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Thread: Setting Timing

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    Bodger

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    Duck Setting Timing

    Hi all,

    Finally got the motor fired up for the first time since I bought it almost a year and a half ago.

    It runs, idles fine now I have questions.

    I have a spare dizzy I got with the car which has a advance curve on it according to the guy who sold me the motor.

    Its a Bosch Electric Unit, allegedly "recurved" for a 286 Cam I was told. My other distributor was being a pile of crap so in came this one.

    Bosch JGFUX4 86BF12100BA 0237601008
    Motor is a 681F out of a Cortina GT. Swapped Carb for Twin Weber 40s. Running electric fuel pump with FPR set at about 2.5LBS

    Motor will fire up and idle fine, I have it set at 12°
    Think my carbs are running rich at the moment but that's another thing.

    Talking with another fellow he mentioned I need a timing gun where you can set the timing on it..

    As I had my gun on the timing marks and revved up the motor to over 2500 rpm I didn't see the mark advance at all.

    Questions are as follows..

    -It is perhaps advancing and I'm not seeing it with my old fashioned gun? (No backfires, no hesitation when I blip the throttle) It's running an open header right now so I do hear a pop from the rich mixture I have at the moment.

    -What is the ideal amount of advance for my setup? How can I find the advance of my distributor and the best way to match the timing of my motor to that.

    -Is there any danger to running the motor with an advance curve that is not specifically dialed in for my camshaft. Should I be pulling the distributor apart and adjusting the weights inside?

    If my questions seem quite novice I apologise just looking to learn and for any help anyone can provide.

    Thank you very much!

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    Bodger

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    Re: Setting Timing

    used an advanced timing light today set to 34° pulled strong and quick to 6,000 rpm. No hesitation.

    Was not going from my 12° off idle tho.. so set to 34° and it was static all the way.

    ---

    Removed distributor now, tried to remove internal guts to get down to the weight to no avail..

    Think I would need to knock the roll pin out by the mesh gear and the whole assembly slides out the top?


    Anyways, sprayed penetration oil on all the weights, there's little windows on the side of the distributor, moved them around with a flathead just go see that they do indeed move and that the springs work. Put the distributor on the end of a drill and rotated it enough to spin out the magnets, could hear them click and clack back into place.

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    Re: Setting Timing

    Quote Originally Posted by Langlia View Post

    Think I would need to knock the roll pin out by the mesh gear and the whole assembly slides out the top?


    Yes knock the drive pin out and then slide the whole assembly out of the top. The shaft is likely to be tight in the bushes once you get the end where the drive gear sits passing through the housing - this will be down to some distortion or burring where the drive gear and roll-pin fit. The bushes run with minimal clearance so it won't take much for it to be tight. Don't hammer it through!

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    Bodger

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    Re: Setting Timing

    Thanks for the tip!

    Talked to the guy I bought it from, he mentioned it came off a Formula Ford, says maybe the advance springs may be too heavy for GT Cam ?

    Would it be worth it to take off one of the springs in there while I have it apart.

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    Re: Setting Timing

    formula ford will have a gt cam, infact they are standard engines but very carefully built to maximise performance

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    Re: Setting Timing

    Quote Originally Posted by Langlia View Post
    Thanks for the tip!

    Talked to the guy I bought it from, he mentioned it came off a Formula Ford, says maybe the advance springs may be too heavy for GT Cam ?

    Would it be worth it to take off one of the springs in there while I have it apart.
    Quote Originally Posted by Graham View Post
    formula ford will have a gt cam, infact they are standard engines but very carefully built to maximise performance
    It's possible the distributor has been modified - the technical regulations for Formula Ford allowed for modification as follows (quote from the official regs) "the ignition timing may only be varied by vacuum and/or mechanical means". That's to mean that the original drive method should be used.

    See here (page 7) : http://www.brsccff1600.co.uk/Files/2...ished_Copy.pdf

    I would just fit the Formula Ford one and see how you get on. Don't be taking any springs off until you know exactly what amount of advance each spring gives you. I'm going to hazard a guess that taking one spring off will put you miles away from where you want the ignition to be.
    Last edited by HonkyWhiteTrash; 07-03-2018 at 16:31.

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