I have a ‘70 W-30 rebuilt to stock specs except for a conversion to electronic ignition (electronic module inside stock distributor). The rebuild has about 700 miles on it. I always run premium gas - usually Sunoco. On occasion I do get engine run-on/dieseling after shutting the car off. Also, occasionally the car will stutter momentarily when driving on the highway. Otherwise the car runs perfectly.

I want to try to lower the initial timing to see if that ends the problems. I have a feeling the issue might be modern gas.

How do I check Initial Timing ? How do I retard Initial Timing ? I want to check the Initial Timing first before I do anything - I am curious to see what that number is.

I have a Sears old school Timing Light and a wrench and/or sockets to loosen the distributor.

Thanks

 

If you don't know how to use your timing light, check out some Utube videos, that may help you. It is not the hard to learn. Or do you have a friend that can show you.

 

Before doing anything, make sure the advance weights in the distributor are free to move, and they return to the base setting.

I certainly won’t hurt to try backing off the timing a little, but more than likely it will make the run on issue worse. Less timing means lower engine speed, meaning you will need to raise the idle speed a bit to compensate. That mean more of the idle slot is exposed. Not to mention running less than specified timing tends to make the engine feel and sound lazy.