Timing

MopaR&D said
The myth that Engine Masters debunked is that aluminum heads need more compression to make the same power/torque as iron heads which is untrue.

Aluminum has much less tendency to have hot spots in the chamber. Heat transfer away from the chamber is too slow to matter but localized heat buildup is a lot less with aluminum.

The 8.2:1 iron-headed 360 in my D200 pings with 34 degrees total timing but the 9:1 aluminum-headed 360 in my Duster is happy with 36. MANY factors at play there and I have yet to optimize the curve in the Duster engine (getting really sick of mechanical advance control!!) but overall the aluminum-headed 360 is far less sensitive to ignition advance.

No, the ONLY way they drove the iron headed test into detonation and run on was to load it down to death and force it to do that.

That would be the same as pulling a 6% grade that’s 4 miles long and you never down shift while pulling a trailer.

That’s exactly what they did. Until that point, the iron headed engine was no more detonation prone than aluminum heads.

Go watch it again.

If guys had EGT’s and they watched them while loading the engine like that they wouldn’t do it. You can drop the temperature just by downshifting to pull the load.

Aluminum is not any more detonation resistant than iron.

I’ve been proving that for 35 plus years.