Ignition Timing and my 454

[willett]

Hey guys,

This is my first shot at timing the Ignition on a V-8, or anything with more than 1 cylinder for that matter, I Understand the basic theory of ignition timing but experiencewise I have zilch.

In short:

yesterday,
leaky intake gasket, pulled dizzy and intake, marked dizzy, Replaced intake gasket, didn't seat distrubuter onto oil pump, didn't notice, cranked engine, smoke from carb, no start etc.

Today,

Rolled engine to TDC, rolled back 6 degrees, set rotor to #1 cyl while balencer 6 degrees advanced, engine starts


I haven't taken it for a drive yet as I did this after work today and I'm pooped, but I suspect that its not going to run perfectly just off of my static timing.



What it sounds like to me from my brief research is that I need to take the truck for a good drive and advance it to the point that it pings under load and then back it off a bit.

Is that all there is to it, or am I missing something else here?




another stupid question:
Am I going to rotate the cap clockwise or ccw to advance the timing? I think that I have it figured it out in my head but verification seeds confidence.



Oh,
Its a 454 that runs lumpy as hell at Idle, Stock heads, aluminum intake, Holley 650 carb, I don't really know a whole lot about it, it came with the truck from a PO that didn't really know his ass from his elbow but it spins my 35" tires without much trouble

Thanks guys
Spencer