Hi all,
working on dialing in the car.
found my VA line was plugged by a small bead bearing.
taking that off so my VA works as intended, I am needing to set my timing.
my light cannot pick up the timing mark searching all around 34-36 degrees.
can someone take a picture of their distributor orientation so I can make sure mine is at least close? Looking straight back at the car, the plugs for the tach and battery are in the four oclock position.

 

 

The picture thing will not work for you. Get a dial back style timing light or mark the balancer. Most HEI distributors have 21* of mechanical advance, if you want to get close subtract 21 from 36 and set your timing to 15 or 16 degrees BTDC. Your bigger problem will be limiting the vacuum advance to 10 degrees which is why the line was blocked.

 

This is what I’ve got. Too fancy?







I will buy some timing tape as well

 

You don't need a timing tape, you need to learn how to use the setback function of the timing light and work off the 0 timing mark.

 

ok thank you. I’ll do some reading.

 

Compared to mine, you are one tooth off from where mine is. Mine is more like 3 O clock. Is the vac canister hitting the fire wall? If so you may have to move it,if not and the timing is correct, leave it alone.

 

Pull #1 plug.
Stick your finger in the hole.
Crank the engine over until it spits out your finger.
With the fan belts or a socket on the crank rotate the balancer until the line cut into the balancer aligns with 0° on the timing tab. That is TDC.
Remove the distributor cap. The rotor tab should be pointing towards the #1 cylinder. And #1 plug tower on the cap. If not pull the distributor out and rotate a tooth too or fro.

Once you've established TDC on the compression stroke of #1 cylinder now you are ready to time the engine.

With the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged off to prevent vacuum leaks, a warm engine, choke off, start the engine and see where the timing mark is. It should be somewhere around 0° and not run very well.

Twist the distributor to achieve 12-14° at idle (650-750 RPM). Snug the distributor down. Adjust the air fuel to achieve the highest possible vacuum reading. Recheck timing.

Plug in the vacuum advance and see how much timing increases from the base of 12-14°, say 10° from the vac advance canister. The timing should now read ~i 22-24°...with the can plugged into its manifold vacuum source (not a ported carb nipple).

Now look at the centrifugal advance. Bring the engine up on RPM until the timing stops advancing. Usually 2800-3000 RPMS with t total of 34-36°. This is your total timing.
Base = 12° + Vac = 22° + centrifugal = 12-14° more or total of 34-36. If the vacuum can isn't cooperating invest in an adjustable travel (not rate) advance canister. This will allow adjustability. The centrifugal weights and springs should be clean and lightly lubed.

A set back timing light works in the reverse. With the timing set at 22-24° dial the light back until the timing mark is aligned with 0° on the balancer. Then read what the timing light says...should say 22-24°
Steve

 

Mp,
Here is my opinion. It looks like your setup is pretty much stock ? For starters I would forget about total advance, restricting the vacuum, yada yada yada. Set the timing to the factory setting with the factory procedure ( probably with the vac advance unplugged ) and see how it runs.

If you cant get the distributor moved far enough without the vacuum pod hitting the firewall then you might have to pull it and move it a tooth.

Once you get it to the factory settings then you can mess with it to your hearts content if you are not happy with it.

 

Factory settings will not work with an HEI.

 

Agreed, a GM HEI has a lot less mechanical advance than a points distributor, so its initial is higher in order to achieve the same total advance.

With this said, setting the HEI initial to the same as the points specification will allow the engine to start and run, it will just restrict full-throttle performance (and may result in the engine running a bit warmer).

 

Note: Your current distributor may be clocked differently then this setup. (i.e. where the #1 plug wire is on the cap)
Also note that if yours is currently running correctly there's really no reason to adjust where the plugs are on the cap unless you want to test your skills.