wallaby Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Here is a stupid question because I know there are a lot of variables, but why would my engines be craving for lots of initial timing? I have two older engines, one being my 468 in the Monte, and then I have a little 153 4-cyl in my old jeep. They both love to have what would probably be considered excessive initial advance. I'd have to break out the timing light, but I'm guessing in the 19 degree range? I'm also running manifold vacuum to the vacuum advance, so when that gets hooked up it jumps the initial even higher. I'm not sure what my total advance numbers are. Should those be calculated with/without the vacuum advance? It just seems that my engines have lots of bottom-end torque with the big initial advance, and I don't really detect any problems at higher engine speeds, so is there reason to change? I guess I could run a bunch of initial, and then limit the mechanical...but it seems they are getting close to one another. I guess the big question is why the engines like so much advance. Is it a compression issue or fuel mixture,? One last question: anyone know if they make a stamped-steel head gasket for the 454? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 are you running higher octane fuel, higher octane fuel burns slower, likes more advance. aftermarket cams like a lot of int advance too I had a 1986, ford ranger 2.3 4 cyl, w/ fuel injection, idling put a timing light on it, the computer had the timing at 28 degrees I would leave it alone as long as you don't have any detonation or spark-knock, probably helping fuel economy too my next set-up will have a locked-out distributor, and a start retard, it will be a full advance as soon as it hits 1000 RPM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 i gave up trying to figure that out mark.. my monte is the same way.. I have it set for 18° initial.. not sure what mechanical is.b ut I run the vac advance too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckeng Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 also, the larger the cylinder bore, the more advance they will like for flame propagation. What is the 4-cylinder bore? Big, Little? What kind of compression are you talking? I usually refer back to this for timing generalities. It is from MSD's instructions for their ignition boxes and distributors. I agree with Sam, as long as you're not pinging, go with it. Also, unless the engine is under load, it will like lots of timing to get the main combustion event to happen as close to TDC as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Quote: hey i know that pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share Posted April 26, 2008 ok...everything seems fine except for the number. If I had no light to tell me where I'm at, I'd guess I had it perfect. I don't have any ping, even under load and it doesn't seem to get awkward on the highway or anything. It pretty much starts to go dead if I take timing away. Again, does anyone know if there is a stamped-steel head gasket available for the 454? I specified a zero piston-to-deck clearance, but the machine shop produced a .020 clearance. I'm trying to bring them closer together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 take it back and tell them to fix it ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Summit has these by Mr Gasket Steel shim head gaskets , Felpro used to have them and I have gotten them from GM. You should be at .040 quench, I would not go any tighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 Oh wow, thanks. Somehow I missed those in the catalog. I think those would be perfect. (rubs hands together)..mwhahaha... When you end up with a quench of .60+ , I'd guess it's almost as good as having none at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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