i have a 1973 440 out of motor home, the heads been reworked, the compression per the guy i bought the motor from, sd around 9.0, cam is high engery comp. cam 274/286 .488/.491, i have 750 holley single pump , eddy perfomer air-gap intake, headers, msd blaster ignition model 5900, auto 727 factory convertor, after market dist. with advance, 3.55 sure grip rearend, this in a 1968 dodge coronet r/t, okay with all the facts,
can someone please help me get the right timing set,i have never seen a timing tab like the one on the motor, i have marked the crank with top dead center on compression stroke, the timing mark is all the way off the tab, the car running good however is fouling out plugs and running too rich and i cannot run the advance, i have to leave the advance plug, due to the fact when i go over 2000 rpm with the advance the car starts to miss teribly, i have never set the timing by a light before, i have a cheap light and no knowledge of what i am doing,
i have enclosed a pic. of the timing tab
thanks

another pic

i have checked the timing now, the mark is off the timing tab about a 1/4 inch or so, the car is not wanting to idle unless i idle up the car to over 1000 rpm, then when in gear, idle is crazy jumping and spitting

added info, i just hooked up the msd blaster model 5900, i took the wires from the balaster and tied together and put on the positive side of coil, i ran the orange wire to the neg. and the red wire to the positive and ran the black to the ground and plugged in the plug for the dist., is this corret?

Odd, that mark is way off. I wonder if the balancer has spun? Is your distrib in right or could it be 180* off? will it run at all? #1 at TDC shoule be at about the 7 O'clock position.

the photo is just a photo of the tab, the car is running great, the timing is just off, the crank mark is only about 1/4inch from the bottom of the tab, not where it is in the photo, i have run the car down the road, i have gotten on it, it smokes the tires, the only problem is the dist. advance and running so rich that it will burn my eyes if the auto is running in the garage

get a vac gauge and hook to the full vac port on the carb

adjust timming to the highest vac reading

adjust the 2 the idle mix screws to get the highest vac reading

reset idle speed,adjust idle screws again

check with timming light and note where its at

drive it,if it pings then back the timming off till it just pings a little on a hard WOT blast

check with time light see where its at with no pinging and make note..thats where it wants to run at

sounds like you might check the advanc curve in the dizzy to see whats up on it as well

how do i check the dist. curve on the advance? and what is this when people say you should run 36degrees or 34 , what do i do with the timing light?

hook the red power wire to the + side of batt

hook ground wire to negative side of batt

hook spark plug lead in line to plug,if it the type that just hooks around the wire then do it that way

start engine pull tigger on light if it flashes it ready

point it and the timming tab and pull the trigger

the light flashes like a strob light and you can see the line on damper

if you move the dist a little you watch the line move as the light strobs it

make the line on damper line up with lines and numbers on the timing tab

not sure what to tell you on the advance curve some one else put in it???

they weld up the slots on a plate in the dist to limet the move ment to keep it at the predetermed number

you need to get timing right and no pinging to have it not hurt itself...as in detonation will kill it if over advanced

by ear can be done also with trial and error on the timing...advance it till it pings and back it off till no pinging

if it does not kick back on the starter just test and tune for the sweet spot

can you tell me the degrees on the timing tab?
i have set the timing like you said, by ear, however everyone is telling me to put a light on it and set the degrees, how do i set the timing to 34degrees?

so right now, my timing at idle is at about 16 degrees CCW, when i put the timing light on it, the crank line is at 1/4inch CCW from the 10degree mark on the tab, so where do i need to get the line from there, what is the timing setting i need for my set up? the problem i am having is running way to rich, when the car is at idle in the garage, the fumes will burn your eyes, i have put a new lower power valve in the holly, i think i am running a 3.5, i do not know what jet size i am running,

i already have a mark on the crank, see the mark CW from the top dead center tab, i think that mark is already 2 1/4inches, so what do i need to do?

correction to my last reply, for some reason my crank damper has 4 grooves evenly put on it, i know i am asking dumb questions, however i am really trying to understand this whole concept,
please do not get frustrated with me,

w a hacksaw blade make another slit on the dampener (or a magic marker) 2&1/4" CW from the factory one in the pic and when you run it up to 3K or so (total adv) turning the dist until your new cut line is lined up with the "O" TDC mark on the tab means you have 35.5 degrees total advance which is a good conservative total. No telling where this will now make your initial come in at(probably too much) but this will help you get started here & then you need to start at the other end & set the initial where it needs to be (I'm not sure on that just yet) then shorten the slots to get 36-38 total (vac adv disconnected & hose plugged). For your initial a hacksaw or magic marker mark 1" CW from the aforementioned factory slot will give you 15.8 degrees w it lined up w the 0 (TDC) just like the total procedure and I think 15.8 would be close enough for it to idle so you can then work on the carb to get it settled down.

you need to go by the line cut all the way across the damper not the others that are 3/4 ways across

I have the same bullet nose damper

mark the full line with white paint/chalk

Ok I see the mark almost buried there at the top. Since your dampener has 4 factory slots you need to find which one is TDC #1 compression then make your (2) magic marker marks CW from it. (1) at 1" (15.8) degrees for your initial and (2) another one 2&1/4" (35.5) for your total. EDIT Scratchnfotraction got it. MORE EDIT yeah the correct (full length) one at the top has already been highlighted w a magic marker. make your new ones CW from it. Thanks Scratch for the edumacation

okay guys, i think i am actually understanding this, i want to go out and try it out, however my next door neighbors will not like that too much, last weekend i was playing the new radio too loud in my garage with the door down, the sheriff's dept, ask that i turn down the volume
so i will try this out in the am and give update tommorrow,

thanks guys

okay, i mark the crank 1" CW and 2 1/4" Cw from the factory mark at tdc #1 on compression stroke,
i cannot get the car to go to 35.5 degrees, i hooked up a vaccum gauge, i am only pulling about 14pds at idle, the car does not want to idle very good, when i put the car in gear it is so loppy it almost does not want to stay running in gear, i have to raise the idle 1000 to get the car to run okay and stay cranked when in gear, i cannot get the car to run like i want, new problem now, when i rev up the car, the rpms are steady on the tach till i get to around 2500 then the needle on the tach starts to wiggle up and down, and for some reason now, the car is turning off when idling, then a min. later running fine, i am totally confused now, why is the tach needle wiggling around when i put my foot on the gas and keep it at over 2500 rpms? the tach is a non-ralley and is brand new, just installed couple of mths ago and the car is not on the road, only cranking in my garage to keep the oil flowing.

when i crank the car and check the timing, the timing mark is about 1/4inch from the 10degree mark on the timing tab, this is where the car runs the best and has the best vacuum, i cannot get the timing to move from the point without the car spitting and spurttering, it i do advance from this spot, the starter sounds funny and the car does not want to crank till i back the timing down a notch, the cam is a comp. cam 274/286 230/236 .488/.491 110,