I have a 396 I bought from a guy last summer and put it in this winter. The guy I bought it from came over and helped me get it running, the question I have is he took the distributor out and then timed it by ear. He had a guy professionally build this motor but said you always had to time it by ear becuase of the bigger cam, I'm not sure of the size cam but it is not that big that it runs with a real big lope. It seems to run fine at an idle but when you put it into gear it won't idle. I checked the timing myself this weekend and it was aroung 22 degrees advanced. The only way I can get it to run smooth and also run at idle in gear is at around 26 degrees. Could he have put the distributor in off one notch? When you look down at the motor from the front the #1 plug wire is at the 5:00 o'clock possition, according to my motor manual it should be at the 7:00 o'clock possition.
Any advise would be helpfull and am I damaging this motor if the timing is that far off? :confused: :( graemlins/sad.gif

5 o'clock should be ok,if it was off a tooth it would be back fireing some.Check dwel if you got points 28-32.Set air mix for highest vacume.Set timing between 32-38 at 3000 rpm,with vacume line plugged.Or what ever it likes best in that range.Set idle for 600 in gear or what you like.GOOD LUCK :D

If you can make the necessary timing adjustments then you should be OK with the distributor installation.

Do you have a smooth idle? Any missing as you raise RPM or cruise. If so, you probably have problems unrelated to timing.

The carb needs to be set up properly and the plugs and wires need to be in good condition. My car wouldn't idle in gear and it turned out to need new wires. The old Moroso wires had broken down during CAM break-in.

You should be able to get that thing to idle at about 15º initial. Make sure the vaccuum advance is unhooked and the line plugged when verifying initial. As mentioned before - shoot for total of about 36º at 3000 RPM.

Good luck,

Troy.

There is not backfiring at idle or acceleration. I have installed new plugs and plug wires. I cannot check dwell because of hei ignition. I have the vacume advance unhooked and plugged and if I get close to 15 degrees it really runs rough and will not idle at all in gear. I get back to 24-26 degrees and it runs nice and smooth. I'm just worried about burning something up with to much advance. With the way I have it set now at 26 degrees it runs nice but does not seem to have as much power.

Todd

Dale,

A big part of timing your engine is at what rpm it is at at the time you take your reading. When someone talks setting initial timing, you are setting it at ususally less than 700 RPM's with the vacuum advance disconnected, when you take your reading. It needs to be at less than 700 rpms to make sure your mechanical weights in your distributor are not adding advance timing to the reading. And you haveto have the vacuum advance disconnected to make sure it is not adding timing to your initial setting.

If your engine runs so bad that you can not get it to idle below 700 rpm's then you may want to set it above 3200 RPM with the vacuum advance disconnected at 34 degrees. This will give you what everyone here calls total advance (inital plus mechanical). Then hook back up your vacuum advance and see how low you can get it to idle by ajusting the carb with this setting.

Good luck Bill

Do not set it by ear, an engine will idle good with as much as 30 degrees initial advance at idle, but will run like crap when you step on it adding mechanical and vacuum.

PS If this does not work for you then it is time to start looking at other things, like crossed wires, vacuum leaks, carb problems, compression problems etc.

Get back to us on how you make out.

Thanks guys,
Todd

It's probably a long shot and something you would only check after all other avenues have been followed. Could the CAM be one tooth off in it's timng with the crank and cause this type of problem getting initial within normal range?

Another question? If you set the idle screw up a litle on the carb at say 16º will it idle then? You normally have to increase the idle setting as you retard the timing at idle. (You may be well aware of this - just not sure what your experience level is)

Troy.

I did some more work last night and set the timing down to 19 degrees and bumped up the idle to 900 and adjusted the idle mixture and now it will idle in park and drive. Guess thats about as good as I can do for an ex-body tech. graemlins/clonk.gif As long as I don't creat engine problems.
Thanks everyone,
Todd

Sounds like you are getting closer to your goal.

Good luck with it.

Troy.

Buy a light, if timing it by ear was the way to do it, snap on trucks would be selling ears by the dozens

OK your vacuum advance is already disconnected and plugged. Now the key is how much total advance is, at or above the rpm where mechanical advance is "all in" or maxed out. You need a degree tape or measure off and mark 36 degrees on the balancer. In any case you don't want over 40 deg total (without vacuum advance). 36 is a good starting point. It might idle good at 18 or whatever but if total at higher rpm is say 45, you're asking for engine damage. Timing it by ear might be a way to get a good idle but not good for avoiding destroying your engine at WOT from detonation. :eek:

Getting her dailed in now and running great, Thanks guys, and guess what I found a Snap On Truck selling ears today !!! :D :eek: graemlins/hurray.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif graemlins/waving.gif