Hitting the converter with the most torque possible out of the hole is the best way for the fastest 60 foot times.
The vacume advance on a stock engine gives the engine more initial timing and improves the way a stock motor runs at idle.
Only if you have it hooked up IMPROPERLY to full time vacuum. If it's hooked up to ported vacuum it does not affect initial timing at all.
THIS IS ONLY USED FOR STOCK MOTORS.
When running a high performance motor and running more total timing YOU SOULD UNHOOK THE VACUME ADVANCE BECAUSE YOU WONT NEED IT.
The car will start fine and run smoother at idle after setting the total timing higher.
I do not agree. Initial timing has a direct link to idle quality.
Theres no need for the initial timing like before when the total was less.
When you change the total timing ,and make it higher then the stock setting, you could run into DETINATION PROBLEMS USING THE VACUME ADVANCE AFTER SETTING THE TOTAL TIMING.
If the vacuum advance is properly hooked up to the ported vacuum outlet on the carb and TUNED PROPERLY rarely will it cause detonation. My car is a perfect example. If I have any more than 35 degrees total timing with the vacuum advance unhooked it will spark knock. I just customized a dist. USING vacuum advance that provides an additional 18 degrees of timing under light throttle (via the ported vacuum port). It does not spark knock, idles better cold because on the fast idle cam it's allowing vacuum to pull the advance canister, gets 3-4 mpg. gallon better, and the spark plugs run cleaner.
Alot of cars at the track will lock there distributers out and set there total
timing.What this means is ,they are not even using the weights in there distributers and there timing never changes.
Locking out the distributer will make a motor HARD TO START, and i would not do this for a street car, but even some hard core street people do this.
True, and I would never do this on a street car either unless it had an electronic retard device.
This is why you install light weight springs in your distributer and use the weights in the distributer to advance the timing as the rpms increase.THIS DOES NOT MAKE THE MOTOR HARD TO START.
Another thing they do is lock out the vacume advance so the timing is more stable at higher rpms.
The vacume advance rod can move around at high rpms and cause your timing to move around with it.
How is that possible? There's no vacuum there at wide open throttle.
This is why msd high performance RACE DISTRIBUTERS don't have a vacume advance.
Msd distributers can be made to have the total timing come in at many differant rpms ,so you have many choices.(If you need them)
This is good for cars that are running high compresion and there motors are prone to detinaion and they want less timing at lower rpms while under a high load and more at higher rpms to gain more horse power when detination is less likely to happen.
If a street motor is build with the correct compresion for pump gas,it will not need anything but the total timing set for the most power.
MOST PERFORMANCE MOTORS WANT ALL THE TIMING THEY CAN GET AND THE INITIAL TIMING IS NOT EVEN PART OF THE TUNE.:thumrigh: