dumb question
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Since you can't duplicate the "total" conditions in your driveway and check it with a timing light, like you could with a mechanical distributor, you're going to need a scanner.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
Total timing is the base timing + the amount of centrifigal advance. Most aftermarket distributors will tell you the amount of advance you can get from them. For example - an MSD Pro billet for my 61 had an advertised advance of anywhere from 18 - 28 degrees (depending on what adv. stop bushing I use) so if I want to run 32 degrees total I need to set my advance at idle to 4 degrees btdc and use the 28 degree bushing or set the advance to 14 degrees and use the 18 degree bushing. If you're running a stock distributor ...... uh ...... uh ...... find out how much advance the stock unit gives from somebody who knows ! LOL
Finding your total timing with a light is really hard but ..... each cylinder gets 45 degrees of timing - put your timing light on the #2 cyl, rev the engine up to about 3k rpm or until you see the timing mark stop advancing. Set it to 13 degrees AFTER top dead center. this will give you 32 degrees total. Not really the best way but in a pinch It will do.
Or you can buy one of those expensive timing lights that have a timing adjustment on them!
Best-o-Luck
Finding your total timing with a light is really hard but ..... each cylinder gets 45 degrees of timing - put your timing light on the #2 cyl, rev the engine up to about 3k rpm or until you see the timing mark stop advancing. Set it to 13 degrees AFTER top dead center. this will give you 32 degrees total. Not really the best way but in a pinch It will do.
Or you can buy one of those expensive timing lights that have a timing adjustment on them!
Best-o-Luck
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Yes. If you want to know the total, you will have to "race" the car. Then you will have to check ALL the rpms, to find the maximum (total). Any advance shown on the scanner will have to have the base added to it to determine the total.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by MikeDrum2112
Total timing is the base timing + the amount of centrifigal advance. Most aftermarket distributors will tell you the amount of advance you can get from them. For example - an MSD Pro billet for my 61 had an advertised advance of anywhere from 18 - 28 degrees (depending on what adv. stop bushing I use) so if I want to run 32 degrees total I need to set my advance at idle to 4 degrees btdc and use the 28 degree bushing or set the advance to 14 degrees and use the 18 degree bushing.
Originally Posted by MikeDrum2112
If you're running a stock distributor ...... uh ...... uh ...... find out how much advance the stock unit gives from somebody who knows ! LOL
Finding your total timing with a light is really hard but ..... each cylinder gets 45 degrees of timing - put your timing light on the #2 cyl, rev the engine up to about 3k rpm or until you see the timing mark stop advancing. Set it to 13 degrees AFTER top dead center. this will give you 32 degrees total. Not really the best way but in a pinch It will do.
Or you can buy one of those expensive timing lights that have a timing adjustment on them!
Best-o-Luck
Finding your total timing with a light is really hard but ..... each cylinder gets 45 degrees of timing - put your timing light on the #2 cyl, rev the engine up to about 3k rpm or until you see the timing mark stop advancing. Set it to 13 degrees AFTER top dead center. this will give you 32 degrees total. Not really the best way but in a pinch It will do.
Or you can buy one of those expensive timing lights that have a timing adjustment on them!
Best-o-Luck
Another way, of course, would be to read the chip with programming software.
RACE ON!!!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
5 Best & 5 Worst Corvette Daily Drivers
Joe Kucinski
The Headlights of Every Corvette Generation Explained
Joe Kucinski
5 Best & 5 Most Overrated Corvette Track Packages of All Time!
Joe Kucinski
Every 2027 Corvette Engine Explained
Joe Kucinski
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Verdad Gallardo
10 Ugly Corvettes That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer