1977 Chevy C10 known as SharkBite

[Sodell]

Yea, you need to put a timing gun on it or you will be going around in circles. Sounds like you have it adjusted OK, but timing will affect start up when cold and when hot. If your timing is off a bit it may crank hard when warm ect...I would not mess with the carb other than the idle screw, they are pretty good right out of the box, you can mess one up easily if you are not familiar with the procedure.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by Sodell

Yea, you need to put a timing gun on it or you will be going around in circles. Sounds like you have it adjusted OK, but timing will affect start up when cold and when hot. If your timing is off a bit it may crank hard when warm ect...I would not mess with the carb other than the idle screw, they are pretty good right out of the box, you can mess one up easily if you are not familiar with the procedure.

Yeah I'm going to get my vacuum lines/hoses connected to the right spots tonight, and then try to get a timing gun on it to see where I'm at.

So far I've really only adjusted the idle screw as that's what I'm comfortable doing. Yeah I really am not too familiar with carbs and i rather not mess one up personally

[UPNADM]

Originally Posted by 77ChevySharkBite

Yeah I'm going to get my vacuum lines/hoses connected to the right spots tonight, and then try to get a timing gun on it to see where I'm at.

So far I've really only adjusted the idle screw as that's what I'm comfortable doing. Yeah I really am not too familiar with carbs and i rather not mess one up personally

If you can't get your hands on a timing gun, get a buddy to come over, put the truck in gear and give it some throttle and put a little load on it. Then adjust your distributor until you find the sweet spot, tighten up and try it then.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by UPNADM

If you can't get your hands on a timing gun, get a buddy to come over, put the truck in gear and give it some throttle and put a little load on it. Then adjust your distributor until you find the sweet spot, tighten up and try it then.

Thanks man! I appreciate that.

I have the timing gun at my house that's a buddies but my only issue and maybe I need to search it but I don't know what correct timing is on a chevy 350.

[Sodell]

Start by setting it at 8 deg, after the engine is warm. Unplug the vac to the advance and plug it up before timing. Then go back and set idle. You can tweak it a little after that.

If you have a piece of chalk, you can put some in the line makes it a bit easier to see.

When you were talking about the idle going up when you turned the dizzy, that is when you are advancing the timing. retard it and the idle will go down.

[Sodell]

Korwin, you may know most of this, but here is a great video on timing. It is a little long but full of good info. You can also clearly see where he has the vac advance hooked up on the Edelbrock carb.

How To Set Ignition Timing - YouTube

[knomadd]

Sodell is correct with 8 degrees BTDC, or at least that's what it says in a 1972 service manual for a 350 auto. I just happen to have a scanned copy of that manual at work

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by Sodell

Start by setting it at 8 deg, after the engine is warm. Unplug the vac to the advance and plug it up before timing. Then go back and set idle. You can tweak it a little after that.

If you have a piece of chalk, you can put some in the line makes it a bit easier to see.

When you were talking about the idle going up when you turned the dizzy, that is when you are advancing the timing. retard it and the idle will go down.

Originally Posted by Sodell

Korwin, you may know most of this, but here is a great video on timing. It is a little long but full of good info. You can also clearly see where he has the vac advance hooked up on the Edelbrock carb.

How To Set Ignition Timing - YouTube

It's actually funny you posted this I had been looking at some other websites and that's what I saw that most everyone was putting there's at was 8 degrees

It's funny about the video I'm not even lying I had just watched it about 5 minutes ago literally because it looked good and indeed it was very informative and knowledgeable for me.

Originally Posted by knomadd

Sodell is correct with 8 degrees BTDC, or at least that's what it says in a 1972 service manual for a 350 auto. I just happen to have a scanned copy of that manual at work

Nice Duane!! So I'm assuming that it was a generic deal then.

If I haven't ever told y'all enough thanks for all the help!! You guys rock!!!

[knomadd]

Nope, definitely not generic... Well, this was the 71 manual. I also have a 72.

[77ChevySharkBite]

okay so I have another question there's a intake manifold vacuum that's on the intake if I plug that up will it hurt the truck any? or is it just something that I can plug?

I was going to plug it back up because that's how it was originally. I understand the fact that it might not matter but just curious.

[knomadd]

You're better off plugging it if you aren't using it for a vacuum source, like for brakes. If you leave it open, it becomes a huge vacuum leak... more problems.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Okay so correct me if I'm right or wrong should I have the truck warmed up to try and adjust my timing or can I just crank it up get it idling normal and then start setting the timing?

[Sodell]

It has to be warmed up...just drive it around for a bit before

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by Sodell

It has to be warmed up...just drive it around for a bit before

Thanks Scott!!


Well my buddy 67 c10 guy is coming over and were going to try and get this timing jazz set so wish me luck and I'll report back later

[77ChevySharkBite]

So I'm glad I'm finding this out now apparently the PO didn't know really about timing cause the timing has always been at 0 so me and 67 c10 guy are going to fix that now.

[77ChevySharkBite]

So the truck is running beautifully and better than EVER!!! The PO apparently had no idea what they were doing it was ridiculous they were 1 tooth counterclockwise off and they were running at least 20 degrees advance is what we guess they also had scratched into the balancer what they thought might have been the correct line, so that's solved so the truck just loves sitting at 0 tdc so that's what we're going to stay with tomorrow if I can I'll get some test runs in

[knomadd]

Interesting. At least you've got it figured out. I'd be all about replacing that balancer the next time you have to take it off. Assuming that scratch isn't in the correct spot. If the balancer is marked correctly, then I'd look at replacing the timing tab or timing cover if the tab is permanently attached.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Yeah it was advanced soooo much that after moving it a tooth and advancing it more is when we found it but yeah that's going to be some probably replaced in the future but the mark on the balancer is clearly visible.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Okay so need help once again under an attempt at hard acceleration it kind of bogs and wants to die then seems to do a backfire through the carb any suggestion?

[Sodell]

Your timing is still probably off.

[77ChevySharkBite]

Originally Posted by Sodell

Your timing is still probably off.

Well at least I'll be good at it when I'm done

What I'm planning to do is something I failed to do is find tdc and go from there so wish me luck!

[77ChevySharkBite]

I never told y'all the big surprise! Well everyone since y'all practically are my family y'all should know too........I'm going to be getting married that's the big surprise!

Which comes up to my next point due to a wedding needing to be paid for money will be a HUGE factor now, so much may not get done but I'll try to do small little projects to keep me busy and keep updates coming.

Also I know y'all might call me crazy now, but with all this timing being off and everything and the source of the problem being unknown I'm going to tear the motor out and rebuild it for the most part from the ground up so that I know it's done correctly and I won't have to face these issues later on, so hopefully tonight I can get 67 c10 guy over to help me and the weather clear up and we'll pull the motor tonight and maybe start a little bit of work on it.

[knomadd]

Backfiring through the carb means your timing is too advanced.

[77ChevySharkBite]

But I'm a 0 degrees advance timing so how can I be too advanced?

[knomadd]

Congrats on the engagement!