Why so much inital timing???

mopowers said
I've been playing with the tune on my 340 and it seems this engine for some reason likes a ton of initial timing. I've got it set at 28* now and it starts fine when hot. I've verified TDC on the balancer as well and have the total limited to 36* (which may or may not be too much).

Why does this particular engine like so much initial timing and is that an indicator of something that may be wrong? I've got the idle set at 800 in gear and it pulls 11" of vacuum.

Engine is a .030 over 340, 9.6 SCR, RHS heads, 231* @ .050"/.561" lift/108 ICL hydraulic flat tappet.

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I just built a 340 with 9.4 SCR and a 220 @ .050"camshaft, that was set at 22 initial and could have had a tad more. If it doesn't ping or start hard when hot, it isn't too much. Drag guys lock out their advance most of the time, because the engine makes the best power when at it's optimum timing number, and they are usually running enough cam to bleed off some of the cylinder pressure that causes hard starting anyway.