thanks bike. yes i saw those msd videos before very good info!! Waiting for the fuel pump adapter for holley to aftermarket fuel pump hose should be here thursday. Then I can finally crank once again. remember I removed the quadrajet to put holley in.

 

for the dizzy screw? I bought one from autozone that does the job very very cool setup.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...butor%20wrench

 

They are OK wrenches and certainly cheap enough. On my car that wrench's elbow hits the intake so can only rotate the wrench about 1/8 turn at a time but it will work.

 

which intake do you have.

 

and of course my bracket off my quadrajet doesn't fit the holley. so i need the bracket which will be here tusday if i order today. i'm assuming my actual solenoid will work with the bracket. the question is: can I get this all going by saturday or do i have to wait for the bracket/solenoid. what repurcussions could i have

 

the solenoid. anti-diesel? you could probly just crank throttle screw up until it runs. or may have to fake up an idle screw stop out of a hunk of that erector set stuff at home depot. may diesel a little. shut off in gear if automatic. if solenoid is for ac, don't use the ac...

 

The original GM cast iron for the '72, 454.

 

holley is in. had rotor pointed at one. dizzy is advanced about 8degrees counterclockwise. less than 600rpm's right on the money. advanced i think was right on the money but the sun starting setting right where i can see my mark. check video

 

The only way to properly check it is at 3500-3600 rpms with the vac line disconnected... You should be between 34 and 36 degrees with a timing gun. Your timing at idle is not as important. If you timing by ear for the best idle you might be way out for optimum performance and experience detonation.. Or worse... I discovered although my engine runs great, that when I timed it by ear, once I put the timing gun on it, I found my timing chains must be off a tooth since its over 50 degrees at 3500rpm with the vac disconnected.
And the great thing about a strobe type timing gun is you dont need (or want) the sun shining on what your using it for. It just makes it harder to see the timing mark.

 

exactly. Vac line plugged and timing light used correctly. Never by ear. Now to tune the carb.

 

So what is your total timing?

 

base timing I recommend 13-17*
Full mechanical advance 33-36*
With vacuum advance connected the timing should shoot up about 10-15* extra,
So while cruising on the highway the total mechanical of say 35* + 10* from vacuum advance would be 45* total

make sure you are using 'ported' vacuum for the vacuum advance, not the intake manifold vacuum.
You can tell easily because ported only provides suction when the throttle is open, above idle. In other words, while resting at idle, there should not be any vacuum applied to the vacuum advance mechanism.

 

Do not use ported vacuum unless all your smog equipment is functioning. Otherwise, use manifold vacuum for better idling and throttle response.

 

I only mentioned it because thats not what I saw in your video. It seemed like you were adjusting the timing at idle which is more or less waste of time to focus on since it will be different once you time it at full mechanical advance. You mentioned it was getting too dark to see the timing mark which wouldnt make sense to me if you were using the timing gun since the dark actually helps you see the mark when the light strobes. Just wanted to be sure I stressed the most important aspect of adjusting the timing is all.

The ported vs manifold depends on the engine not just emissions but most will idle better and come off idle better using manifold vacuum as I recently learned myself. For some reason my new quick fuel "hot rod" series carb has twice as many ported vaccum ports than manifold ports which makes for the need for splitters and such. While we are discussing the topic. Does anyone know if I can run my th400 vacuum line off the ported vacuum?

 

ok here’s what I have:
1) I plug my advance (both tube and dizzy since I cant remember which to plug .

2) car is on for about 4 minutes, damper is at 8 degrees sharp according to my tab.

2) I set my timing light to 8degress and my damper goes exactly to zero on my tab.

3) car is warmer and I set my light to 33. When I rev the damper line disappears until I start getting closer to 3300rpm. Then line is exactly on zero.

Please tell me I am spot on. Or am I supposed to be on zero when I start then 8 when I set the light to 8. Right now I’m on 8 according to my light THEN zero when I dial in to 8.

 

With vacuum advance disabled, at engine idle, you turn distributor to get about 15* btdc of ignition timing.
Then lock it down so the dist cant move.
Now rev the engine and watch the timing, it will begin to move, then stop. What RPM it stops on will depend on the springs in the dist.
When the timing stop moving it should read near 32 to 36* btdc

Then let the idle come back and check idle again, back to 15 base timing.
----
Now you can plug in the vacuum advance and watch what happens to the timing, at both idle and full mechanical advance it should give you another 10 or 15* of timing on top of the base settings.
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As to the ported vs manifold on the advance setting, The reason I don't recommend using full time manifold vacuum for vacuum advance is because it will add alot of timing to the idle,
15 idle + 15 from vacuum advance is 30* at idle. The engine will seem to run fine there but trust me a stock engine with stock camshaft will NOT enjoy being at 600rpm idle with 30* Of timing. That is a mistake. With a cam and some extra rpm 850-950rpm idle it would be more tolerable. So I am just err on the side of caution here. If the compression is low enough it would be fine. In general however I tend to start low and work my way up with the timing.

 

I'd add about 3* more advance, 11^ at idle and 36* at full mechanical advance.

 

will attempt today. thanks

 

When I said it's getting too dark, my wife was calling me inside. lol. and yes when I do it with the sun setting behind me i can't see anything (barely).

The advance was disco. maybe it looked hooked up but nothing on hose. will attempt re timing per king talon's idea and see how it goes.

 

15* initial will be too much total advance with your distributor.