Well, like I mentioned above, I'm not an expert on this but here's how I
figured it.
I set my initial timing where the cam liked it by setting for max vacuum
at idle. As you advance you timing your idle will speed up so you will need
to keep bringing your idle speed down so it stays at a consistent rpm. You
might be surprised how much advance that actually is. When you are at
max vacuum, back off one degree of advance. If your at more than 20 before you might get starter kickback and have to adjust for that also.
Once you have your initial set, you will need to limit your total to around
34-35 for a small block non-stroker. I think strokers need a little less total.
That's how I set mine up. I have 18-20 initial and limited the mechanical
advance in the distributor to give me a total all in of 34 advance.
