Mech Advance Only Distributor Timing

[Argess]

OldDog: Yes, I read all the links. Thank-you I appreciate them.

BobCat: Major help....thank-you....you'll see why below.

Everybody Else: Yes, "Thank-you".....I am getting somewhere:

I have been making some mistakes:

1/ Paying too much attention t the bog. I've re-adjsuted the mixture each time I try some timing now, and find I can get the bog to dissapear other than the slight hiccup which I can probably conitinue to dial out, or play with accelerator pump cams.

2/ Paying too much attention to the damper slippage correction. As I really have no idea when or how much at a time the damper was slipping, I have now ignored all previous settings and started over....with some success.

3/ Not remembering correctly what detonation "feels like" (as I can't hear it) and thinking my engine currently sounds like it has retarded timing vs advanced.

4/ Thinking the excessive engine heat at low advance settings indicated I needed a much higher advance.

5/ Thinking the best idle (max rpms and max vacuum) should be a starting point for intial advance.

OK, so starting over, I went with the max Barry Grant figure for my cam. I set the intial to 16 Deg BTDC and re-adjusted the idle. Mixture and idle stop screws. I did not re-adjust the dist plate yet for a max of 38, but I am interested in the lower rpms where the advance works for now. Went for a test drive. Engine felt light, revved easily, snappy reponse, bog gone 'cept for slight hiccup. Higher rev's seemed a little down on power, but since the dist plate was still limiting to 10 over idle (26) I wasn't worried or surprised.

Idle is not great.....slow hunting and sometimes it gets low after I take my foot off the gas and sort of stays there until I clear it with a shot of gas. But I am getting 17 in Hg from the max of almost 20 that's possible at best advance ( at best fuel effieciency).

So today I'll try it again at 18 Deg and then 20 Deg, and that will be enough. I am interested in a little higher mostly to help the idle and keep down the engine heat, but naturally I dont' want to get into the detonation range again. 16 may very well be it.

Once that's set and the dist locked down, I'll re-adjust the plate for max advance. I may not go straight to 38, but may try 34, and then 36 first. I don't want to take any chances. FE re-build is slow and although I do it myself, it's a tad pricey with gaskets, parts, machine shop work, etc. Last, I'll work on the carbs for that "hiccup".

So I have high hopes that I will find good timing (not perfect, but acceptable), and in the range that most of you are finding to be acceptable.

I still plan to try a vacuum dist. With no question, at a minimum, it would solve the idle issue. I thik it will give me better light throttle reponse too. Just trying to find one that will fit. At any rate, I will have the timing numbers from my mech distributor to set the vacuum one up (vacuum temp dissconnected) once I get one.

Thanks again everyone. Things are starting to come together and if it doesn't rain today (we're getting the June rain late this year), I hope to have it finalized.