Thread: Timing by ear?

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We used to run the engine up to 1800-2000 rpm with no load, advance the timing until it just started to slightly miss ,back up 2 degrees and tighten everything down. Ran good never lost a motor but those were the days of good gasoline

Erik, don't foget flat cam lobes on the generic camshafts to go with holes in pistons lost hp and lets not forget collapsed piston skirts. Good post there. Please please please, use a light to start and make sure it is a true TDC on the mark. Then you can get out the vacuum gauge and play. And never ever get greedy because "more" isn't always better. "A lot is good, more must be better".........nope!

Only by ear is ok for start up,but like every one mentioned befor theirs no substatute for a timing light,For my high-performance engines I like to use (MSD)adhesive timing tape on the Harmonic balencer to check my mechanical advance this is done in 500RPM increments from idle on up.On a mild street engine total advance should all be in around 3000RPM.This tape creates A timing curve similar to that of A distributor machine,Don't forget that when using this tape you're reading both the (Initial and the Mechanical advance at each RPM level.

Hay Tweaked hears some thing to consider,A typical street engine with 9.0:1 compression runs pretty good with 36 degrees of timing(initial plus mechanial)for a rough total of 15-55 degrees of total timing at light Throttle,when Vacume Advance is added in and the engine Detonates or Pings under (WOT)wide open throttle,reduce the amount of vacume advance.If the guy's you are talking to that set timing by ear are running A (CRANK-TRIGGER)on the Flex-plate they would be close because the timing is full advance at all times you only need to set the Initial timing,most people I no with this set up still use a timing light.

I didn't take it that way Denny,Didn't think you were saying that at all.If you took it that I was impling that you did, I appologize to you and every one I was refering to the people he mentioned in his post.

This one is just for grins. A local car enthusiast who once told me he had .015 clearance on a main bearing, SBC, and wondered if that was too much. He sets his timing this way, turn the distributer all the way clockwise and mark it, than all the way counter clock wise and mark it, set the distributer half way between the marks, tighten down the clamp and good to go.

If you don't have nothing --no vacuum gague, timing light or other stuff. Try proping the garden hose by the exaust pipe and use it as a sound horn. Assuming no water in it, it will sharpen your hearing of the engine. Also place a glass of water on the air cleaner and watch the ripples in the water this is particularily good for the idle adjustment on the carb.

First Post by a Newbie!