I spent some time and effort finding TDC, marking the pulley and making a reference marker at TDC. During my initial startup it seemed to be warming up too quickly and I shut it down at 180-185. I have temperature senders in both heads and the tracked together as it warmed up. After cooling down , I retorqued the heads and advanced the timing a little; I restarted it and ran a second heat cycle and it took longer to get to 180 and it started easier. After it cooled down to almost room temp. I retorqued the heads. I did another heat cycle with varying rpm and even let it idle twice for a very short time. It has sat for close to 4 months and I wanted to start it to see if everything was still good. I filled the float bowl and it would fire but not stay running. The sediment bowl was full so I figured the pump was working. I have a good digital ,dial back timing light that I can't use on my coupe because of the MSD box; i didn't even think of it. After rechecking the rotor position in relation to the #1 terminal in the cap and making a small adjustment with the dist. body and it fired right up. Then I put the light on it and dialed back to the mark and it read 15 deg adv. and was smoother than ever. 15 deg. seems a lot to me . What say you?
What kind of distributor are you running? I just dialed in the dwell using my Allen Syncrograph machine on my helmet style that I’m using on my C59A. I set initial timing to 4 degrees adv IIRC on the side adj window/scale.
I'm running a new style Mallory that looks like their electronic one but has points in it and inside it looks like a Delco ( same weights controlled by springs setup) . I'll post pix First pic is the notch on the fan (crank) pulley and the second is the pointer for tdc reference. I just ran the engine to see how much total advance was in the dist. @640-660 rpm I saw 16-17 deg. and @ 2000-2100 I saw 27 deg. I think I'm supposed to have around 20 deg. total. 4 is the number I've always heard as correct for initial.
@joel Just saying , each engine like what it needs , experiment , might need to Limit the total inside distributor, Find what it Likes @ BTDC, Then if pings , Start bye taking 2 deg of "Total" @ a time , ( inside distributor weights/ plate ) If No ping Add to total until ping. Also Look @ ground strap on plug , Color will also point to timing .
I have a TDC "whistle" coming to verify TDC and I'm going to put a scratch on the dist. body and the timing cover reference may be a little off also. Thanks Eddy; that makes me feel better.
Just saying , Pull #1 plug , bing up piston close to TDC , use a screwdriver , pencil rod or dial indicator to find with In 1 to 2 degs of TDC , If stick /clutch put in gear Rock car back & Forth or by hand On crank hub To get piston In / Close to the ""Neutral spot"" witch is TDC.
For sure every engine combination will be slightly different, but as a reference, here is a Ford factory reference for orig dist spark advance curve.
That is a lot of info and verifies the 22 deg. total timing. It's interesting that 22 shows up above 3000 rpm. I've heard that the max timing should be in by 2400-2500 rpm and even a low as 2000. Thanks for posting that chart. I'm working on checking the point dwell and adjusting as necessary.
I think my helmet maxed out timing earlier like you mentioned. I have a thread about testing it on my Allen Syncrograph machine. At Hershey now, but will try to find the thread. It might be on the Barn.
BTW there is no hard stop on the advance weight movement; only the springs limit the mechanical advance . I wish I access to a distributor machine. I have a stock crab distributor; I might clean it up and try it.
thinkingthe flat motor is the same as the flat banger...20 degrees doesn't get the strap to color much... maybe half way.. do you have a pic of a plug thats timed right.... thanks
I tend to run about 24 degrees of total advance - in by about 2000 rpm or so. Today's fuels are a lot better than the stuff that was available "back in the day". Also, it is difficult to "read plugs" to understand fuel mixture and timing - you're better off finding the true TDC and working from there . . . experimenting with adding/taking away timing to find your engine's "sweet spot".
No on My personal Pic's .. I do not take or save most any thing I do.. Like picture of Ford spec Literature above in post #9 is just a Reference / starting point In my way thinking . I over think & analyze , I might be right or Not. When you have More then 1 cylinder, & you set Timing just off 1 cyl , Whats the Guarantee the other Cylinder's are same as The One your are checking or setting off of with out checking all the others Individual. I look @ it all depends if all was machined the same from crack journals, Rods , Rods , piston , bore , cam lobes, All the way threw to all machined parts in Distributor , threw Spark plugs , length of wires , Ect . Then looking @ Air flow pur cylinder , Design of intake , Different Temps in each Cylinder , If you or others care to , Time & experimenting Miss matching spark plugs trying to make all cylinders Equal. Then I think there a point You can not have your cake & eat it Too. In this case / situation For Idle , Cruise , WOT .. A One Cylinder is easer then Two plus cylinder's to Control / Tune . Same with a single carb . If choosing to use Two carbs , better then 3 on V8 ,, 4 carbs over 3 on V8 Just when using Multi carbs then a Single , Its best to use Even #'s of Carb's Over Odd #'s . When Sharing open Plenum .
Here’s the thread on testing my helmet dist using my Allen Syncrograph. https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352175
I looked at Van Pelts web site and I probably need a few things that are not available any longer and I have both a 42-44 and a 46-48. I may take a crack at the newer one this winter. On the Mallory; I found that there is a hard stop built into the advance weights. I very carefully adjusted the point gap to .014" base on @Ziggster s post on the Fordsbarn. That's kinda where I'm headed ; I hope there is around 14-16 deg mechanical and I'll adjust the initial for easiest starting/ smooth idle ; providing the dwell ends up close to 25 deg. I'm putting in a new set of plugs also.
I'm not sure what exactly you need, but this place has some stuff. https://www.noblespeedequipment.com/
Now a days gasoline is so good quality -> You can have more compression ratio, You can have more advance (24dec is what Im using). If You have too much advance, You can feel and hear. If less than normal, there is very warm exhaust runners -> heat water -> problems. (ex.runners are very long flathead engines) A
Joel, JFYI, the Mallory info I have show individual point gaps at .022", individual dwells at 29 degrees, for a total target dwell of 35 degrees. A 25 degree dwell is too low for a even single point V8 Ford, with 27 the normal target. I would get the point dwell set before anymore timing adjustments are made.
Yes, I flipped the numbers on my post. .014" is from a ford spec on Van Pelts site ( .014 to.016) and also results @Ziggster posted from setting up one of his units on a distributor machine. After lunch, I'm going to check dwell and timing . I installed a new set of plugs; the initial set was pretty dirty.
V8 Bob came over and we checked dwell and adjusted the timing to 6 deg BTDC. The dwell was 38 deg with the points set at .014 with a feeler gage. Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. Unfortunately, it will be some time before I can drive my p/u and really see what this FH likes and how hot it might get. I know that at 15-16 deg advance it heats up to 180 ( thermostats open) pretty slowly.
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