[concobra]

to: ridelikehell

For what it's worth.

18 degrees is fully acceptable. With a cam this size, at idle, your not beginning to create any cyl. pressure. It 18 works use it. AS long as no detonation or excessive hard starting occurs the engine is fine.

I'm curious:

What is your vacuum reading @ idle?
What is your Cold Cranking Pressure?
Are your primary throttle plates drilled?
What is the opening number on your Power valves?

Here might be some assurance about the 18 degrees. My Cobra runs a 451 CID FE. Static Compression is 11.82:1 and runs on pump gas fine. ( Big cam , amoung other reasons, is why I can do this) I run 20-22 degrees of initial without any problems.

Good Luck in fixing your problem