Timing or the starter?

[68 ReNay]

I recently put a small block stock, crate motor in my '68. i'm having difficulty getting the right timing. when i set it at the standard 10-12 degrees, i have now power (smoking the tires, etc). but it starts everytime, hot or cold and drives fine.

when i advance the timing enough to get the performance, smoking tires and second gear scratch, then it heasitates to start when the motor's warm - like driving across town and stopping at a store for a few minutes. once cool, it starts right up. so it initially sounds like a case of Heat Soak on the starter, but this never happens when the timing is retarded back down to say 11 degrees. i can drive it for an hour, turn it off for a few minutes and it starts right back up.

what's going on?

[bryanw1968]

What cam do you have? That will determine what initial timing you need to be at. Once you know that and set it, you can add the rest in through springs and weights in the distributor for total advance.

If you're dragging keep turning the distributor clockwise until it doesn't drag anymore. A rule of thumb I use if I don't have a light is to advance it until it drags and then come back between 3-5 degrees. That should be real close.
You still need to make sure that you're not pinging under a load.

What distributor do you have?
What coil?
After market module?

Good luck,
B

[68 ReNay]

all i can tell you is it's a GM Goodwrench crate motor. the engine documentation says to set it at 10 degrees. it's got an HEI distributor. it was an Accel Supercoil, but the distributor was bad and my mechanic replaced it (prior to puting the new motor in) - don't know the brand. it's got a brand new coil in the cap too.

when you say "drags" do you mean like running rough? as i advanced it from 11 degrees the engine revved higher until a certain point, then it started running rough. i used a timing light to set it at 11, but i just gradually advanced over the last week until i got the performance i wanted - but i haven't put a light to it to see what the actual timing is set at now.

i've heard of puting a curve kit in the distributor.