Help me tune my dizzy?

vntned said

So I spent some time yesterday tuning on the engine. I set the initial at 16deg, and it looks like my total is 35deg. The motor pulls very strong, considering how mild it is.

However, after driving it around awhile and it gets hot, it doesn't wanna restart easily. It's very hard to turn over and it sometimes trips the 100amp breaker I have in line with the positive cable.

Also, it doesn't wanna idle below 1k rpm as is either. My brother in law thinks the timing is too high, but it pulls great and doesn't ping up to 5800rpm, which is as high as I've turned it.

Suggestions?

Click to expand...

Why do you have a 100 amp breaker in line on the positive cable?

The engine when hot WILL be hard to turn over. It will create a large draw on the battery/electrical system. So you will need to make sure all of that is up to the task.

As for the high RPM idle. That could be two things.
1 - You're into the mechanical advance. As I mentioned before. Some distributors start the advance at 800-1000rpm. If you are "into" the advance. It can be difficult to tune it down. As AJ mentioned. Check to see when your advance comes in.
2 - Carb tuning problem. This is why I mentioned that it is VERY important to make sure the carb is set properly, and the idle reset, every time you make an adjustment. Carb's are essentially a controlled gas leak. If the carb is not set properly, it could be dumping more fuel in there than you want at idle, causing it to stay so high. Even with the butterflys closed. As AJ mentioned, the T-port sync is very important at idle.

Or maybe even a vacuum leak? But I would think that would be noticeable by now.

As for your timing numbers. They look good. 16 really shouldn't be that hard to start. Especially with manifolds instead of headers. As the head pipe should give the mini-starter plenty of clearance. I would check your electrical system. I would not be surprised if you could get 18 or even 20 degrees of initial timing and still be able to hot start, as long as your electrical system is up to it.