Hi everyone. This is my first post so take her easy on me. I just bought a 1971 chevelle ss clone. It has a 350 SBC with a distributor that I've never seen. Now I don't have much experience with timing but this distributor dosent seem to turn like most to adjust timing. It does have a port hole on the cap with access to a screw. I turned the screw a few times (counter clockwise) and took her for a spin. The acceleration seemed to be a lot snappier and pull through second gear a lot better. I was having problems with a sluggish wot and messed with the carb with no change so I figured it was a timing issue. So does anyone know exactly what that screw does? Is it actually advancing or retarding my timing. Thanks for looking guys! I'll try to post some pics. I don't know what brand distributor it is....
My recommendation is to learn how to do a tune up. Very easy. Buy a tach/dwell meter, a timing light, and a spark plug gap tool. They're cheep. Get a book and look up the specs for your engine and set it up the way it's supposed to be. For example, inspect and/or replace spark plugs. Spark plugs gapped to .035". Remove cap and inspect the points, if they're pitted, replace them. Set to 30* dwell. Set the timing. Probably around 8* timing advance at idle with the vacuum line off and plugged. Hook up the vacuum line to the distributor and set the idle. Probably around 600 rpm in drive if it's an automatic, 600 rpm in neutral if it's a stick. Do it in that order, otherwise you'll be chasing issues around and around because one thing affects the next. Dwell effects timing, timing effects idle speed, idle speed effects timing. That's why it's to be done in order. Once you have it properly tuned, then you'll know if you have an issue that needs addressed. If you just start messing around with things, odds are you'll be masking or compounding a problem if one exists. jmo
