Big Block Timing Issues

[Rat72]

I am working my way through issues on a 454 with HEI ingnition. It did not run well when I picked it up even though the engine is pretty fresh. I figured I should look at the timing but it's been awhile since I did timing with a timing light rather than a computer.

The first thing that happened is that I got shocked when I grabbed the distributor? I've never had this happen before and looking for a cause? Seems like bad grounding but I'm just guessing.

Next I noticed that the timing was around 12 degrees. I bumped it up to about 16 degrees and it ran better. I believe the stock timing should be around 8 degrees and it would not idle when I put it down to 8. It does have a cam which the previous owner said was one step up from an RV cam. I know, that's not much info. Could the distributor be off a notch? What is a reasonable guess on intitial timing, 16 sounds like a lot.

Thanks,
Whit

Thanks,
Whit