Timing Issue..

[Sooner66]

Hey guys... hoping for some more help from you guys.. atleast to point me in the right direction.. now just a heads up, im not that great with this "timing" stuff.. still learning..

I hooked up a timing light on my 66, now with it running at idle, with the vacuum advance hose pulled off the carb and plugged the hose it show my timing is what i believe way off... the timing tab i have goes from 8 after tdc to 16 before tdc. At idle its way past the 16 before tdc. If i try and bring it in closer to 12 before tdc or any where near it she doesnt like it and tries to die. Isnt the timing suppose to be around 12 before tdc? i dont actually know what its at because like i said the pointer maxes out at 16 and its past that.. it seems to run ok at the setting its at just doesnt seem right to me.. i have tried 2 timing lights same result. The dial style light i have, i had it set to 36 degrees and at idle set at 36 on the dial it points to 0 on the pointer does that mean im 36 degrees at idle? shouldnt it be MAXED at 36? when you rev it up she starts going higher, when i max my dial at 50 it points to 0 when i am holding a steady rpm .. can someone please help me with this issue. i dont know squat about timing apparently..

btw engine is a 350 not sure of internals, does have a cam not sure on size but noticable and has a edelbrock intake and 1405 carb.

Thanks guys and sorry for buggin for help again

[Sooner66]

here is a video i took today with the new exhaust if anyone is interested in checkin this puppy out... she still needs a lot of work but hoping to fix it all up

1966 chevy c10 - YouTube

[mikie 1954]

If I read it right you pluged the hose but you should plug the outlet on your carb. Hope this helps?
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[Sooner66]

i plugged both

[boucher racing]

Originally Posted by Sooner66

Hey guys... hoping for some more help from you guys.. atleast to point me in the right direction.. now just a heads up, im not that great with this "timing" stuff.. still learning..

I hooked up a timing light on my 66, now with it running at idle, with the vacuum advance hose pulled off the carb and plugged the hose it show my timing is what i believe way off... the timing tab i have goes from 8 after tdc to 16 before tdc. At idle its way past the 16 before tdc. If i try and bring it in closer to 12 before tdc or any where near it she doesnt like it and tries to die. Isnt the timing suppose to be around 12 before tdc? i dont actually know what its at because like i said the pointer maxes out at 16 and its past that.. it seems to run ok at the setting its at just doesnt seem right to me.. i have tried 2 timing lights same result. The dial style light i have, i had it set to 36 degrees and at idle set at 36 on the dial it points to 0 on the pointer does that mean im 36 degrees at idle? shouldnt it be MAXED at 36? when you rev it up she starts going higher, when i max my dial at 50 it points to 0 when i am holding a steady rpm .. can someone please help me with this issue. i dont know squat about timing apparently..

btw engine is a 350 not sure of internals, does have a cam not sure on size but noticable and has a edelbrock intake and 1405 carb.

Thanks guys and sorry for buggin for help again

I have chased my tail a few times when your harmonic balancer slips or is slipping. The only way to time it at that point, is to use a vacuum gauge and drive/ping testing, then back it off a few degrees. Another sign of too much timing is hard starting when it's warm.

Sounds good!
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[Sooner66]

starts easy when warm.. sometimes it "diesels" when i shut it off but not always

[tincan1966]

Sounds to me like there is a mis-match of the timing pointer and harmonic balancer.

I am by far not an engine expert, but my experience with A SBC is if you were really running that much advance, it should ping under acceleration like nobody's business and not start well warm. Generally 10-12 degrees static and 34-36 "all-in" around 3500 rpm works well for most street applications.

[bhc41051]

Have you had the truck very long? Is it possible your timing chain is worn?

[T2vigil]

I'm not saying this is your problem but it was mine. When I bought my 64 it had a HEI distributer. The PO did not have the distributer cap installed correctly. Not set down with the index tab. And it gave me the same problems as yours. Hope this helps.

[AcampoDave]

Have you checked your mechanical advance. You should be able to manually twist your rotor and have it snap back. If that's not the case you better have a peek under there and check the weights and springs.

[Irishbleueyes]

When your timing dial is set to 36 and it zeros out on your pulley at idle that is what your timing is. I have a 283 and with the vacuum line connected my HEI is set to 52* in neutral at 1000 rpm but I have a Automatic and the rpm drops to 550 in gear. Cracking the throttle will drop off the vacuum pull and the mech side of the dist kicks in. All in by 3500 rpm should not be more that 36* but as stated depending on what dist your're running and its curve character the hard to start warm method will always work. The 283 literally woke up with that HEI and all that timing, best performance mod out of anything I've done. Keep working on it, get it figured out. It'll be the best thing for that engine and gas mileage in the long run.

[1966FLEETSIDE]

i also have a 66 with an original 327,with points.im thinking of going electronic,anybody have any pointers on that???

[Sooner66]

thanks for the input guys.... it does have hei, ill go check it out in a few... the motor appears to be fairly new and was told it had low mileage on a rebuild so not sure if timing chain is streched, it runs pretty good.. how would i tell if my harmonic balancer and my timing tab is mis matched?

[Sooner66]

btw starts easy when warm. barely turn key and she fires off

[Irishbleueyes]

Originally Posted by Sooner66

btw starts easy when warm. barely turn key and she fires off

Just twist up the dist. advance a half inch at a time till its hard to start when its warm, then back it off a bit till it won't bind the starter and your done. Only way to figure your timing marks is to put number 1 cyl. on TDC and compare where the pulley to 0 hits on the timing tab. Youtube it

[ACK]

I had the same issue with my 6-cylinder, however, don't know if this will apply to your 8. The initial timing was set at 36*, as I slowly rotated the distributor down, I had to adjust the idle or it would stall. With the high advance, the carb was also set to run very rich, so I had a vacuum gauge hooked up, too, to keep everything in check. Once I got things to where they seemed okay, I drove around 5 miles then rechecked the timing and vacuum, then tweaked.

Good luck!

[Sooner66]

i tried doing that and adjusting idle to keep it running, it just seemed to run poorly when i get it even close to where it should be and it stumbles alot, with where its at now it seems to run pretty good just would like to know why its showing 36 inital timing at idle maybe my timing tab and harmonic balancer are in fact mis matched??

[T2vigil]

Pull the #1 plug and rotate the motor by hand to set the piston at top dead center on the compression stroke. Verify the timming marks line up. Pull the distributer cap off and the rotor should be pointing directly at the #1 spark plug. That verifies the distributer is in correctly.

[tincan1966]

Originally Posted by T2vigil

Pull the #1 plug and rotate the motor by hand to set the piston at top dead center on the compression stroke. Verify the timming marks line up. Pull the distributer cap off and the rotor should be pointing directly at the #1 spark plug. That verifies the distributer is in correctly.

It makes absolutely no difference where the rotor points, as long as it aligns with the #1 spark plug wire on the cap. There really is no correct position for #1.

A lot of people seem to confuse the term "check to see if pointing to #1 cylinder" as meaning the actual cylinder location, when in fact it means the position of the plug wire on the distributor cap

[66Submarine]

Originally Posted by tincan1966

It makes absolutely no difference where the rotor points, as long as it aligns with the #1 spark plug wire on the cap. There really is no correct position for #1.

A lot of people seem to confuse the term "check to see if pointing to #1 cylinder" as meaning the actual cylinder location, when in fact it means the position of the plug wire on the distributor cap

x2

[jtrichard]

IT does matter to a point where #1 is at on the dist.... if you are way out your wires wont fit for crap and then you may have to rotate the dist. so far around you cant get an allen wrench in to adjust the points

[tincan1966]

Originally Posted by jtrichard

IT does matter to a point where #1 is at on the dist.... if you are way out your wires wont fit for crap and then you may have to rotate the dist. so far around you cant get an allen wrench in to adjust the points

I agree, to a point. But in reality, the engine doesn't know where the distributor is pointing, so anywhere in the circle will work. I like to move the wires about 2 positions clockwise of the "normal" position, as it makes a neater appearance and eliminates a couple of the crisscross wires. Also do not ever run a points distributor.
On the big blocks I've run in the past, the camshafts have #4 and #7 cylinders switched, so I have to build my own wires any. I prefer this rather than some cheap, "universal one size fits some" set.

[Rich 5150 69]

These articles should help, long winded but a lot of info.
http://forum.grumpysperformance.com/...5&p=1372#p1372

http://www.dragracingonline.com/tech...-lights-1.html

[Sooner66]

Thanks for the help guys, the timing pointer is the wrong one for my balancer... thanks for all your help!