It seems like everyone I know advances their timing. Why is that,I know if you advance too far you can cause detonation. What are the advantages of advancing? If it makes more power or economy,you would think the Mfg would set it ahead. Do you have to advance it on a street motor with a mild cam? I have played with mine a couple times & didn't notice any difference in how it ran,so the guys that are always turning it ahead,are they doing it for a reason,or just because maybe some race car driver did it?
No engine will start with 25 degrees INITIAL advance. The 25 degrees advance referred to in this thread includes the centrifugal advance.
The pre-1970 high compression engines will not start with more than 14 degrees initial advance. l
Examples: A 1970 427 CI L88 engine will kick back against the ignited mixture if the initial timing advance is more than 13 degrees BTDC and a 1970 Pontiac Ram Air IV engine must have no more than 13 degrees BTDC initial advance. The centrifugal advance mechanism in a RA IV distributor starts at 1100 RPM and advances timing to 24 degrees. The centrifugal advance in a 1970 Pontiac regular production distributor starts at 800 RPM. If heavy springs are used to delay the centrifugal advance the timing may be too late.
Some people don't even know what initial advance is because they never have worked on a stock engine.
You are wrong- period. If the starter drags/kicks back, an ignition interrupter switch is used. This has been discussed about a thousand times here and elsewhere. I'm not wasting another minute of time on you OR your useless advice.
And, if the engine won't idle below 1100-1200 RPM, there are tools available at some places that permit setting up the entire timing curve OUTSIDE of the engine compartment. Sun Instruments made thousands of them. They are now pretty readily available, in working condition, for under $1000. You might not get the stable running idle you're looking for, but you'd get the curve you describe. It is NOT impossible.
PatM
PS - I feel like many often forget about how simple it is to do a setup on a distributor machine. I rarely see them mentioned. I bought mine, have only used it once, but feel I have already received real value from my purchase. In the 50's and 60's, about every service station had one. There was a reason.
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