"...I set it as high as possible to the point where it pings under load, then back off 1 or 2 degrees..."
I was going to suggest the exact same thing!. My Dad turned me onto this years ago and I've always found it better than using a timing light and factory specs being it takes into consideration the actual engine and it's used and/or modified components.. Plus a road test is necessary too!.
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I like real cars best...especially the REAL real ones! ----------------------------------------------------------------
For my carb intakes, I set it as high as possible to the point where it pings under load, then back off 1 or 2 degrees.
I totaly agree that the best way is using the road test trial and error method. But 65Camino might like to know ballpark. I'd say start with 4 degrees before TDC. Make sure you have the same octane rating in your tank that you plan to stay with, and advance or retard accordingly, ever so slightly each time.
The road test is the best part, you're allowed to pin it through the gears. It's in the HTA under "Allowances for testing"...right Carl?
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65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
I was reading this and thought I should share personal experience. For the older engines with well over 9 for compression the "all the way till it pings and back a touch" seems to work well but my experience for lower compression (in the 8's) is they need to go back a bit more than a touch because the point were they will ping is pretty far advanced. I had a 427 that I ran a later smog head on with a bigger chamber to reduce compression. It had some surging issues at highway speed. I chased that for a long time until I finally found that the timing was way too far up, and I still had no pinging at that point. Setting the timing back to a "normal" spec (seems to me it was around 6* or 8*) made it run proper and had no adverse effects.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)
Thanks for all the help! Spent my lunch hour the other day adjusting it. Turned it counter clockwise , seemed to pick up power. Ran out of time to get it to ping.
