timing question?

[ppartain]

im new to stangnet and hope im posting this the right way. i had a guy pull my distibuter today and replace the o'ring. the timming was retarded to run 125 shot of nitrous as i bought the car. i was not planning on the nitrous so i wanted to advance the timming for some lower end grunt. im not a mechanic by no means. i watched him set up the timming light when another mechanic walked by and said with a large cam in it it he was better off to hook up a vacuum guage on it and adjust untill he reached peak vacuum. ive never heard of this, but the car has a lot more bottom end power. im not sure what the pinging sounds like that everyone here is talking about but i am hearing what sounds like the valves chatter just a little bit in 3rd and 4th gear at a high rpm. it has a lunati cam in it im not sure all the numbers but its hell under 2k rpms. any advice would be appreciated. ive learned alot from stangnet and have lots i hope to share with everyone in the future. i feel better at this point because i just pulled and put my t-5 tremec back in with awesome results. i am running 93 octane as well.

 

[885.0conv]

I had the problem with running like crap under 2K when I put my new heads on but mine was the valve adjustment was off. I have never heard of the vaccum way of doing timing just with the light. The chatter could be the roller rockers, I went from the stock ones to the ford racing ones and they are louder. People on here vary from quiet to noisy with roller rockers

 

[ppartain]

yea, i just talked to an old buddy of mine that races these every weekeend. he said they might have been thinking of a vacuum advance distributer but that these have an electical advance distributer or something to that effect. he said something about uncapping some plug or hose. he also said factory timming was about 14* and it was probably retarded to 10-11* so im heading over there tomorrow to have him tweak it to 18-19* is where he said it could be set max. im not sure if its pinging im hearing but it feels like the gears were changed it has gained a substantial low end torgue since we reset the timming. it pretty much will bark the tires just leaving a stop sign. it may be that it is the rockers im hearing. i extended my flowmasters out the back from under the cab so now the engine noises stand out clearer than before.

 

[885.0conv]

Yeah there is a spout connector you disconnect, jrichker as a write up on it and just about everything else on 5.0's That is what mine does, sometimes it get annoying so I just crank the radio up, but I love when people turn to see what is coming

 

[ppartain]

yea ultimately i want a twin screw kenne bell blowzilla on top. talk about ultimate head turner !! i will check out the write up info though. thanks

 

[V8_Kind_Of_Guy]

Yes, you can set your timing by just a vacuum gauge. They taught this method in the automotive college I went to. The purpose of the vacuum gauge is that higher mileage cars dont always perform well when adjusting the timing to factory specs. It is to adjust for a worn/old engine. Your car may make more vacuum at 9* initial timing than at 11* indicating a worn enigine.
Also, the initial timing on 87-93 mustang 5.0 is 10*, which means with the spout connector removed, so that the computer doesnt have the ability to control the timing, thats why they call it "initial timing" or "static timing". Make sure the car is up to proper temp when you check timing too. The 18* or 19* timing someone mentioned may have been with the spout connector still plugged in.

 

[ppartain]

thanks for the intell. it may just be rockers im hearing im not sure what the "pinging" sounds like. we tweaked back and forth and wound up with 13" of vacuum which he said was real good. we started wih the guage in one spot but had to move it to get a better reading it was surging with the lunati cam.

 

[87GT40]

yea ultimately i want a twin screw kenne bell blowzilla on top. talk about ultimate head turner !! i will check out the write up info though. thanks

i would read up on that s/c. i was looking onto a kenne belle and after reading some reviews on them i changed. a lot of people were having problems with them. i know they make great power i just wanted to let you know about the problems.

 

[ppartain]

appreciate the heads up on the s/c. btw i had my timming checked today i was setting at 35* turned it back to 20* and the car has never run better no pinging, lots of extra low end torque, and makes that lunati talk at idle through the new super 44 flowmasters i just installed. runs so good i think its that sweet spot people talk about. so thanks to all the responses and info.

 

[Nicoleb3x3]

cool your going with KB blower, I'm putting one on my stang next spring...feel free to book mark my site if you want to check it out when it's done, it'll be a poster child install for sure

If you want some reference videos for noise, see below:

Very bad loose rocker...luckily I only drove 2 miles like this...
YouTube - noise in brand new engine...5.0 93 mustang

what it is like when we pulled the valve cover and found it:
YouTube - noise in brand new engine...5.0 93 mustang -video 2; diagnosis

what is sounds like now (1.7 rockers and they're still a bit noisy but nothing like before)
YouTube - noise in brand new engine...5.0 93 mustang -video 3; noise fixed

 

[ppartain]

awesome, yea any details on building, installing, tunning, and cost would be appreciated. any idea how long this process will take? oh and plenty of pics. next spring was my timming as well. i may build me a shop with a lift first though. any idea on hood clearance? i have a 2.5" cowl. i have read that that was cutting it close. i have lots of dollars in my paint and flames i would hate to have to change the hood.

 

[Nicoleb3x3]

Spring next year is my KB tiime frame, I need a full season to make sure my recently built engine is healthy and strong. I'll send you a pm