Honestly, Carb & Ignition timing tuning is all very simple - disappointingly, there is a lot of misleading info out there. Planning to make some timing vids in the future - maybe another round of carb vids. as always, the best tuning tool is a wideband o2 sensor/gauge. this tool both saved my engine when I was learning and really helps to dial in a tune. great for troubleshooting also - NO MORE GUESSING!!! (link on next line) this is the one I run and prefer - amzn.to/2t6mbgN BUT, any wideband is better than no wideband in my book. check them out, do some googling, your engine will thank you for it.
I think a good video on using a wideband o2 gauge to properly tune a carb would be terrific. Everyone recommends one, and they are nice, but I've yet to find a really good video about using one for tuning. Just a thought... Related to this, what are your target AFRs at idle, part throttle, full throttle, and cruising?
How do you see the future being electric vehicles affect us carbureted v8 guys and our work and do you see diesel mechanics and other mechanics who work strictly on internal combustion becoming obsolete and losing their job
I'm thankful that you take the time to learn and research all the technical details so we don't have to. It's nice to have it simplified for the "everyday man". Appreciated.
It's so great to see a young guy know so much about non computerized cars. You sound a lot like my collage auto shop teacher back in my youth, first 2 things he taught us was how to set up a carb and timing. Love your content and hope to see more, your neighbor to the west in Nebraska
Great tutorial brother, I remember me and a buddy rebuilding a 350 for my 87 Silverado and then spending the better part of 3 hours finding the right combo of dist. weights and springs, the right amount of advance, the best combo of jets, metering rods and springs for the Edelbrock 1406. When all was said and done with the 350, 700R-4 and a 3:07 rear end the truck got 24 mpg at 65 on the interatate.
Love that air-cooled Bug behind you! Right after high school in 1981, I went to work for a friend of the family that operated a V.W. & Subaru repair shop. That's where my love of cars came from.
the engineer shows us some of the cookies that are to be had when we understand the concept of ignition timing. It's still a bit over my head, but i always appreciate these videos - they will be far more helpful when i get there in person. Thank you, TH289!
THANK YOU! man i swear for the past couple years, my understanding was kinda backwards. i never got to screw much with timing, but thanks, your explanation made it click! looking forward to the future videos explaining even more in depth!
I've come to learn. Thank you. Finalizing the last fixes to my dream truck. A 1988 Suzuki Carry db71t 543cc 3 cylinder engine with upgraded custom Pertronix distributor. Kept the vacuum advance. Appreciate your clear explanations.
I've found out that when you never use the knowlege that you've been taught, you lose it. Besides that, this was really informative and should help many in the long run.
The comments are what I needed to figure this stuff out! My conclusions are: 1. Use metered vacuum for the vacuum advice. 2. The springs on the mechanical advance are intentionally heavy so mechanical advance is correct conservative to protect the engine. However, we can find spring tension that allows more mechanical advance so we don't leave power on the table. 3. Wide band O2 sensor and vacuum gauge for on the dash looks cool and are a great monitor of the engine's performance. @Thunderhead289, please correct me if I got anything wrong.
I once, when I was younger, changed a timing belt on my old Yota to find it had previously been installed 1 tooth retarded. I set it correctly, and put it all back together. I was in a hurry to get to class that afternoon, and completely forgot to reset ignition timing... first lay into the throttle, she rattled angrily- I realized my mistake but was already late, so I nursed it along. I found if I kept it right at the edge of ping, she ran hotter than she ever had. I got lucky and didn't blow a head gasket or shell a piston. Luckily, a buddy had his timing light with him after class and I set her straight again. Didn't run as feisty, but still better than with a retarded cam!
Getting my drivers licence in 1964 and coming up in the day Mom and Dad didn't buy you a car, ya had to buy and work on your own this video EXPLAINED much of what I did to keep my old clunkers running. I did the stuff you talk about, but with little understanding of why. There's a world of difference in knowing how to do something and having enough knowledge to color outside the lines a little. I WISH I'd had the interest and the TIME to get better educated back then. Then again, the guys I ran with were like me, no interest in sitting in a classroom, as valuable as that would have been. Years since I thought about yanking the plugs every 12,000 miles, not to replace them but to sandblast and regap them and put em back in. Broke, dumb and lucky we still RODE. The sensors, computers, far advanced fuel injection, dual turbos, the "engine management systems" of today's cars makes kids today unable to tinker like we did.They'd need ten grand worth of scan tools to diagnose what we did by ear. Enjoy your channel Luke, keep it up. Keep "old tech" alive.
Got mine in 67, same where and when i grew-up. We all learned how to keep a finger nail file and a book of matches for tuning the car. Every fall me and all my friends would get our cars ready for winter, points, plugs wire, change termostat'e to 190 so we had heat, check hoses belts. Love it; i guess that why at 65, I play with old beetles & still use and keep the points in them to keep bring back the memories helps me feel feel young again. None of us had any schooling just helped each other asked the old guys a lot of questions (they got lot of luaghs from watching us trying to fixes our cars) but some how we were able to keep our car on the road. I feel so lucky to grown up in the time i did with the cars of the 60's & 50's. We worked on them outside under a tree in the yard or on gravel driveway , auto parts store parking lot, none of us had a garage . Back then I never knew at 65 I would look back at it as some of the best times in my life.
I would love a whole series about the mechanics of a vehicle broken down like this. I'm a visual learner, I like seeing individual components and learning why each piece is important and how it works together. Maybe one day this video will make full sense to me, I'm so lost on mechanical repair 😅
I do break things down in more detail on my Facebook group (not the Facebook page - Facebook won’t let me delete it for whatever reason) Perhaps I could go more in detail on the components - that is one thing I didn’t like when I made this video, I never zoomed in! It’s hard with 1 guy!
I like to hook up a vacuum gauge and a timing light, swap out the springs and weights, play with the spark gap and Idle jets to make my car run perfect. Then when I find it runs like shit, I work backwards until It runs good? Usually ending up pretty close to where I started!
Great video, BTW everytime I see the Buick in the background I think of my favorite aunt, she drove a '65 LeSabre same color,2 door ... sadly she passed in '75 and had a new one in the driveway but always drove the '65 she said it was her favorite car, thanks for sharing and"Howdy from Texas 😁"!!
@@ThunderHead289 I feel the same way- this is the 20th year i've been a mechanic- i love teaching people too. Unfort they make it a little hard to become a trade school teacher in Aust. You need 20 years in the industry, which i'll have officially a bit later this year- but then you need to go get a degree in teaching. Look, i can understand WHY this is a requirement- but some people take to teaching very easily and are naturally what's called a "people person"... Anyway, about to have a bit of a look at your vid! You'd be surprised how often i stumble across incorrect info being "taught"!!! Just like you pointed out as well. A couple of months ago i watched a vid from a pretty large channel that does some pretty decent content- but they had absolutely NO understanding about ignition systems and were actually telling people the vacum advance on the dizzy RETARDED ignition timing!!! I'm not joking. I'll save them the embarrassment of mentioning their channel name, but let's just say they are "Monsters" at making "Horsepower"... 😊 I couldn't believe it. So i left a very polite comment explaining how the vacum advance worked and WHY it operates the way it does, the name says it all- doesn't it?!? It's not called the vacum retard unit. They didn't even understand that it is totally non- operational at WOT where an engine has little to no vacuum- and that it's there to create efficiency (like @ cruise and light throttle) and responsiveness at part throttle... They were telling people to disconnect it so it doesn't rob you of power! Epic fail from a channel of their size... SMH 😒
@@danielbrealey2924 Just how the governments took the trades out of the shop and dumped them into a money process and control system. The best knowledge was achieved from another person that had years in training and all was passed down through hands on teaching in the shop. Today it is all controlled and messed with, very few cone out of school knowing everything they need and only think they have it. I was in school for machining and there were things untaught in the classes that I learned after. To me these "trade schools" are a joke of what they should actually achieve. Same deal with today's schools, teaching a one sided history and leaving out HUGE facts in favor for a depleted form of history bleached and washed out from truths. Makes me sick.
@@ThunderHead289 You'd make a great Shop Class teacher! I had a great one back in the day when they Automotive Shop! And now I got my oldest Grand Son who wants to learn... he really wants my 72' Camper Special but we are going to fix up a 89' Ranger V6 4X4 short bed... cute little truck; I'm like you to long legged to fit in the dang thing :)
I'm old school, So I make sure that the engine is completely warmed up and go to the nearest steep hill and roll the window down so I can hear if it is pinging and I drive up the hill. When the engine is under a load is when you can really hear what it is running like best in my opinion? And if it is hot out and you go to start the engine and it cranks over hard it tells a story of too much advance.
@@superfuntime3107, he explained some things in more detail. For me, with relatively no experience in setting up timing "properly", he makes some great points.
i built a distributor cut off the the vac with hacksaw and made it full advance its a long story but ran great the cam with lots of overlap ,i had hardly nothing anyway timing set at 26deg if i remember right, yrs ago but wow i needed a stall bad 350 chevy 72 chevelle it was all top end
Good info, basic, easy to follow & understand best details on this topic i ever heard anyone explain. Hard to miss the beetle in the back, can you do a video on the bug and a walk around, looks like a 63 ??? Any chance it is for sale , we will give it a name and a good home. We have a few other bugs it could play with, if it is a keeper understand, stop by anytime ask any questions. We live up in Conrad north of Marshalltown where i work.
Hey man. I have a 74 351w I just redid the heads new carb all gaskets. Put in an EI. I am at TDC. Can't get it to start. Backfiring fuel out of the carb. It's in my boat so it's just the basics no vacuum advance no sensors.coil is good I have spark.
I agree with most of what you said however, firing too soon or before optimum doesn't always cause knock. You could be well past MBT before you hear knock. For example: if at any load and rpm the engine wants 35 degrees of timing for best power, it may not knock till 40. So setting timing just before knock isn't always the best way to set timing.
I’m mad at myself I didn’t say this - I said “retard the timing”, but I should have said “retard the timing 2-3 degrees and reassess” You are 100 percent correct
I enjoyed your video on timing. I switched from efi to a 600cfm Holley carb on my ff5 cobra 302 1987 motor. I got a Davis distributor and running 6 lbs fuel pressure to the carb. I am 75 and old school. I want to set the timing at 11 degrees at idle. I use the car for just street use. Is that a safe setting? Thanks. Paul in Ohio
I have question on the relationship between engine timing, rpm and automatic transmission shifting. When and how does the transmission know when to shift and do so smoothly no matter how hard you push down on the throttle?
Igniter vs Points distributor vs HEI I have a 1990 Lincoln Town with the Windsor V8. Looking for tune-up advice, how to get the best fuel efficiency. upgrading does sound like less maintenance but questioning ROI Return On Investment? btw the car has sat for 8 years and running well on warm days. but if I don't let it warm up 20* F or colder and try to drive off after 10 min it seems rough until it gets to operating temp. also after 45 to 1hr idle to op temp. it will kill the motor most of the time when I change gears R or D. I haven't noticed during warmer days dying during gear change but I have only had it for three weeks.
Hey Luke....John here, up in Washington. If I want to experiment timing my 350 sbc with a vacume gauge, do I plug gauge into ported or manifold outlet on my edlebrock 1405? Thanks bud....love all your videos. Just bought an overpriced 65Impala....350...with 4 speed Muncie. So crude and uncivilized. I want to put 700R4 in next year with 2600 stall and a light shift kit
Awesome! Thank you for the video. Its great to learn and get an understanding of the basics. Do you have any videos discussing how to convert a points distributor to an HEI style (electronic ignition?)? On say a 67 cougar Also What does a guy need to run a 85 351w on a run stand without the ignition module? I think i would need a different distributor then? Im also planning on puting it in a 67 cougar. I tried googling a converson, but im lacking on nomenclature so im not sure what some of the parts were they mentioned. Thank you
I took your advice and got a progression ingnition i got it installed with relay it fires right but having trouble generating a table could use some advise i got a 1965 thunderbird rebuilt it 2 years ago stock the disributor was wore out so i got a progression ignition
It's nice but the '63 Fairlane/Windsor 260 motor has no factory timing marks. Finding TDC requires a little more effort after the distributor shaft decided to spin 180 degrees.
Hey ThunderHead289! I'm trying to turn a Suzuki Samurai into daily driver, and so far I have put a aftermarket distributor, carburetor, air intake, and headers on it. I also followed your suggestion with the O2 sensor, and that has helped greatly. Interestingly, when I put timing at the OEM suggestion, 10° BTDC, I'll get afterfire at idle. Idle and cruising is much happier at 12°, but I'm still adjusting a degree each tank of gas to find best fuel economy. Would my other low restriction mods have an effect on where(with regards to crankshaft position) my effective powerband/flame propogation is? Also, have you ever come across aftermarket distributors that have an incorrect total advance? Thanks
When adjusting the timing curve with springs on a new hei distributor can you take one of the springs off and put a light spring in its place and leave the other spring?
Hmmm.... so If I'm climbing a hill at 65MPH in my 64 Galaxie and I give it a little more gas and I get a light ping - my vacuum advance is coming into play. When I give it more gas I hear the secondaries open which makes it more rich and the pinging stops. At the point of me going to 75% throttle does the vacuum drop off enough to eliminate the vacuum advance?
When are you gonna tell the story about the rot stang splitting in half? 11 months ago you said “I’ll have a video in a month talking about it” I wanna hear!
Could you please explain why the vacuum advance is connected to a vaccine port on the carburetor above the throttle plate? Also explain why vacuum at that port increases as the throttle opens and why that advances the timing.
Got a question. Have a f100 with 360 engine. I know it has very low compression ratio, also has a bigger cam than stock. I run 20 degrees initial with 5 degrees vacuum advance from manifold. My question is what is the maximum total advance I could run in your opinion. Can't really hear pinging with the flowmasters, so listening for knock is difficult. What do you think. Now it's at 36 degrees total. Thanks in advance😀haha.
Claude LaDow howdy, so let me understand this correctly, your vacuum advance is only adding in an additional 5 degrees of timing? How have you confirmed this? You can check this by taking a timing reading at idle with vacuum advance unhooked, then taking a reading at idle with vacuum advance hooked to manifold vacuum - subtract the difference, and that is the total additional vacuum advance available to you.
@@ThunderHead289 yes, it is adjustable canister. Set with timing light and vacuum tool. Didn't want to much at cruise because of the aggressive timing curve. All in by 2500 rpm. Engine responds well to advance, but I need to know where to stop for most power at max rpm.....5000.
hey luke i was wondering if you could help me out. so i’ve got a ford 300 ci in-line 6 i rebuilt with a comp cam 268 in it with 219 degrees of duration at .50” lift. i’ve got my initial ignition timing set to right around 12 degrees (i referenced a chart you showed in one of your previous videos that said to put initial at 10-12 degrees for cams below 220 degrees) and with the transfer slots on my carb set to a square, it doesn’t want to idle, even with vacuum advance on the manifold vacuum port. to compensate i’ve had to turn the transfer slot screw about a turn in to get it to idle right around 700 rpm’s and it seems to run good at that but has a bit of a hard time starting after it’s ran at operating temperature. i have to give it a little gas to get it to fire off good. also has a bad off idle bog when i give it more than about half throttle while setting off from a stand still. would this be a situation where i give it a bit more initial timing to get it to idle with transfer slots at a square and put stop bushings in my distributor if it exceeds safe total timing limits? also i’ve got an adjustable vacuum advance on my distributor so that could also be adjusted too in an effort to get more timing at idlebut i figure i’d ask an expert in this before messing with that lol. any help would be appreciated as this is really my first time tuning a carb setup on a driving vehicle. thanks!
If replacing distributor in 1974 F-100 to a Jegs HEI distributor. It fires runs great shut it off and won’t start. Or it might do I need to ground the distributor
Hi. I've watched a lot of your videos thru my rebuild process. I rebuild a 1995 f150 302 engine. But I hit a wall when it comes to getting it to start. I put a holly 600 and I got a points style distributor (because I wanted to get away from electronics) well, I've started it 2 successfully until it idles and then dies then I can't start. I did all preliminary adjustments for the carb so i think that is all fine. But the ignition system is giving me a fit. I got a duralast distributor and a duralast coil with a ballast resistor. Still nothing. I ordered a hei protonix flamethrower like the one you have here but it is entirely too big to fit. I want to avoid spending much more money and I want to stay away from ignition control boxes. Any advice? The performance shop in town recommended an msd for like 500. I don't want to spend that much.
would you mind doing a video on tuning a carb with a higher CFM than stock? Also, random question. Im running 20w50 in my 84 ranger's 2.8L v6 down here in georgia. I never gets below 34f at night during the winter. From your experience. Am I safe?
Just gonna put this in the comment section, hope some of you guys can help me. I have a ford fe 360 in my truck, i put an edelbrok perfromer rpm intake and a holley (I think its a street warrior) 600 cfm carb on it. Now, i have never worked on one of these engines before, because they are quite uncommon where i life, thats why i need some help. I fiddled around with the carb a bit, but nothing to advanced, because i need to get a vacuum gauge... just some basic tweaking on the idel mixture screws. I went on and got a timing light to set the initial timing. I removed the vacuum hose from my distributer, pluged it and set the timing to about 8 degrees BTC. Here is what confuses me... When I put the vacuum hose back onto the vacuum can on the distributer i get like around 40 degree of advance. Am I missing something? The weird thing is, when i have the hose connected to the can the engine sounds way smoother and healthier, but when i rev it it seems to get missfires (didnt rev it to much, cause im kinda scared) Another thing i might mention as well... When i put the engine back together i caused a massive vacuum leak at the carb gasket and had multiple backfires, could this have caused some damage? So my questions are: Is the vacuum can dead or does it need some adjustment? Should i adjust the carb first? What else could/should i do? Thx guys, I would really appreciate your help.
What about the people that lock out their advance weights, so that their initial timing is their total timing? Would that mean those people are more prone to pinging and would have to run less total timing since it's always on and not advancing slowly with springs and weights?
There are a lot of opinions about locked out timing out there, but I’ll provide you mine - The only time I condone it is for circle track where you are at throttle all the time and don’t need a curve - only reason being is so you don’t snap a spring and put you out of the race. As far as street cars, the only time I have ever seen it relatively work is when an engine is built with too much cam and not enough static compression to support it - that scenario makes for a really slow inefficient burn time at idle. Does that all make sense?
Cant for the life o me find a decent vac advance for my 383 dodge polara. All the ones i find, the arm's flipped the wrong way. Anytime i find one with correct arm, the diaphragm is busted and wont hold vacuum. So ima stuck running my original advance with busted vacuum using mechanical advance. It runs fine... but its a daily driver and i could um ..use the extra 'economy '
do you know if it is possible to run stock electric fuel pumps that run 40 psi or better on a carburetor with a fuel pressure regulator and return line?
Absolutely you can. You probably are using an in tank pump for a previously fuel injected vehicle correct? In that case, pick up a injection to carb bypass regulator
@@ThunderHead289 thanks for the info. Have a 96 f-250 snow plow truck that only runs in the winter. Thinking about a cam swap but don't want to spend extra bones on a sniper efi to make it work. Guess I should start with the plugged converter and ancient snow plow!!
Running 20 initial 32 total in by 2800. Interesting thing is that the thing is set for total timing and the electronic curve retards from there as a function of rpm...
I have a 1987 Dodge 150 318 it pings it has two lines on the harmonic balancer which one is the right one to go by?the one going all the way across or the shorter one?seem like it pings more after its warmed up .and when it's cold starts it chokes me to death.
i really only show 1/4 of what i do to youtube - i could start videoing it. im about 1 days worth away of work from starting it for the first time in who knows how long (assuming engine internals arent junk of course).
I think we all would be interested in the other projects you have going Luke! Your living the dream, us old guys have too many kids to afford to own that many.😂
Gary Winters I actually work all the time! My buddy junkyard digs that I share the garage with is living the dream! He doesn’t have a day job - I’m just like all of you guys!!! He brings me along for the fun when we can make it work 👌 I will try to be better about recording my projects!
If you listen to what I said in the video, that is a bandaid for other issues. Typically someone does this with too big of a cam with not enough static compression to handle it.
Hey dude. Great video. Id love to be able to chat with you about a set up i have in the wifes 79 f250. Im having a hell of a time finding a good base time for. 400 bored .060". howards roller cam, edelbrock performer with a 650 AVS carb. Trickflow powerport heads and racetech pistons at 9.75:1. Just cant seem to find the sweetspot.
@@ThunderHead289 The engine came set up for something like a 3000# fox body and I put it in a 5000# SUV. Can set the timing so it launches off idle and falls on it's face or it's slow off the line but pulls hard at higher RPMs. No spark knock though.
Johns Junk gotcha. Put in heavier springs, but I really can’t help you with that one - this channel is carb country in that regard. On a carb I’d run a heavier secondary spring and a smaller carb cfm overall
I have seen several of your videos all have very great information although if at all possible I will try to avoid making videos inside that shop it's kind of echoey and hard to follow
The issue is that I don’t have anywhere else to make videos. I actually live in a trailer park and most of the year by the time I leave work it’s dark outside!
Oh Derick from VGG released a video of him removing the super charger from his red Chevelle. Now you have one. Figured maybe he cut you a deal on it and all you had to buy for it was a base
Well, it's pretty awesome that you got your hands on one. I'm sure it'll help test the bolts that hold your seats in with all that gettie up and go it'll have.
This is all very informative and I understand it very well to begin with, however I would like to be able to hear what you are saying clearly so that I don't miss anything and I am having a hard time understanding you because every word you say is like you are talking into an echo chamber. It's very hard to understand what you are saying.
Vacuum advance drops out when manifold vacuum goes low. But when you are standing beside your car, it will only drop for a moment since there is essentially no load on the engine - so manifold vacuum will come back.
Interesting you have stuff from Teng tools. I was under the impression it was quite uncommon in the US. looking on amazon it seems kinda overpriced for what it is. the quality is pretty good as far as Taiwanese stuff goes though