Timing Assistance

Come on guys/girls and pitch in.....................

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

I ask for so much help, I decided to give a little

On your damper, if it is the old 40 odd year old one, there are timing marks. They might be hard to see due to surface rust and gunk, just take a cleaning solution and a rag and try to clean it up a little. Worst comes to worst, run your finger on it carefully and find the grooves where the timing marks are. Look down on it from the drivers side, there should be a pointer jutting out at around the 1-2 o'clock position on the timing cover. This is the timing mark, and the marked intervals on the camper are the timing degrees. The manual prolly calls for about a 8-12 degrees before TDC, which you should be able to identify on the damper. Loosen the nut holding the dizzy in place a little, enough to turn it, but not so that it can spin around freely by itself.

Connect the timing light to the + and - terminals on the batt, and there should be a lead from the light that you clamp onto the number one plug wire. This is the closest plug near the radiator on the passenger side, it should be marked on the dizzy/manifold where number 1 is. Fire the car up and point the light down from the drivers side onto the timing mark/damper.

The light will strobe everytime plug 1 fires, and you will be able to see where the marks are on the damper and compare them to the pointer on the timing cover. Whatever you see on the damper in the strobe is where the timing is currently set at.

Turn the dizzy SLOWLY to change.


Some things to think about... the outer ring on the damper can slip, giving you an innacurate reading. How to check for this:

Pull number 1 plug. Stick a straw in the cylinder thorugh the hole. Turn engine by hand/breaker bar on damper pully bolt untill you feel the cylinder is at its highest stroke. Compare the TDC mark on your damper to the timing mark. It should be right on it. If it is not, turn the engine over again to make the cylinder fall and rise again. Re-check.


I most likely left something out/fubar'ed something, feel free to correct me

Dissconnect and plug the vacuum advance line to the distributor before setting your timing or you will get very frustrated. Hook it up again after.

Did you put in that new pertronix unit you bought a while back?

And yes, 8-12 degrees will probably work best for you. If the engine pings under load, when accelerating or hill climbing then back it off little.

krash kendall said:

Dissconnect and plug the vacuum advance line to the distributor before setting your timing or you will get very frustrated. Hook it up again after.

Click to expand...

Damnit, I knew I forgot something



I am watching monty python and the holy grail... I'm a little off in another land right now



"what floats in water"

"little tiny rocks!"
"Gravy!"
"APPLES!"

Actually, I cant spell distributsomething, so I use "dizzy" or rotating spark allocation unit


TDC stands for Top dead center, when the cylinder number 1 is all the way at the top of its stroke

Did you adjust the idle speed too? Changes in timing often effect the idle speed, I like to idle around 550-600 just because it sounds a little meaner


You disconnected the vacuum tubes because the distributor has a vacuum operated spark advance that will change your timing according to how much vacuum the engine is pulling through the spark advance port. If you leave it connected, the timing may be off when you adjust it, because theoretically the spark advance could change the timing. Shouldn't at idle, but I was always told to disconnect it.