Timing woes

[Brewmaster]

I'm trying to set my timing eh. Following the Bentley I have the vac advance hose removed and previously my timing mark was at 30 btdc! So I set it to 16 btdc and the car struggles to run.

What

[Brewmaster]

Maybe more vacuum leaks but pulling the vac advance does NOTHING at all to the car's idle. Also it's kinda cute that at 16 btdc it sounds like it has hot cams. But I am at a loss here

[SpecialTool]

When you say "removed" the hose you mean pulled the end off the advance canister and plugged it?

[Brewmaster]

Yup. Pulled and plugged. No difference

[SpecialTool]

Yeah it won't make a perceptible difference to idle. I don't know what to make of your timing problem, apart from suggesting maybe the strobe is faulty.

[peva]

Tell us how exactly you are setting the timing and what are you using as the datum mark.

[Brewmaster]

I'm using an inductive timing light attached to cylinder 1. Pulled vacuum from hall solenoid and put timing light to flywheel. Aligned marks to 16 btdc

Is there... is there another way to do this?

[peva]

No not really, but some people get confused over what mark to us as the datum. You are using the line on the plastic clutch cover? What happens to the timing when you raise the revs to 2K? Does the timing advance increase?

[Brewmaster]

I'll have to check later on that. But aside from the rocky idle the car runs like a champ now. Once I give her gas she lights right up. Full boost over 1/2 into the red. I'll live w that until I can get new cap/rotor/plugs/wires and see if that cures the lope

Or maybe I bought a poorly maintained car with hot cams.

[drwatson32]

Didn't you do the stop mod? If you did, you could set static timing around 20 as long as it's 11 when the dizzy is pressurized. (I actually just set my timing today, had to bend the stopper back so that it was still 11 on boost. Mine advances more than 5 degrees, on vacuum, for whatever reason)