TIMING

So from what I can tell your trying to run a Vacuum Unit on your performance engine?

Is this the total number your giving us?

45* at cruise on a stock type motor is probably about right...if it's a 12 second car it should in no way have a vacuum unit on it, vacuum distributors are for your Mom's station wagon and should never be used on a preformance engine. They're for fuel economy not performance if you want fuel economy see you local Geo Metro Dealer if you want power tune your Mopar to all mechanical.

Initial timing numbers are determined by calculating the most timing you can run and the starter will still kick it over without breaking the nose off itself. The more cam you run the more initial you can dial into it.

These old Mopar V8's were never designed to run unleaded low octane fuels, the combustion chambers and ignition systems will not and can not burn this Pump Crap efficiently. Unless you convert the ignition and adjust your tune up to band aid this problem you will never get the optimum from your Muscle Car.

I took the Fish to a local Church car show yesterday, there was 3 Hemi cars, all 3 were running ORANGE Boxes. I spoke to the 2 owners (1 guy owned 2) and asked about their ignition, they all had them set at 10* initial with stock out of the box MP distributors (all in at 1600) and 30-32* total.

I asked how they ran "Hard to start, cold blooded, bog, best times from the 64 Plymouth was a 12.77"....their jaws dropped when they looked under the hood of the Fish....318 Iron headed, no juice and running 11.70's.

I proved my theory, we bumped the timing way up to about 20 initial on the 64, hit the starter and it jumped to life immediatly, idled clean and had at least double the throttle response. They just stared at it couldn't believe the difference. Of course it took the total to about 50 and they couldn't drive it without a recurve so we reset it and it started idling fat, stumbling, no throttle response...just a pig, sounded like a 390 FE Ford with a 2 Barrell and a bad cam.

We'll be doing all 3 distributors next week.

The best part, I personally get to smash 3 orange boxes with my 5 pound hammer on the steel work bench...I used to pull out my 41 Magnum and shoot them things before they could breed but the neighbors started complaining....orange corpes laying all over the place stinking up the neighborhood....now it Baaaammm... plunk in the trash can.

We got to fire engines at high noon....we won the loudest car award, in fact the MC claimed that the Fish was the loudest car he had ever heard?????....I cracked it to about 3500 max....is it really that loud?...it's just a 318?...sure made that 64 Hemi with open headers sound dismal..I think the guy was embarrassed....oh well.