Quote:
Originally Posted by 68Gold/white
When the #1 piston is at top dead center. on the compression stroke (just after the intake valve closes) the balancer mark should be exactly at zero on the timing tab.
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Yep, this appears to be the case for my engine. I've checked for TDC by using a piece of wire as a lever with one end in the plug hole. Everything I've checked says that my timing mark & tab agree with the rest of the engine at TDC. Mechanically speaking, everything agrees. But when I run the engine, it requires gobs of advanced timing to be happy.
PGSigns, thanks, that wiki is where I've gotten some of my info. I haven't found anything on that page that points to my problem. If anything, it confirms my situation doesn't add up because it says 1) all SBC cranks have a keyway aligned with #1, and 2) my damper is right for my timing tab. I and a local hot rod shop have both found TDC and we both think the marks agree with TDC, but you're right: getting a hard stop would be more precise.
Al, thanks for the document--very informative and the kind of explanation I have been needing to find. However, given that the ported vacuum port on my carb does not pull any vacuum at idle and it's disconnected while I'm setting timing, I am not sure how that could be contributing to my issue. Feel free to spell it out if I'm missing something.