Joshy

hi all,

just timed the distirbutor on my nova.

dont have a stobe gun to time it propely so to make to for a few days until i can get to one ive timed it by "live mapping" it lol, to fasted idle (obviously with the vacume advance removed and blocked while adjusting.

this method i know is only a temporary fix and will be sorting it with the strobe when i can.

what i want to know is if there are any points ive missed other than turning the disributor to a far retarded (with the vacume blanked) and advanceing it with the engine idleing until the engine has a fast tickover speed, then reconection the vacume and adjusting it to best idle....

am i doing anything wrong???

cheers

JOSH

tabetha

A strobe is ONLY at best these days a get you a lot nearer to starting mark, I don't even bother to start with, just by ear, but be aware the fastest idle speed is likely to be too far advanced once under way and under load.
Can you adjust the weights/stops inside the dizzy ?
The best method is trial and error, I've been modding advance/retard curves on mechanical dizzies for over 25 years using trial and error to great effect, so in a nutshell just use as much advance you can get away with without pinging.
tabetha

Joshy

Can't modify the advance, but iv'e idled it at about the mid-range.

Cheers

Josh

tabetha

Why can't you mod the advance/retard, is it all sealed where the vacuum unit goes into ?
There will be a way of restricting the total advance, or even letting it have more.
As I do them I get the idle/low running nice, then set about limiting the advance by way of the stops, even making some if necessary to restrict the movement of the weights, tweaking downwards until all the pinking has gone, then I add the vac can(adavance) afterwards, if this proves too much advance on cruise conditions I use a old A series vac can that is adjustable and tweak that, after making it fit.
tabetha

Joshy

ok....

are you using anything like det cans to detect detonation or just adjusting by ear?

im confident but i also know when im swimming in deep water so excuse my cautious aproach. Right........

the vacume advance unit appears to screw into and out of the distibutor so i assume thats adjusting the pre-load on the vacume spring, also, how are you measuring the advance at higher RPM or are you just keeping it out of det? using a strobe gun?

thanks for your help

JOSH