colin3511 Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 Hi, Simple question - what do I set the timing at with strobe at idle? CP PI car with fast road cam and 10 CR. I have set at 10 but this is static timing in book. Thanks, Colin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rem18 Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) I have only ever set the timing statically with a meter or bulb and then driving the thing. Get it set mark the distributor with some tipex and get in the car. Same with metering unit, but I live in an area with different altitudes therefore vacuum changes. Edited May 12, 2018 by Rem18 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
barkerwilliams Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 Colin, I set now mine at 11'ish, then take car out to a steep'ish hill and drive up with engine 2000-2500 revs and listen for pinking. Then adjust timing vernier wheel so there is just no pinking. The use strobe again and read off the timing and that is the best setting for my PI. Its best at 11 BTDC. As I have electronic points the timing does not move. Traditional points wear down as they wear and the timing changes a little. Many reports of the timing marks not being accurate on the cars as the crankshaft pully rubber ages so a road test is the best way to go. Alan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rem18 Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 (edited) Agree with Colin although I have never gone over to electronic, Drive it and put your ears on. The vernier was there due to quality of petrol and other factors and I still use it.. Edited May 12, 2018 by Rem18 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 I just mark the 10 Deg BTC point on the crankshaft pulley and the pointer with white chalk, connect up the strobe , run the engine at about 800 rpm to make sure the centrifugal advance doesn't kick in and rotate the distributer body until the white points align. Watch out for the fan as it will appear stationary in the strobe light. Then try and creep the timing forward until you can just hear pinking - as described above. My engine is probably 11 degrees or so advanced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 10-12 degrees is generally about right, assuming the crank pully actually lines up..... I made a tdc tool and checked my pulley marks, they were 8 degrees out of alignment! I had adjusted the timing for best running as above, and timing marks were showing 19 or so. I fitted new crank damper, from Tom in the US, and measured tdc which aligned exactly with the tdc mark on the pulley, set timing to 10 and all is running well. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 And when I have the timing light hooked up I normally rev the engine and check the timing advances another 20 degrees or so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 And when I have the timing light hooked up I normally rev the engine and check the timing advances another 20 degrees or so. Indeed. When planning to install the 123tune+ i ran the engine at 500rmp intervals and read off the timing. This allowed me to program the 123tune+ with exactly the same timing throughout the rev range as the old distributor. The only error factor would be the tacho which i think over read, hence i may have a little more advance than i think i have... Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
colin3511 Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 By no means an expert so please bear with me. The throttle bodies have been reconditioned and haven't coked up yet. Tickover at original timing was about 1400 rpm. It's now down to around 1100 rpm. I think this will have an effect on timing with strobe. It will probably be a week or two before tickover is around 800 rpm. Is there a figure I can set timing to at say 1400 rpm? Dissy rebuilt by DD? Thanks, Colin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike C Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 The BB says 8-12 degrees of advance at 1700 rpm. So for starters I'd set it at 18-22 degrees on the crankshaft pulley at 1700 rpm. I'd still check it and maybe advance it a little until I could just hear light pinging on WOT at low engine speeds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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