'67 200ci Timing Issue

[almo247]

Factory specs call for timing to be at 6 BTDC. I cannot get the mark at 6 degrees, the advance is maxed out and reads 4. Any ideas as to what is going on. Everything on engine is stock. The car starts and runs but not at peak performance. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[rbohm]

its possible that the balancer ring has slipped, a fairly common occurrence with these old sixes it seems. in the end however for these little engines, the factory setting is rubbish. what us long time sixers do is power time the engine, meaning we advance the timing until we get detonation, then back off until it stops. that gives good power and fuel economy.