Ping at idle , due to plug heat range or something else?

OK, my timing was off, thats why my car has been almost running in spite of all the improvements that have been going on with engine setup. Also have had problems with my fluiddampner having rust on it, impossible to read timing marks . Last time tryed to check it, could not tell what it was set at. Spent a couple hours under the car while it was jacked up yesterday, cleaning and also took some time to work on the fluidampners rusty areas with 400 grit sandpaper and then painted and sanded it some. Used one of those gold plating markers to try to make the numbers and lines visible again, seems to have worked can now read timings.Had done some reading and talking ,common wisdom is that I needed to set timing from pointer. This is apparently wrong for my engine ! What ended on doing was setting the timing by looking at the little window u shaped kinda area , set it to like 15Degrees there with spout out, and my retard box set at 0. Sounds like a whole different engine now , and when taking it for a spin leaving driveway in first gear , the acceleration brought more than a smile to my face whooped it up, felt so much different. Car pulls stong to 6 grand now , Still have issue with ping at idle tho . Plugs running now are 1 heat range more than my engine builder told me is reccommended for my heads by their manufacturer. Could this be the cause of my ping at idle?
TIA
Hink

Check my garage, for info on my car Hissin50 thanks
Hmm motor shakes when it happens, but yeah interesting point , does run great now , recall the engine builder told me that he reccommended avoiding extended idle periods.

onebad7up said:

Since you cant see thee marks to set the timing, how do you know if it is 12*? I cant see any numbers on mine. I really need to set my timing right, but I do not understand how to do it.

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Hi, onebad7up.
Far as seeing the timing marks on your Harmonic balance goes , you can try rubbing chalkboard chalk across it, that is how used to fix mine. Later used one of those gold plating markers and sandpaper. Here is a link to a web site that explains how to set up timing on a Mustang. http://www.muscularmustangs.com/timing.php
Good luck!
Hink

89SaleenGT said:

Hink,
You need to find TDC on that damper then fashion a pointer and get that timing set correctly.

Why run hotter plugs?

You need to set a baseline then tune from there.

Stock plugs with the stock gap then start tuning.

Start eliminating the guess work.

This will make tuning your engine much simpler.

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I have what appears to be a stock 5.0 pointer, but it is obviously incorrect,.As far as setting up my pointer , how would that be done?
Would I start from top dead center on Cylinder one and see where the TDC mark is on the Dampener versus the pointer end?(which maybe marked on a fluid dampner) Was running hotter plugs due to oil fouling.Plugs currently two heat ranges less atm(one range up is what Dart recommended supposedly), since my oil mist getting sucked up thru the intake is largely fixed now. Still pings occasionally at idle. Will see what happens later on, when have time to dremel the IAC divider some. Believe my ping is due to my cam and the IAC trying to compensate, but making things worse. Have much homework to do this weekend still , last time will try summer classes here.
Won't even bother with stock plugs or stock gaps , check my garage for engine details.

Ping @ Idle fixed at last !!!

OK folks back to engine basics here , on a mass air flow system when air flow is less, you're engine gets less fuel, right? My ping at idle and near stallouts are due to inadequacies in the Stock IAC(Too slow to change maybe?) and my custom cam. Just had to open up the IAC with a small drillbit to permanently fix this.

Now my car launches much better and no longer have to blip the throttle to keep from near stall or dying. Hope this helps some of you out. I know these issues were driving me mad
Sincerely
Hink

UPdate

Ok so my ping is still there a bit, just not as loud now. At least the car is really more driveable now . Thats definitely a plus.

Ping @ idle is intermittent, can plug wire routing ...

Ping @ idle is intermittent now, could spark wire routing be a cause of this ?
Anyone ever had wire routes ,cause an intermittent ping at idle? Just reworked some of the wires routings, they have to be better now than in past. Convinced that the routing of wires on top of and under the metal AC lines could have caused some spark leakages. Did see a few small bits of arcing in the dark on the right side so worked over those areas a bit.Made a loom setup from part of a Gatorade bottle and wire ties for the over AC line part. Reworked some of the passenger side setup also , even tho could not see any arcs in the dark. Will have to see how the car runs, over aperiod of a few days now to be sure , if any improvement has occured.