[colincamaro]

Hi i have a 1967 camaro with a 350 and an HEI distributor with a vacuum advance. I am trying to time this thing and cannot seem to get it adjusted right. I have never done this before and sort of know what i am doing from reading other posts. If someone could give me the steps and what number of degrees i need to end up and that would be great. The selector has the numbers before 4,8,12 and after 8, 12. I revved it up to about 2500 and then turned the distributor clockwise to end up at before 8 but then was not able to drive that car anywhere, there was no power. thats where i stopped, any ideas??

[Rick WI]

Your timing is way retarded, or late. That means the spark is occuring when the piston is too far up the bore. You need to disconnect the vacuum advance at the distributor and plug the end of the hose. Start the car, if you can, and with the timing gun ignition lead connected to the #1 plug wire, which is the first on on the drivers side, line up the timing mark so you have 12 degrees before top dead center at your idle speed. Cinch the distributor down and rev the engine to 3000 RPM and the timing should fall around 36 btdc.

Reconnect the vacuum line, adjust the idle speed and you are done.