What would you set the timing for best performance of a stock 455??
Its says 10 deg btdc but I was told you would get more power if you go further than 10 deg.....Anyone know the sweet spot...I have a 4 barrel edelbrock carb and a performer intake!!!

 

35 total, whatever the initial is leave it at that.

 

Thank you sir!!!

 

My 455 is at about 10:1 CR and I found that if I go over 15 degrees initial, the starter has a hard time with hot starts. I'm only getting about 15 degrees of mechanical, so I need to find a way to wring out about 5 more from the distributor. I hear that the Crane recurve kit is supposed to provide right about 20 degrees.

My suggestion for you would be, see how much mechanical the distributor provides, and bump the initial as high as you can, up to a max of 35 degrees total as ah64pilot said, but with initial not so high that you have problems with hot starts. You may need to recurve the distributor to get to 35 total. Or, if you have a lower CR, you may be able to go higher initial.

 

Made some adjustment this morning....boy what a difference......This old car has no problems leaving a nice strip of rubber from a dead stop!!!!
I drove it for a while and when I got home it was nice and hot and now it starts great....before it was hard to start when it was nice and hot!!

I must admit I didnt know much about setting the timing but after doing some reading on this site and the help of others i've learned a lot!!

Now im off to buy a new rear tire

 

So what's your initial now, and how much mechanical are you getting?

 

Its about 15 deg initial!!! And it runs great!!!