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

[willett]

I should specify:

When I set the rotor to spark cyl #1 the balencer was at 6 degrees BTDC

[bilfman]

Counter clockwise to advance.
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[Rufton]

Please use timing light.
That slight ping can damage piston.

[86c20]

With a light set it at 8 btdc. See how she runs. If she has a good size cam set it at 3; rpm and 36*
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[willett]

how many rpm 86c20?

[86c20]

I would set it at idle first at 8. See how that goes. If u think it has a good size cam then 2500-3000 rpm and that would be aboyt 36 in timing
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[willett]

advanced it to 7 today, still not running 100% but going better.
I'll try 8 tomorrow, I do have a timing light.

I would have ran it a little more but I have dual 3" glass packs and I'm afraid of the cops when shes to the floor

[86c20]

down here where i live right on the water we tend to set them at about 10-12 at idle. with no problems at all. so if she is geting better keep turning it up. dont go much more then 12 tho kick back and pinging starts fast. if you get ping drop 2 till it goes away

as far as the loudness. i have a 454 with 2.5 straight pipes in my wrecker lol

[willett]

Thanks, I'll give it a go tonight.

I was setting it at about 1000RPM. Is this right?
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[geezer#99]

Warm your motor up, turn the idle down as low as possible, disconnect and plug vac hose to distributor then set your timing at 12 to 14 degrees.
At 1000 rpm you're getting into the mechanical advance in the distributor so set timing at lowest possible rpm.

[willett]

okay, my low idle is about 475. I'll give it a go there with the advance hose blocked

I put it to about 9BTDC today at 1000RPM and it was running better, but still not quite there.

I noticed that it was smelling pretty rich, does the timing have any bearing on exaust smell?

[geezer#99]

It can if it's retarded and not burning fuel well.
You can't have much of a lumpy cam if you get get it to idle at 475rpm.

[86c20]

not at all at 475. jump to 12-14 then retune that carb set idea at about 650ish

[willett]

maybe I'm on glue, idle is pretty dang low though and it just barley hangs in there. Its definitly sub 600.

thanks for you rinput guys, I'm learning a lot!