Hey. I have a question about when doing the timing. I have a 69 351w and after doing some reasearch, it seems that I should set it at 6-8 btdc. I when to set it to 8 and the idle started to get crappy, and when I went up to 4, the idle was very good. Should I set it where it Idles better? Or does that screw up power when the rpm's are increased? What should I do?

 

The timing should be set to maximize vacuum at idle, while still allowing the engine to start easily when hot (not buck the starter). Of course, you also have to watch out for pinging and missing under load and/or at higher rpm's.