396 Timing

I Have A 71 With A 396 And I Was Wondering What Other People Are Setting The Timing To. Right Now Im At 12*, Is That An Ok Mark Or Is There A Better One?

Thanks

12 degrees before top dead center should work fine. Most of these engines run good with a little more initial (and total) timing. As long as it's not pinging or knocking you'll be fine. Just use high octane gas.

If you want a little more low end power, get a distributor spring kit and bring the centrifugal advance in a little sooner also. If you use a dail back timing light and follow the instructions you can't go wrong.

I've always set my timing with a vacuum gauge, its the most effieient way for your engine. Connect a vacuum gauge to a port that is carb base level or below(you have decreased/no vacuum above the throttle bores), warm engine up, set idle to 2000 rpm, loosen distributor hold down, advance distributor timing till you achieve max vacuum on the gauge, retard timing 1 inch of vacuum, (some people like to retard it 1/2" of vacuum but the engine may ping unless you are using super unleaded or booster) lock distributor down, set idle back to what you run, you are done.

Unless you have a really built motor and are using hi-test gas, 6-8 would be a conservative place to start off. At 12 you might have problems starting it when the motor is hot.

Bob

set by vacuum like goddard said Elevation makes a big difference so it depends on where you live

I've always set my timing with a vacuum gauge, its the most effieient way for your engine. Connect a vacuum gauge to a port that is carb base level or below(you have decreased/no vacuum above the throttle bores), warm engine up, set idle to 2000 rpm, loosen distributor hold down, advance distributor timing till you achieve max vacuum on the gauge, retard timing 1 inch of vacuum, (some people like to retard it 1/2" of vacuum but the engine may ping unless you are using super unleaded or booster) lock distributor down, set idle back to what you run, you are done.

You do know that centrifugal advance is (or should be) already starting to come in by 2000 rpm's. So the amount of advance at normal idle will be less than what it is at 2000 which may still be ok.

Just out of curiosity, when an engine is timed with the "vacuum gauge" method, how much lead do you end up with when checked with a light?

Mr. Almost, like Brian70 said it depends on a lot of variables like elevation, jetting, barometric pressure, each engine is different. Usually the engine will find its own "perfect timing" for itself using the vacuum method. This is an old racers trick when we used to travel to different tracks in different states that all have different variables. Hope this answers your question.