Setting timing on a 225??

nm9stheham said
When you move that slot under the distributor body, do it a little at a time. Keep in mind that 10 degrees movement under there is 20 degrees of crank timing change. I've overdone it without thinking and had to go back a take some the change out 'cuz I went too far.

Thanks for heads up, nm9stheham!

cuda dad said
Much easier to remove the oil filter to access the bolt on the bottom of the distributor. I set my 67 at 5 degrees Before TDC as prescribed and it runs great. No pinging at all, plenty of power. Of course it's completely stock.

Another good tip! Thanks, cuda dad!

AJ/FormS said
-So measure the slot length, and the pin od.Subtract the two and you are left with a number that represents the effective slot length and the advance that you previously measured by revving it up and idling and doing the math. I dont recall the pin size, so Im gonna guess at the following example. Say the slot is 4/10 of an inch; thats .400, and the pin is 5/32;thats .150. The math says; .400 - .150 = .250 is the effective slot length. And your centrifugal was 30*, as previously measured. again the math says; .250/30 = .008 inch per degree. Now you want to try 12* idle timing, and want to limit power-timing to 32* to allow up to 4 more degrees of initial idle timing to play with. So the math for that would be 32 - 12 = 20* centrifugal. and the effective slot math would be; 20* x .008 = .160 , now dont forget to add back the pin size (.150). So; 160 + .150 = .310, the new total slot length. -So in this example you would have to shorten the slot from .400 to .310.

Thanks, AJ! I don't know what's worse, you being able to explain that so well or the fact that I completely understand it! Lol. I generally always set my timing to max (36*-38*) on my Ford's and let the initial fall where it wants to. Great explanation above. I've messed with the springs and such and have have heard of putting a rubber cap on the tab to limit the advance slotting. Not sure I really want to tackle all of that. And if I did, I'd definitely get another distributor to tinker with first. For now, she has other issues, loose timing chain and valve adjustment, and my tranny just took a dump on me last Friday, so it'll be this spring before I tinker with anything. Any thoughts on using an aftermarket distributor with the adjustable advance mechanism? Other than the outrageous cost compared to a stock distributor of course.