Ignition timing question

[mc59]

Hi all,       I'm using a timing light to set ignition timing of a 138 grey. Should this be done with the vacuum pipe attached to the distributor, or off and plugged? If off do you plug the pipe, or where it screws in to the distributor?

Cheers

[Errol62]

Don’t worry too much about plugging. Just means  motor getting a bit more air and running lean while your timing. As long as it doesn’t affect the revs too much. Otherwise plug the pipe to carb.
Older motors are generally set by ear. Advance to 12 degrees and clamp lightly. Leave the vacuum advance connected. Labour the motor (uphill low revs open throttle.) and listen for pinging back off slightly and try again. Repeat until pinngis virtually eliminated


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[mcl1959]

No need to disconnect vacuum pipe. Use your timing light to line up the ball in the flywheel with the mark on the housing. Then by ear from there.
Make sure point gap is good and rpm is set correctly before timing.

Ken

[mc59]

Thanks for the ideas. More than one way to skin a cat.

[hsv-001]

I turn the idle down then advance until they hunt , then retard until they pick up. Then reset the idle  That's it .

[ardiesse]

As the Robot in Lost in Space said, "There are precisely thirty-seven."

I don't even use a timing light when setting the ignition in a grey motor.
The initial setup is static:  Line the ball on the flywheel up with the mark.  Then, with the distributor cap off and the clamp loosened, turn the ignition on.  Retard the timing until the points close, then slowly advance the distributor until you hear a "splat" as the points open.  Tighten the clamp with the distributor in this position.  Static timing is usually good enough.
Then you can start the engine, and if needed, advance the timing a little further.  Over-advanced timing in a grey shows up as "hunting" at about 1500 rpm in neutral (faster than a fast idle, but not racing).  Grey motors don't ping unless something's wrong, like total coolant loss and serious overheating.

Rob

[MalFE]

Back in the fifties the petrol was of a poor standard, the dizzy could only be advanced a couple of degrees. When we did a road  test we would drive the car up a hill and load the engine and adjust timing so that it pinged slightly.
Some cars had so much carbon in the combustion chamber, they pinged at the standard setting.
A lot of cars of the day (not Holdens) had to be decoked every 10000 miles which meant the head had to be removed and normally would have a valve grind at the same time.

Mal