Timing Light Question

[oldspowered67C10]

Billla, when I have a adjustable advance distributor I always set total timing and then mess with the springs/weights to get the amount of idle advance and the curve that I want. The reason I do it that way is that total mechanical advance is somewhat of a constant(assuming you dont change the stop bushings) but low rpm mechanical advance varies according to the springs/weights etc. It just easier for me, it usually ends up with alot less trial and error and lot less time with the engine reved to 4000 rpms in the garage. Its true that most aftermarket adjustable distributors are so good that you could look at the graph, decide which mechanical advance curve you want, install the appropiate springs/weights/cams, set idle advance and be pretty sure that youre total is right where they say it should be but why risk it?