five0fm

what exactly does advancing the timing do? how do you do it?

rocketrotary

Advancing the timing makes the spark plug ignite sooner. You do this by turning the distributer. There is a screw that holds the disty in place... remove that screw, and if I'm not mistaken (and I might be) turn it to the left to advance. If I'm wrong, you'll know right away, because the engine will rev higher as you advance.

Vic

mattdel

Timing is controlled by the relationship of the position of the piston to when the spark occurs. If the ignition spark occurs too soon it can actually push against a piston traveling up the cylinder as it is compressing the fuel/air mixture. This causes detonation, lost power, much higher combustion temperatures, backfires out the carburetor, and early internal engine part failures. If the spark occurs too late, the ignition of your fuel mixture occurs after the piston is traveling back down the cylinder. This is wasted energy, unburned fuel, high emissions, and lost power.

rocketrotary

Speaking of which... the factory setting is what? 10*btdc?

Vic

mattdel

anywhere from 4-10, depending on the mood of the assembly line workers.

five0fm

i herd that advancing it to 16 was a good number. is that to high. should i just leave it alone?>

mattdel

it all depends on your mods. a good starting point for a stock motor is 10-12, drive it, and if you don't have any detonation(pinging), you can go a tad higher. go as high as you can without pinging.

five0fm

its got flowmasters and a ram air..so pretty stock

exaclty how is it done

mattdel

https://mustangforums.com/m_1531258/...tm.htm#1531258