I have a motor out of an 88 LX that has been built up some and trying to get the timing and plug wires straighten out what year did the HO start and how can u tell? Thanks!!!
a timing increase will certainly wake up your car a bit. a couple things to keep in mind before you do it tho. the most obvious is that increasing the timing past a certain point will require you to run premium fuel for your car to run right. increasing the timing also leaves more of a chance for detonation if your motor is not in top tuned conidition. so before you start increasing timing make sure you give the car a good tuneup and that it runs correctly. Stock timing on your car should be 10 degree's. most people that drive their cars everyday will go to 12 degrees on a stock motor. You should be able to run regular unleaded at 12 degrees so you wouldnt lose much fuel economy (maybe a mile per gallon or two). chances are the highest you will be able to go is 14 degrees without detonation, and you will definately have to be running premium. the best thing to do is to get a timing light, and start slowly incresing it. I would start at 12 degree's. drive it for a few minutes accelerating quickly once or twice and see how it runs. if you hear any knocking or sputtering then back the timing down. if not, then increase it another degree or two, and keep doing this until you find the optimal timinng mark. just be careful not to advance it too far at once. take small steps.