340 Initial timing questions

midnight340 said
Yes, double/triple checked TDC when degreeing the cam (with piston stop) and compression is a bit over 9:1. I both measured and cc’d the bore/valve reliefs and cc’d heads, etc. ...so that’s a definite.

I was just curious why I could keep adding initial and it would still start OK warmed up on a 90* day.

I’m sure I’m fine at 22/34 timing. Seems happy enough with that.
(Vacuum can adds another 16 degrees.)

So with the vacuum advance connected, you'd be at about 50 degrees at cruise? Is that how it's running now?

My 70 340 has a stock cam. I'm going to be fitting the FBO limiter plate to optimize the timing and I'm trying to decide whether to run the vacuum advance. 50 degrees sounds like a lot but I guess if the engine isn't loaded it's OK?