Questions about 318 timing

[Tuckerjr]

Hi guys,

I finally got a timing light and decided to check the timing on my 74 dart sport. It has been running and driving fine, but the gas mileage is really poor.

If I did it correctly it looks like I have 21 degrees initial and 15 degrees mechanical, is this correct? What, if anything, should I change? I checked the initial at idle and the total at 2500 rpms.

-Russell

 

[krazykuda]

Was the vacuum advance on the distributor connected?

 

[Tuckerjr]

It was disconnected.

 

[crackedback]

Did it stop advancing at 2500?

Rev it til it stops advancing. If it happened to be 2500, great. Some mopar distributors don't stop until almost 4K.

 

[Tuckerjr]

I believe it's all in by 2500. I don't want to wake the neighbors so I will wait until tomorrow and double check. If it is all in at 2500 do I need to work on the distributor so I can run a lower initial timing and still have 36 degrees by 2500, or am I thinking about it wrong?

 

[OldmanRick]

If I did it correctly it looks like I have 21 degrees initial and 15 degrees mechanical, is this correct? What, if anything, should I change? I checked the initial at idle and the total at 2500 rpms.

Did it stop advancing at 2500?
Rev it til it stops advancing. If it happened to be 2500, great.

As crackedback said, if your all in @2500 with 21 initial, i don't think there's much mileage to be gained there. Is this a all stock 318? Might have to look at carb and exhaust to find some more MPG.

 

[Johnny Dart]

Double post

 

[Johnny Dart]

I believe it's all in by 2500. I don't want to wake the neighbors so I will wait until tomorrow and double check. If it is all in at 2500 do I need to work on the distributor so I can run a lower initial timing and still have 36 degrees by 2500, or am I thinking about it wrong?

Set your total timming first (34-36) degs. Lock it down.
Now check your initial. Lets say it is 12.
Total timming minus initial timming. 34-12=22
This means 22 degrees of advance are built into your distributor. Lighter cars you want a quicker advance, while heavier cars you want to come in a little later.

Most small blocks work well with around 12 initial 34 total. All cars are built and run a little different. Street cars and drag cars will run different timming.
Now that I gave you some basics, you can find what timming works best for you.

 

[67Dart273]

VERY important if you might have a "stock" "smogger" distributor that has not been recurved, to REALLY wind the engine up to be sure it's "all in." Smoggers can have a very long slow curve.

If you aren't comfortable doing this, get the engine "barely warm" and unhook the fan belt. You won't hurt anything for the 1 minute that it takes to check this.

 

[mischiefdart]

I just checked the timing on my 318 and as previously stated it was not fully advanced till 4,000 rpm. Vacuum advance disconnected the total advance was 20* from idle. The distributor is a stock electronic unit. I will be recurving it soon. Anyone have an opinion on the transdapt kit with the flyweights? Jegs has it for a whopping five dollars.

 

[crackedback]

I just checked the timing on my 318 and as previously stated it was not fully advanced till 4,000 rpm. Vacuum advance disconnected the total advance was 20* from idle. The distributor is a stock electronic unit. I will be recurving it soon. Anyone have an opinion on the transdapt kit with the flyweights? Jegs has it for a whopping five dollars.

Probably just springs. The pictured stuff fits a GM distributor.

 

[OldmanRick]

Anyone have an opinion on the transdapt kit with the flyweights? Jegs has it for a whopping five dollars.

I always used kit's like that in the old days on many brands. Springs were the most important, very rarely used the weights. A dizzy machine is best, but hey, for $5.00 and play with it and it might get you what you need.