nicrguy1966

I'm advancing the timing and going for a drive to see how it performs in various conditions, from low rev hill starts to acceleration from 50-70 on the motorway. Even after adjusting the cam timing, with the ignition timing set to 'standard' low rev power was very poor. So far, each time I've advanced the ignition, overall performance has improved. Trial and error will continue through the winter months, with maybe another play with the cam timing when the weather warms up.

I flipped the sprocket, so I'm assuming a 1/4 of a tooth, but honestly, even with measuring everything several times, that could easily have been user error!

I'm still making minor changes to my ignition timing. Yesterday I advanced it slightly, and went for an hour's drive. Still no pinking, so I'll advance it a bit more before my next drive. I've packed the strobe away and decided to just set the ignition timing so the car runs its best. Out of curiosity, I might check what that setting is once I've found it (I'm actually expecting it to be exactly where it was when I wrote post #1, and all the work I did on the cam timing was a total waste of time, but let's see!)

My car only runs smoothly when it's way off spec (hence starting this thread). I've given up all hope of ever setting it to spec. I just want it to run well across a wide rev range. It's better now than before I started meddling, but I'm sure there are a few more horses hiding somewhere. A year ago I had no power at high revs and struggled to go above 70 mph in top gear, now it feels keen even at higher speeds than I'm allowed to drive. Low revs aren't quite right yet, hill starts are not my friend. Setting the ignition by ear (or for peak revs) seems to give me far better results than a strobe and any target 'correct' setting.

To avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, I'll have the exhaust pipes facing the open garage doors, although I should get a nice warm glow from the engine.

I can't remember. I'll have a good look and decide on a solution once the weather is warmer.

Luckily there's a good 2 metre air gap between my garage and the neighbours, so as long as I don't start at 7am on a Sunday, it shouldn't be too bad, no worse than mowing the lawn hopefully.

I'll have a good look at the linkage and see if there is a better solution, maybe a bulldog clip or similar on the accelerator cable. I'm not doing anything until it's at least 15 degrees outside, so a few months away.

Hopefully not as it would also be slipping when I drive, which it doesn't seem to do.

Yes, but the two carbs are linked by a common throttle control (unless you deliberately loosen the link between them), so adjusting the idle on one the accelerator cable is connected to should affect both (exactly like pushing the accelerator pedal)

I was planning on screwing down the idle adjustment on the carbs. Bad idea?

I'll be setting my ignition timing at 2500rpm as soon as the weather warms up a little. One scary thing is how loud the engine sounds at higher revs inside the garage. I know it must be even louder at >4k rpm on the road, but it doesn't sound as scary without all the echo and with (some) sound proofing between engine bay and cabin

That's what I'm currently doing.

Even after all my messing about, I'm pretty sure my engine is back at around 20 degrees BTDC. I've adjusted the timing 'by ear' a couple of times since changing the cam timing, each time slightly advancing the timing. With each adjustment, low rev power has improved, without power loss at high revs or pinking. I'll dig the strobe out again once the weather warms up. My current thoughts are around a new distributor in the new year.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I wish life were that simple, but I don't think the timing mark is incorrect for several reasons. 1) I felt the position of piston #1 and it matched the timing mark 2) I removed the crank pulley and inspected it, there's no sign of any issue with the rubber and it wasn't possible to move the mark. 3) The timing of the cam shaft was wrong in the opposite direction to the problem with the ignition (cam was too much ATDC, ignition is too much BTDC) 4) I've set the cam timing based on the TDC mark, and if it was as wrong as the ignition timing, I doubt the car would even start, but it runs well.