep up the good work!
I'd argue his last point of re setting advance for starting up an engine. He states to set it to your total advance of say 30 degrees, then insert your distributor and turn the housing until you get spark. That's for initial timing, not your total timing. Doing it as he states will then introduce even more advance once the engine starts and the mechanical advance kicks in.
Tony, you probably get sick & tired of me repeating the following, but it's true: Both you and "My Vintage Iron" ( channel ) are hands down the best 2 teachers on youtube.......barr none. Plus, both of you guys work more with the classic, older stuff. I meet young mechanics all too often who don't even know how to work on drum brakes, lol.........and forget about carbs. If it ain't EFI, they're totally lost.
having a lean miss with my holley at part throttle, never thought to look at my vacuum advance on my dizzy. Thanks! I'll look at that first then the fuel aspect again.
If you don't understand how a coil works you will be confused.He is talking about the high voltage spark wire from the coil. when a coil is powered up it charges. when the power is off it discharges. HENCE SPARK The distributor controls the coil.
I tried making marks by measuring half way around which is 180 degrees. Half of that is 90 degrees, half of that is 45....and keep halfing/marking it until you get the range of marks you want. And that would work with any diameter damper/balancer. Just have to make sure the outer damper didn't spin on on the rubber ring previously.
I enjoy watching Tony's videos. This guy knows his stuff! Tony Brings back fond memories. When i was 16 I didn't have a timing light or a dwel meter But I did have a beautiful 55 Chevy 2 door hard top ! I figured out to set the timing. I could take the cap off turn the housing in the opposite direction of rotation of the rotor and watch the point's. When they spark your there. Lock it down. At that point mark the location so you can always return to your base position. move the distributor and listen to your motor it will tell you where it wants to be .On an electronic one just use the number 1 wire.
Another great episode from UTG. I love how U explained the negative comments from the peanut gallery before they had a chance to type them in. Awesome job with explainingTony and great job with the video Kathy. Can't wait to see how bottlerockets progressing and what happened to her trans.
Timing is everything Thanks Tony for your educational videos It's got a 360ci 1941 D19 Luxury liner / 6 passenger coupe [All MOPAR] Edelbrock Performer THANKS Timing and Tune up is next
Thank you for another great "tech tip" video - I like the part of the video at the end moving the disty to get a spark at max timing. Great idea - thanks again.
This has always been gospel to me for the past 30 years I've been working on and building engines and any mouth breathers that try and say otherwise are nitwit keyboard warriors
On my pontiac, I don't use the vac advance and have modified weights, so setting the timing for me is setting it as advanced as possible without having a miss at idle! And boom, it's perfect.
So i just built a 351w for my 70 mustang....Im still running the break in oil for the first 500 miles..that's how new it is...I drove it today...man, rich, timing off...everything...Now i can pull it in the garage and confidently do it my self...thanks to Tony and Thunderhead...You guys are the bomb!!
You're right about every engine is different, the efficiency of the combustion chamber makes a big difference. Back in the day chambers were not as efficient as todays engines thus needed way more total advance ie low 40s for max power.
Ive found success doing this using a recurve kit putting largest bushing and lightest springs on mechanical advance giving 10 to 12 degrees of timing coming all in at 1500 to 2000 rpm and setting crank timing to 20 to 24 so 30 to 36 degrees of total timing
This is awesome. I'm going to learn this. I'm working on putting in my own HHO system and then advance the total timing on this 1998 test Toyota Camry.
Thanks for your time and knowledge on your videos! Is there any truth to advancing timing even more at high elevation? I in Arizona at 7000' altitude with my 78 chevy k10 with the 350. I have it set to 36 total (unless my dialback is wrong as well) I have heard you can advance timing 1 degree for every 1000 elevation due to the thinner air and slower burn rate. Any truth to that?
You ask an interesting question. I was working at the Dodge dealer, around 1994, when a Viper came into the service department, with the same issue. Apparently, (AND! I'm only guessing....) it came up from Southern California. I was told, California. BUT, it was OBD-1, which didn't take care of that problem.
I have a 75 C-20 with the 350 that is set at basically sea level. When I go over the pass and up in the mountains to visit my brother. It over heats knocks and pings and runs like crap. But the moment I hit the down hill run off the pass towards home she cools down to normal runs like she should so there might be something to that.
I have both a old sbc and a new ford coyote I race. Funny thing is despite all the fancy computer controls on the coyote, for power, I still time it the same 27 degree from 3500rpm and up (it spends all day 4500 to 7500). You old school guys might be interested to know I can still use a timing light with a lead extension on the coil on plug ignition coils.
Don't know if you still have that but that fucking Ford Coyote is something! Not many engines even have a life at 5500 rpm for long but that damn thing wakes up at 4000 by 5500 is getting some what we say in Oklahoma "getting on one" and is like a screaming mad man crystal meth monster at 7800 RPM as you hang the fuck on and that bitch is like.... MORE MOTHER FUCKER! PEDAL ON THE RIGHT! PUSSY! I was never really a big Ford fan until I was pinned to the seat from one of those and once we got down the road got off the highway and went back to where we started and picked up my asshole and soul that got left behind when we launched into what I can only describe as the tunnel vision of destiny! I was fucking SOLD! I can't afford one right now even at age 46 but I had enough to get a 94 mustang with only a 3.8 V6 with a T5 manual 5 speed and it's not much but I got it delivered on a trailer not running in 3 years and is now my daily driver! Many can beat me and that's okay but they bought theirs and I built mine! But when I grow up! One day ... I want a fucking coyote fire breathing mad man meth monster! Lol For now I play that role in my 6 banger! LMFAO!
One thing I would add is to check the stock damper to make sure your "0" Mark is where it's supposed to be. I have found a few Ford and Gm dampers that the Mark was off by noticeable amount. Also when building an engine from random parts this needs to be checked because over the years the factory marks were located in different spots. So a timing cover or pointer from a '67 could be in a different spot then in '71. And this can make setting timing a nightmare unless you check this carefully when building the engine. Or when trying to figure out why an engine runs poorly when timed by the marks .
I never use timing marks or a light to adjust ignition timing. I’ll have an assistant put car in gear, load the engine and then I’ll advance the ignition timing as far as I can go until the engine starts spark knocking, then back it off until it stops. Been doing it this way for years with great results.
🔔😎 Didja ever notice all the big name hot shots doing that first crank and then trying to turn the distributor to get their creation to run?? Ya, meee too. Drives me crazy. Good job UT.👍👍 Simple and effective explanation. 😎😎😎🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I use the static method to set initial timing and to break in the camshaft and engine. I use a timing light to set total mechanical timing at high RPM. Most stock distributor springs won't allow the full total timing of the weights at any RPM, but after market, high performance quick advance springs do, as they reach total timing at a much lower RPM, often making the factory vacuum advance unusable at part throttle and left sealed off.
I just use Timing Tape on my stock damper I put it on when I rebuilt the engine and it still on there and works great or if you buy a aftermarket damper it will have the timing marks right on it
Tony and Uncle Cathy I love your videos and Insight. The ways You have figured out to hop up engines is so unique. The thing with your methods is it's hard/impossible to hit the bullseye better than half the time at best. You'll spend all night at the track to get one good run that you can't repeat the next night. Fun but too chancy.
looking forward to the curving the distributer vid.. my mopar distributer is adjustable it seems, slots and screws to adjust how far it will advance i think.. rather then having to weld the slots like most others i see
When doing engine break in advancing the timing an extra 5° can save your header coating. When the engine is in a no load condition the crank moves faster than the flame front and you will still be burning the mixture when the exhaust valve opens. Make sure to back it back down when you go for the test drive.
My first car was a 1973 Chevelle with a 350 V8. The way I set the timing on that car was, after re-curving the distributor using an off the shelf kit, drive the car with as much timing advance as it would take. To test it I set the timing and then did full throttle acceleration. If I heard detonation I backed it down until it got quiet. Very, very scientific. BTW my badass engine had a Holley 650 4-barrel carburetor atop an Edelbrock Performer intake, Hedman headers feeding into a 2.25" dual exhaust kit from JC Whitney I hung myself with baling wire, and turbo mufflers. Also had a B&M shift kit in the 350 turbo transmission. With the stock smog cam, 8.5:1 compression, and a very tall 2.73 differential. It was a bit slow off the line, but the top end was awesome. It would bury the needle on the 120 mph speedometer, and I mean literally down below the window on the dash. It was fun for a high school kid.
Good information, I’ve purchased that timing tape from Jegs, works great till it blows off at high rpm, due to Jegs great customer service,I bet I’ve went through 4 or 5 of them at no charge before I just said to hell with it, my FE has the numbers on the balancer, and they are barely readable, I’m thinking about taking my dremel and making the marks at every 10* much like you’ve done
Uncle Tony, was fascinated by ball stud hemi video. Is there anymore info on that engine? The info you give is priceless, Thank you and merry Christmas.
The limiting of vacuum advance is critical if you have an emission control distributor as they had vacuum canisters that added about twice as much advance as you really wanted if you advanced the timing for performance. Many of these engines would buck if you added even two more degrees of initial advance or even went to a lighter set of advance springs.
The way you set up the distributer without a light is exactly how you set up mags on old John Deere 2 cylinders. The mags have an impulse trip to counter for the low cranking speed of hand starting from the fly wheel. So you rotate the engine to tdc of cylinder 1, pull the mag, stick a wire in the number 1 cap hole and float it off the mag body, rotate the coupling until it snaps and makes a spark, then put the mag back in and rotate it back until it trips again. Then once you start it you adjust from there. I always find it funny when technics stay relatively the same wether it’s a 1939 John Deere B or a 70s Mopar.
Damn Bro. You did it again. I had just come back from making a coffee and tobacco run in the old C-20 and the old girl was pinging as I was running her up the highway. So I did a quickly by ear along side the road. Know its not the gasoline cause I just filled up with 92 octane.. And I get home and your doing a timing video..
if it's not the gas it may be the timing it could also be the plug with these hot days you may need a colder plug I've had spark knock issues before most of the time it's in the summer on those real hot days I could back the timing off and it would not ping but run like crap so went tossed a colder plug in it turned the timing back up and never had a issue since.
@@fastinradfordable same gas I always put in it every morning because it never gets below half tank. my usual 76 station, same pump I always use. 92 octane 76 gasoline. Cuz it only runs on 76 or Exxon. ARCO gas builds up brown crap on my plugs after a tank full.
Hot Rod Magazine had an article about total advancement, 40 years ago. I believe they said to have 40 degrees. They. also, said to keep your spark plug wires separated from each other if they fire consecutively on the same bank.
cool info.ya true what you said about real hot rodding ,theres nothing like building it your self without just buying it all already done.thay way you can say i built it.also helps when people ask how.then that way u know what your taliking about when other motor heads ask how you didi it.i have a 72 chevy nova.just a roller right now.bit give me six mounts ,then it off to good times
Great video but you should mention how old stock balancers rotate on their isolators and are no longer accurate for timing. I like the small hacksaw marks, I’m gonna do that next time!
I tried your "drop in" dizzy procedure to try and time out 305. But looks like I didn't have much luck because you have to turn the dizzy fast enough for it to spark. But what I didn't do was hold it "hard" in the direction of rotation. That probably would have helped get rid of the slop that I was dealing with. Either way it got me close enough to start it up, set at 10deg initial. Was also a hei unit and I'm wondering if that matters to get it set perfect? Thought maybe points and condenser have that stored energy. Blazer needs a tune up so I'm re watching some things.
How do you get a spark with the cap off?
On most setups you just go from the coil wire to ground. HEI is a little more difficult and is easiest with a second set of hands holding a wire from ground to the center post inside the cap.
The coil will fire, with your new balancer mark at 30 degrees, and the coil wire attached to coil and distributor end unhooked and place near something metal on the motor will jump the gap when the distributor body is twisted to a position where the ignition points close.
Ya I’m still confused with this, if you want it go come up on #1 plug but cap is off???? Confused
You plug the number one cylinder spark plug wire directly to the coil on one end and to a grounded spark plug on the fender, outside of the engine. Hold the rotor hard in its direction of rotation with the distributor body past firing in that direction. Then rotate the distributor body in the opposite direction of the rotor rotation until it fires a spark. To set it up, first the engine has to be on the compression stroke of number one cylinder and the distributor timing has to already be close. What I do is finger in the number spark plug hole and rotate the crankshaft until there is pressure (compression). Then set the balancer timing at 10 or 12 degrees before top dead center. With the distributor cap in place and ignition on, rotate the distributor in the opposite direction of rotor rotation, (or just back and forth for a rough position) until there is spark at number one wire on an open spark plug. After that rough setting, turn off ignition, pull the cap, plug spark plug wire directly into the coil, the rotate balancer to full ignition advance mark before top dead center (must be measured and added), then with ignition on, hold rotor hard in direction of rotation, rotate distributor body in same direction first, then in the opposite direction until there is spark.
@@rudyjhughes you are feeding a spark plug from the wire that would normally go to the centre of the cap and triggering the coil off the points in the base of the distributor.
I mean this guy is golden! He backs up every single thing he says with proven examples and not a bunch of bullshit talk.
I like your "old school" approach! I've been working on cars for over 50 years and have used almost all, if not all of your methods. FWIW, I scrapped a $1200 custom electronic ignition and went back to points because of reliability issues. The engine is just as happy with points, and it doesn't suddenly quit and leave me stranded!
Ugh....
I'm a young man, I know about points, but HEI is where it's at....
Remember back in the day, everyone used to carry spare points in their glove box? You know.... incase THOSE POINTS went out while you were out lol
I carry a spare coil and module and cap in my classic and all the stuff needed to change out these parts. change them out like a set of points on the side of the road if need be...
I've yet to have to use my spare ignition parts because hei is so dependable and on the money all the time.
My secret? Buy the cheapest distributor in the jegs book if it's GM make sure it takes a 4 pin style module.
Then....
Buy another one.
Rob all the parts out of it....
CARRY THEM IN YOUR TRUNK OR GLOVE BOX
Last time I bought one one was 79.95$ and it was 120$ at my local orielly for a cap, module and coil. YUCK.
You get to keep the extra body incase your shaft bearing starts to go bad or something happens to your housing, AND you get all the parts to rebuild the one in your car at a cheaper price.
EXTRA CREDIT : Since the housing and internal bearing never hardly go bad... take that spare body and build a tuned distributor. One with very high out put, light springs, and all the fixins...
Then when it's time for a tune up, drop it in... enjoy....
If points were more reliable than electronic ignition you were doing something seriously wrong. Points you've gotta deal with every oil change. I never had an electronic ignition system that went less than 60k miles before a failure, and that was the distributor shaft wearing out.
Well I have electronic points, & carry a spare unit. If it fails, its a case of undo one screw, remove & refit new one, now adjustments required. They are magnetically operated, so no heel wear or timing changes. To hell with points.
And don’t forget to carry a pack of matches in your glove box to set your point gap
You're one of the most knowledgeable car guys that I've ever seen I remember 33 years ago you were the first one to tell people where to set timing on a 5 liter Mustang
Yes he is.
Sounds about right.
Im still stuck on those Fox fuelies. Lol.
@@hotrodray6802 you're not the only one
I got a book years ago(centuries) that I think was put out by Mallery all about timing and ignition. I read it repeatedly. It went over nearly everything you said. Since then I have never had difficulty timing engines. I don’t like vacuum advance, to each their own.
Haha, my pop said when he was in high school in the 60s, he would bump the timing up on his 55 chevy, then go lay a patch, the longest patch is where the timing was left lol.
😆😆😆😆😆 🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼🤘🏼
How I set timing: rev that bitch up until it's at the absolute highest rpm I can get it WITHOUT pinging/detonation.
@living in a desert it depends on the engine, but it typically sounds like one of a couple things:
It'll sound like a a knocking of sorts, that happens at random in different places/different cylinders. You'll know it different from engine knock from a rod or etc, because those stay knocking at only 1 cylinder/area of the engine.
It can also sound like "pinging", kinda like if something tapped a hollow portion of your engine head and it had a short ring to it, but at various cylinders and etc. Kinda like Ping-Ping-PingPing-Ping--Ping.
(Hopefully that kinda explains it a little better)
What a shitty way to do it
Yes yes that's the way. This stuff kills me. It really does!
I watched all your videos on timing and finally bought a dial back light, set it to 35° total 350 chevy and it runs way better switched to ported vacuum and adj the can. It completely woke it up!
That initial timing trick with the spark is freaking GENIUS dude.
This is a great video explaining total advance. I know there is a debate on full manifold versus timed versus no vacuum advance. The answer is they are all correct depending on your engine setup and most importantly what you plan to do with your car. If you are running a stock engine and only care about initial timing say at 10 degrees, then hook up that vacuum canister. It won’t hurt a thing and will help with engine idle. If you are running a mildly modified or high performance engine, then you will be better off working with total timing in the 32 to 36 degrees range. Uncle Tony hits the nail on the head when he talks about running total timing with full vacuum advance. The engine will miss fire and sputter at mid or half throttle because the timing will be way too advanced. He is also right when he talks about opening the idle mixture screws more as a possible remedy. This will work sometimes but the consequences is a rich running engine at idle that will run you out of your garage or shop and eventually foul plugs. So, disconnect that thing when running total timing or plug into the timed vac port on your carb. Your engine will thank you! Great work UT! You da man! K Roush.....
Much respect from Ontario Canada . Many years back when I was in school and worked for a gm dealership a mechanic who used to drag race taught me how to make power old school timing exhaust carbs and using a vacuum gauge Back then we made tons of power with minor mods and calibration. I became the qjet expert .They were great street carbs once you understand them and super reliable as well a great on gas
@4:15 Uncle Tony said: _"'Why don't you use timing tape?'" Because timing tape doesn't stay on forever."_
The trick to prevent timing tape from flying off is a) make sure you have an extremely clean surface on the damper before you stick it on, and b) once on, take a can of Krylon CLEAR spray paint (or other brand), and spray over the timing tape. *Once again: The key to prevent timing tape from loosening up and flying off is a **_very_** clean surface; that means NO grease, NO oil and NO rust on the harmonic balancer (aka damper) before you apply the timing tape then a shot of Krylon clear paint over it to seal the tape to the damper.*
It is best to paint your entire engine bay with clear coat.
Eliminates corrosion.
Helps hold things in place.
Makes wiring last forever.
And oh man is it a joy to work on pater.
Rinse it off and she’s clean.
Red Green always used Duct Tape😉
Use the timing tape then take a hacksaw and cut your marks into it using the tape and a guide. Any performance engine should not have a factory damper anyway.
@@philipmazzuca2269
You make a really good point here.
Some of the old 60's and 70's dampers were pretty good for not spinning and being factory accurate.
The later shit was literally made with not much better than spray foam. The balancer could be out by 4 to 8 degrees new. I remember back in the early 90's setting total timing on a 403 Olds motor and I'd lock down the distributor, rev the engine up a couple of times and the timing had changed. I thought the distributor was somehow turning. Took me a bit to figure out the outer ring of the damper was spinning on the rubber.
So, I agree buying a good damper is cheap insurance in my opinion.
Hammy- Agreed
This kind of knowledge isn't learned in a week. This is gold wish I would have known a few of these tricks back 15 yrs ago
Finally someone who actually speaks English on this timing subject, cheers uncle tony!
He doesn't speak English, he speaks american
Thunderhead289 vs uncle tonys garage on carbureted engine tech!!
We may be the only guys out there really hitting it hard.
Uncle Tony's Garage everyone’s hates us lately for this that or the other thing
@@ThunderHead289 not me, i love the info you share.
College verses high school my money on uncle tony he can send them iowa kids back to school
@thunderhead289
My friend, think of the haters as a gift....a sign of your success. Nobody pays attention to people who don't make an impact. You're doing great
Finally someone goes in-depth on timing thank you Tony!
But gets the measurement wrong …
Great explanation Tony. In my 66 years I have seen many burnt pistons caused by people not understanding The correct way to set total timing.
UT didnt explain that.
He told us how to fire off initially.
Setting you real world timing is slightly more involved.
@@hotrodray6802 true, they keep not understand the whole thing.
ATI dampeners are not cheap, but the 360 degree timing marks are worth every penny. Totally agree on the dial back lights being inaccurate. Threw mine out as well. Static light and 360 timing marks are the way to go. Thanks for another great video
All good and you made it clear that "Performance" engines can get away with just mechanical advance. They are not meant to get gas mileage necessarily ...
Mild street engines that haul the family around need the vacuum too. Good tip on fattening the low speed circuit to get away from lean burn and stratified charge issues at high vacuum cruise :)
Exactly what I needed to set total advance on my 009 VW. Thank You!
Folks... Listen up !!! The info he gave here is priceless! Having a instant light off .. on a Flat tappet cam is CRITICAL!!!
something you might want to mention about static timing an engine is it works with points but not on capacitive discharge ignitions and I believe on multiple spark ignition systems. It helps when you have everything in place battery, coil, ballast resister plugs etc. along with a distributor with a cap and rotor. really enjoy your videos keep them coming stay safe.
From one Tony to a other, thank you for putting up these videos and sharing your knowledge and experiences. Please keep doing it. And by the way, your right, there are very few individuals out there (speaking automotive) that have channels dedicated to this discipline. Thanks!
Hey uncle Tony, please tell us kids a bed time story on how to read plugs in depth. Thanks, this is great channel.
Thank you brother you really know your stuff. My 1956 ford vanette step van has a 352 fe with a 2bbl carb. I had a difficult time getting my fuel mixture right. Your video was very helpful. Thanks hope all is well on your end with covid-19 stay safe now.
That was a good tip on manually opening the weights on your rotor for maximum advance
I miss those days , nice refresher thanks for your time
Wow, talk about ironic - I was just experimenting with this exact thing yesterday on my own 440.
I don't have any fancy measuring devices, so I used a piece of paper to transfer the timing marks
off the front of the engine to the stock harmonic balancer.
Not even kidding.... and it worked, just like Tony shows here with his caliper thingy.
I had two distributors that I wanted to choose from and was able to compare the two's performance
easily doing this - there was quite a bit of difference in each one's built-in advance.
In the end, the DC/Mopar Performance distributor won and the stock one lost and was relegated
to the parts bin.
Once again, VERY practical lessons being taught here at UTG! You can do exactly what he shows
here easily, without a bunch of fancy tools or high tech equipment.
Thanks as always, Tony.
-Ed on the Ridge
9 sec street car BBF 466cu w minor mods loved 28inital w 36 total on the dizzy. Beautiful throttle response on the street w a 1050dominator. Nice to see someone who understands all this put it out there, so many guys dont know how to tune for power and cant tell them squat. Love your vids man,,,
If your real good in a first timing you can set to timing mark and turn the distributor til you hear the spark.
Much love tony.
Keep me interested in my projects.
I’m grateful for that.
Without enjoyment life .....
Ain’t good
I've marked these things for people by putting them on an indexer on a bridge port mill. Does a nice job.
That's something I'd pay for, for sure!
Been playing with engines a long time and not one time did I ever think of holding the shaft and turn the body till it sparks. GREAT IDEA!!!!
well if it sparks and cilibder has gas inside you may end in the garden of the lost ones....
Man Tony you sir are a lost art you just can’t find engine tuners like your self any more
You have some awesome old school advice, my friend!!
I grew up in a time where i welded up the advance in the distributor to limit the total timing. , file to suit,. 12 initial plus 22-24 centrifugal was fairly accurate.
I’m showing my age and your vids are enjoyed.!!!
I have had both a timing light and a timing tape failure as well. Expensive and lasting lessons.
i have a detonation sensor..
good luck
Ty Tony a year later video in Tony’s English is perfect. Ty . Big block Chevy had a set advanced setting. Tutorial was awesome.
Great points UT, especially on unverified dial-back lights, very well said as they can be unstable.
I'd like to add, don't trust marks left by others, I've experienced situations where a motor ran like crap but good enough to pass apparently b/c the guy who marked the damper accidentally marked it twice with 2nd mark being accidental paint drip. Then set timing to the accidental mark. (Doh!)
Deep boat bilge and salt-rusted damper but almost by luck I noticed the two paint marks. I'd suspected something was wrong just by listening to the motor idle, the timing sounded off and looked into it.
So I encourage others experiment with igniton timing a little to gain experience and listen closely. Small tweeks can improve things like drivability, etc.
Sometimes I wish I could jump in the video and help you explain some concepts. I trained Auto-Diesel Tech for thirty five years during the muscle car era.
In order to do power timing with certain degree of accuracy, you best have access to a chassis dyno and the proper test equipment. Power time a stock engine at peak torque rpm under load was best practice at the time. A modified engine is best power timed on an engine dyno. Although it can be done if you have proper component specs.
You can still semi-power time an engine under no load, by moving the distributor until you achieve best vacuum at peak torque rpm and go from there.
I have a question: how lean is too lean? During the early 70's, while doing R&D work, I had carburetor curves set at 21:1 at cruising speeds and with the proper engine timing.
I know you were trying to show how to "static time" an engine. I think it would have made more sense to the viewers if the distributor cap had been on the distributor and at least #1 cble had been on the cap
Keep up the good work! It's fun and instructional watching your videos.
Cheers!
Perfect timing! I was just about to tune up my engine.
Me too, Uncle Tony is not just an ace mechanic, he's psychic as well!
You mean Perfect "timing", lol
Good video , never built compete race engines , but for the standard engine tuned it by ear , slight cam changes the marks some does it not , anyway , slight ping when hitting it , back it off till none , and your done , quite an educational video keep them coming .
I made my own marks using masking tape.
Put the masking tape on top of the timing tab, mark the lines, they are 2° apart then put the masking tape on the damper. Kinda like using timing tape, then use a marker to mark the damper up to 40°. On my small block n big block Chevy, full advance running the engine using a timing light, hit on 36° full advance, which was coincidentally at about the 12 o'clock position on the damper. I used a medium n light spring on the HEI distributor.
Both engines run great! Great drivability, and good getup n go when I need it. Passing gear
kicks in good n hard n works great as well.
Man I hate that you have to automatically pre defend your video information because of the naysayers, I think you are talking from past experience and that's what it takes to teach. I would have already wanted to pinch their heads off! but you keep your cool, keep up the good work!
I'd argue his last point of re setting advance for starting up an engine. He states to set it to your total advance of say 30 degrees, then insert your distributor and turn the housing until you get spark. That's for initial timing, not your total timing. Doing it as he states will then introduce even more advance once the engine starts and the mechanical advance kicks in.
Tony, you probably get sick & tired of me repeating the following, but it's true: Both you and "My Vintage Iron" ( channel ) are hands down the best 2 teachers on youtube.......barr none. Plus, both of you guys work more with the classic, older stuff. I meet young mechanics all too often who don't even know how to work on drum brakes, lol.........and forget about carbs. If it ain't EFI, they're totally lost.
Just woke up after hiking all day yesterday. Im happy to wake up to an uncle tony video. Keep it up
having a lean miss with my holley at part throttle, never thought to look at my vacuum advance on my dizzy. Thanks! I'll look at that first then the fuel aspect again.
If you don't understand how a coil works you will be confused.He is talking about the high voltage spark wire from the coil. when a coil is powered up it charges. when the power is off it discharges. HENCE SPARK The distributor controls the coil.
I tried making marks by measuring half way around which is 180 degrees. Half of that is 90 degrees, half of that is 45....and keep halfing/marking it until you get the range of marks you want. And that would work with any diameter damper/balancer. Just have to make sure the outer damper didn't spin on on the rubber ring previously.
I enjoy watching Tony's videos.
This guy knows his stuff!
Tony Brings back fond memories. When i was 16 I didn't have a timing light or a dwel meter
But I did have a beautiful 55 Chevy 2 door hard top ! I figured out to set the timing. I could take the cap off turn the housing in the opposite direction of rotation of the rotor and watch the point's. When they spark your there. Lock it down. At that point mark the location so you can always return to your base position.
move the distributor and listen to your motor it will tell you where it wants to be .On an electronic one
just use the number 1 wire.
Another great episode from UTG. I love how U explained the negative comments from the peanut gallery before they had a chance to type them in. Awesome job with explainingTony and great job with the video Kathy. Can't wait to see how bottlerockets progressing and what happened to her trans.
Timing is everything
Thanks Tony for your educational videos
It's got a 360ci 1941 D19 Luxury liner / 6 passenger coupe [All MOPAR]
Edelbrock Performer
THANKS Timing and Tune up is next
Thank you for another great "tech tip" video - I like the part of the video at the end moving the disty to get a spark at max timing. Great idea - thanks again.
This has always been gospel to me for the past 30 years I've been working on and building engines and any mouth breathers that try and say otherwise are nitwit keyboard warriors
On my pontiac, I don't use the vac advance and have modified weights, so setting the timing for me is setting it as advanced as possible without having a miss at idle! And boom, it's perfect.
So i just built a 351w for my 70 mustang....Im still running the break in oil for the first 500 miles..that's how new it is...I drove it today...man, rich, timing off...everything...Now i can pull it in the garage and confidently do it my self...thanks to Tony and Thunderhead...You guys are the bomb!!
You're right about every engine is different, the efficiency of the combustion chamber makes a big difference. Back in the day chambers were not as efficient as todays engines thus needed way more total advance ie low 40s for max power.
👍 60s SBF needed 42-45.
Some 429s needed 48.
Great channel. Got a hold of an 85 mustang this spring. The first thing to go was the electronic ignition.
Ive found success doing this using a recurve kit putting largest bushing and lightest springs on mechanical advance giving 10 to 12 degrees of timing coming all in at 1500 to 2000 rpm and setting crank timing to 20 to 24 so 30 to 36 degrees of total timing
yep. more initial than mechanical all in at 2000-3000
This is awesome. I'm going to learn this. I'm working on putting in my own HHO system and then advance the total timing on this 1998 test Toyota Camry.
i like that you still use accel supercoil and thanks for these amazing tips
Uncle Tonya garage laying down some knowledge while im in the garage rebuilding my 429 bbf for my 69 tbird 👌
thanks, I've been needing this and didn't want to be one of those guys that didn't do his research before asking...
Thanks for your time and knowledge on your videos! Is there any truth to advancing timing even more at high elevation? I in Arizona at 7000' altitude with my 78 chevy k10 with the 350. I have it set to 36 total (unless my dialback is wrong as well) I have heard you can advance timing 1 degree for every 1000 elevation due to the thinner air and slower burn rate. Any truth to that?
You ask an interesting question. I was working at the Dodge dealer, around 1994, when a Viper came into the service department, with the same issue. Apparently, (AND! I'm only guessing....) it came up from Southern California. I was told, California. BUT, it was OBD-1, which didn't take care of that problem.
I have a 75 C-20 with the 350 that is set at basically sea level. When I go over the pass and up in the mountains to visit my brother. It over heats knocks and pings and runs like crap. But the moment I hit the down hill run off the pass towards home she cools down to normal runs like she should so there might be something to that.
Thank's for using the actual damper and cover with those marks... I learn best by seeing and not by hearing a lot of talk.
Your videos help alot to someone learning as I go. Every video packed with info love it. And badass cars
I have both a old sbc and a new ford coyote I race. Funny thing is despite all the fancy computer controls on the coyote, for power, I still time it the same 27 degree from 3500rpm and up (it spends all day 4500 to 7500). You old school guys might be interested to know I can still use a timing light with a lead extension on the coil on plug ignition coils.
Don't know if you still have that but that fucking Ford Coyote is something!
Not many engines even have a life at 5500 rpm for long but that damn thing wakes up at 4000 by 5500 is getting some what we say in Oklahoma "getting on one" and is like a screaming mad man crystal meth monster at 7800 RPM as you hang the fuck on and that bitch is like.... MORE MOTHER FUCKER! PEDAL ON THE RIGHT! PUSSY!
I was never really a big Ford fan until I was pinned to the seat from one of those and once we got down the road got off the highway and went back to where we started and picked up my asshole and soul that got left behind when we launched into what I can only describe as the tunnel vision of destiny! I was fucking SOLD!
I can't afford one right now even at age 46 but I had enough to get a 94 mustang with only a 3.8 V6 with a T5 manual 5 speed and it's not much but I got it delivered on a trailer not running in 3 years and is now my daily driver!
Many can beat me and that's okay but they bought theirs and I built mine!
But when I grow up! One day ...
I want a fucking coyote fire breathing mad man meth monster!
Lol
For now I play that role in my 6 banger!
LMFAO!
Excellent way of explaining it spot on like the way u mark the dampner
One thing I would add is to check the stock damper to make sure your "0" Mark is where it's supposed to be. I have found a few Ford and Gm dampers that the Mark was off by noticeable amount. Also when building an engine from random parts this needs to be checked because over the years the factory marks were located in different spots. So a timing cover or pointer from a '67 could be in a different spot then in '71. And this can make setting timing a nightmare unless you check this carefully when building the engine. Or when trying to figure out why an engine runs poorly when timed by the marks .
I never use timing marks or a light to adjust ignition timing. I’ll have an assistant put car in gear, load the engine and then I’ll advance the ignition timing as far as I can go until the engine starts spark knocking, then back it off until it stops.
Been doing it this way for years with great results.
🔔😎
Didja ever notice all the big name hot shots doing that first crank and then trying to turn the distributor to get their creation to run??
Ya, meee too. Drives me crazy.
Good job UT.👍👍
Simple and effective explanation. 😎😎😎🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I use the static method to set initial timing and to break in the camshaft and engine. I use a timing light to set total mechanical timing at high RPM. Most stock distributor springs won't allow the full total timing of the weights at any RPM, but after market, high performance quick advance springs do, as they reach total timing at a much lower RPM, often making the factory vacuum advance unusable at part throttle and left sealed off.
thast why you need an adjustable advance to limit it
this guy is a smart mechanic good video my brother
Thank for your videos I have a dart and all this help me a lot!!
I can agree with this video. Setting up the curve and tuning the distributor should be good video.
Your videos are really interesting even though I’m running a big 4 pot lump.
I like these types of videos...keep them coming!
I just use Timing Tape on my stock damper I put it on when I rebuilt the engine and it still on there and works great or if you buy a aftermarket damper it will have the timing marks right on it
Tony and Uncle Cathy I love your videos and Insight. The ways You have figured out to hop up engines is so unique. The thing with your methods is it's hard/impossible to hit the bullseye better than half the time at best. You'll spend all night at the track to get one good run that you can't repeat the next night. Fun but too chancy.
looking forward to the curving the distributer vid.. my mopar distributer is adjustable it seems, slots and screws to adjust how far it will advance i think.. rather then having to weld the slots like most others i see
UT. Whhoooo!! I got it and do it with my cars, but you just made some run for the Xanax bars!!!
The force is strong with this one!
When doing engine break in advancing the timing an extra 5° can save your header coating. When the engine is in a no load condition the crank moves faster than the flame front and you will still be burning the mixture when the exhaust valve opens. Make sure to back it back down when you go for the test drive.
My first car was a 1973 Chevelle with a 350 V8. The way I set the timing on that car was, after re-curving the distributor using an off the shelf kit, drive the car with as much timing advance as it would take. To test it I set the timing and then did full throttle acceleration. If I heard detonation I backed it down until it got quiet. Very, very scientific.
BTW my badass engine had a Holley 650 4-barrel carburetor atop an Edelbrock Performer intake, Hedman headers feeding into a 2.25" dual exhaust kit from JC Whitney I hung myself with baling wire, and turbo mufflers. Also had a B&M shift kit in the 350 turbo transmission. With the stock smog cam, 8.5:1 compression, and a very tall 2.73 differential. It was a bit slow off the line, but the top end was awesome. It would bury the needle on the 120 mph speedometer, and I mean literally down below the window on the dash. It was fun for a high school kid.
Needed a cam dude
@@chopperking007 Most definitely it needed a cam. But there’s this stuff called “money” and I didn’t have enough
@MrJeffcoley1 here in Australia in the 80s we were putting big cams in your 70s cars and reving them to 7000rpm
@@chopperking007 We were doing it at the exact same time LOL
@@MrJeffcoley1 and we still are lol
Tony, it seems like a video demonstration of setting timing by the method you talked about when you stuck the dist. into the timing cover.
Best timing video EVER ! Thanks for that
Great info as always. Thanks Uncle Tony and Uncle Kathy.
Good information, I’ve purchased that timing tape from Jegs, works great till it blows off at high rpm, due to Jegs great customer service,I bet I’ve went through 4 or 5 of them at no charge before I just said to hell with it, my FE has the numbers on the balancer, and they are barely readable, I’m thinking about taking my dremel and making the marks at every 10* much like you’ve done
Just spray some clear over it . Mine been on for 30 yrs..
Uncle Tony, was fascinated by ball stud hemi video. Is there anymore info on that engine? The info you give is priceless, Thank you and merry Christmas.
The limiting of vacuum advance is critical if you have an emission control distributor as they had vacuum canisters that added about twice as much advance as you really wanted if you advanced the timing for performance. Many of these engines would buck if you added even two more degrees of initial advance or even went to a lighter set of advance springs.
Love that Lamborghini of Beverly Hills is advertising on your channel. Perhaps McLaren will be advertising on lamchops.
I use Epoxy to seal on the timmiing tape.
The way you set up the distributer without a light is exactly how you set up mags on old John Deere 2 cylinders. The mags have an impulse trip to counter for the low cranking speed of hand starting from the fly wheel. So you rotate the engine to tdc of cylinder 1, pull the mag, stick a wire in the number 1 cap hole and float it off the mag body, rotate the coupling until it snaps and makes a spark, then put the mag back in and rotate it back until it trips again. Then once you start it you adjust from there. I always find it funny when technics stay relatively the same wether it’s a 1939 John Deere B or a 70s Mopar.
Damn Bro. You did it again. I had just come back from making a coffee and tobacco run in the old C-20 and the old girl was pinging as I was running her up the highway. So I did a quickly by ear along side the road. Know its not the gasoline cause I just filled up with 92 octane.. And I get home and your doing a timing video..
if it's not the gas it may be the timing it could also be the plug with these hot days you may need a colder plug I've had spark knock issues before most of the time it's in the summer on those real hot days I could back the timing off and it would not ping but run like crap so went tossed a colder plug in it turned the timing back up and never had a issue since.
@@79tazman that's an idea , I'll have to dig around in the Chevy parts shelf's and see if I have anything besides R44TX for it.
If you just filled up it could TOTALLY be the gas. ...
@@fastinradfordable same gas I always put in it every morning because it never gets below half tank. my usual 76 station, same pump I always use. 92 octane 76 gasoline. Cuz it only runs on 76 or Exxon. ARCO gas builds up brown crap on my plugs after a tank full.
Hot Rod Magazine had an article about total advancement, 40 years ago. I believe they said to have 40 degrees. They. also, said to keep your spark plug wires separated from each other if they fire consecutively on the same bank.
perfect timing.. messing around with my mopar electronic distributer right now.
cool info.ya true what you said about real hot rodding ,theres nothing like building it your self without just buying it all already done.thay way you can say i built it.also helps when people ask how.then that way u know what your taliking about when other motor heads ask how you didi it.i have a 72 chevy nova.just a roller right now.bit give me six mounts ,then it off to good times
love to see a video on converting a mopar to electronic ignition too
Great video but you should mention how old stock balancers rotate on their isolators and are no longer accurate for timing. I like the small hacksaw marks, I’m gonna do that next time!
I tried your "drop in" dizzy procedure to try and time out 305. But looks like I didn't have much luck because you have to turn the dizzy fast enough for it to spark. But what I didn't do was hold it "hard" in the direction of rotation. That probably would have helped get rid of the slop that I was dealing with. Either way it got me close enough to start it up, set at 10deg initial. Was also a hei unit and I'm wondering if that matters to get it set perfect? Thought maybe points and condenser have that stored energy. Blazer needs a tune up so I'm re watching some things.
This here is the timing video I have been waiting for thanks again tony
Thanks for clearing up some terms for a newbie! Great vidya!