I checked my ignition timing yesterday with a timing light and it was at 8 degrees BTDC even though the mark on the distributor was aligned with the mark on the head. Might have been from another car. I set it to 12 degrees BTDC as Ford say. This goes for all CVH engines. Might I gain some power if I advance it some?

 

could gain a few horses, but dont they only advance if its pinking?

 

Yes you will gain much more, but you risk having detonation/pinking/knock. You will hear when this happens IF YOU KNOW EXACTLY what to listen. I hope you tuned it to 12degress without the ecu vacuum pipe and with proper low idle revs. Othervise you will still have too little advance.

 

Vacuum to ECU off and plugged, warm engine, idle speed, cooling fan on as described in Ford own workshop manual for RST.

Do they retard the timing at rolling road session on 200bhp/14.5+ psi engines?

 

No, they shouldnt.