Ok guys, so the car has been sitting for 4 years. in which it has had the engine torn down to the block to replace Head gaskets, and every other gasket on the top end.

Timing chain was never touched so it is still the way it was.. the Po hacked the wiring all to hell so I have had to learn myself bit by bit as to what needs to go where to get what i need to happen loll. it has been a grueling process.. about 1.75 years

I only have it timed to ear right now as I did not have a light.. When engaging gear it will bog down spit out of the carb and die.. So i assume I have the engine off and when it gets a load it bogs and dies.

I need to know what I should time it to. It is judging by the alternator setup a mid to late 80's 302/5.0L. It has a serpentine pulley system as well. It has the circles on the harmonic balancer for timing.... What is best to set it to for optimal performance while still being safe for the engine? Also Which rotation of the dist is Advanced and which is Retarded?

I have it set so that the car is insanely easy to start.. so i either have it far advanced or far retarded.. which ever causes easy starting.. Ughh this is such a barrier! its so close..

What do you guys think? Whats the ideal timing that it should be set to to optimize performance while not hurting the engine?

Thanks alot guys!

8v

 

About 8-10* advance at idle with the vacuum advance disconnected and plugged, and 30-35* all in by about 3k rpm. If you hear a sound when accelerating lightly up a steep hill like marbles rattling in a can, it's too far advanced.

 

+1 on that.
when you ermove the distributor cap and start you'll see the rotor turning counterclockwise. that means you have to turn the cap against this rotation to advance-> turning clockwise will advance.

you will need a timing light

 

so my harmonic balancer has little holes on it for timing.. But no pointer device... How do i set the timing? this car is from hell i swear

I timed it to the best of my abilities by ear, and it runs perfectly. From idle you can WOT and it will not stumble, it will climb steadily to full RPM.

HOWEVER it still Stalls itself out going in to gear. (auto trans) I even jacked the rear up to let the tires spin freely. They didn't.. Car still lugged to a stall. You can get the wheels to spin with some appliance of the gas peddle.. and hard stuttering of the engine.. It seems there is a problem there...

Oh, something just came to mind.. if it is low on trans fluid... will that cause the transmission to not clutch itself properly.. and maybe cause my symptoms here?

I am completely wracking my brain over this one guys.. I have no idea whats wrong with it...

 

Do all the mechanical adjustments first.. then the air/fuel mixture 2nd last..with setting idle speed last.

What year and engine is this?

 

"I need to know what I should time it to. It is judging by the alternator setup a mid to late 80's 302/5.0L. It has a serpentine pulley system as well. It has the circles on the harmonic balancer for timing.... What is best to set it to for optimal performance while still being safe for the engine?"

I have it all set good. it runs well in park.. Its just when I go to engage a gear, it will bog down and die.. Even with the rear end lifted off the ground... would Low trans fluid cause this?