Is there a difference with MSD? I have all MSD ignition parts. (coil, mechanical dist., MSD6 Digital, and wires) Do I live by the 10-12 base with 34 total, all in by 3,000 RPM's too? If not, what am I looking for?
I think ,my car is running good, but I checked it, I have 12 base, with 24 degrees @3700. I didn't go higher, to see where it would stop. It was late at night, was planning on checking in the day time.
I have a G-Body 383, TH350, with 3.73's. 2500-6500 RPM cam power band.
I run mine locked at full timing and it's a beautiful thing. No curve needed when it has a 4500 stall.. Idles nice and clean also.
If I was set on an advance, I guess I'd run 20 base and 35 total as a general "hot smallblock chevy" rule of thumb with 64cc heads/23 degree, etc.
I'm thinking about the new 6AL-2 from msd. It has a progmmable timing curve.. I'd like to try pulling a few degrees out on launch to see if it 60fts better. My heavy car really strains against the converter with tall gears and a PG trans.
Goodluck! I never learned which springs/bushings worked well, etc.
I have a 2500 non lockup stall. World Product Motown cast iron heads, 220 intakes and 64 cc chambers
I had the base up around 20 before I actually put a light on it. It started real good, and no overheating, or any other symptoms to think it was wrong. How do you know when advancing the base timing, stops helping the engine?
i had my timing advance locked out on my last build,drag car.it's not the best for a street car tho. if you advance much more than that 20* you have you'll probably need to add a start retard.
Why talk about it at all if it's fine and dandy..?
Can you let us know where it stops advancing? I've never seen one advancing past 3700, just curious. If it stopped there, then I'd say you're in a good position, no more changes needed other than turning the dist. for more peak timing. A 12 degree advnce sounds good and I'd try it(aiming for 35 total of course.)
The guy above said you need more timing plain and simple. Mainly because 24 total is lame. You might as well just pull some plug wires off on top of it. Vortec headed combos make peak power between 32-26 degrees. It's not new ground we're walking on.
Also.. I don't like the 10-12 base number just because mine runs clean locked out.
I know 24 isn't enough, he said I need more, didn't know what he meant. Base or total.
Just because it runs good doesn't mean I should not have messed with it. I am putting it on a dyno tomorrow, and wanted to check everything out. It is now obvious that I am not getting all my power, so thats why I am glad I checked. I like to get ALL the HP that I have paid for, LOL!!!
Still no help with the MSD? Do all the numbers still apply as stock? Thanks!!!
I know 24 isn't enough, he said I need more, didn't know what he meant. Base or total.
Just because it runs good doesn't mean I should not have messed with it. I am putting it on a dyno tomorrow, and wanted to check everything out. It is now obvious that I am not getting all my power, so thats why I am glad I checked. I like to get ALL the HP that I have paid for, LOL!!!
Still no help with the MSD? Do all the numbers still apply as stock? Thanks!!!
The dyno will certainly help you get it dialed in. Of course you'll be paying for the time it takes to make changes, so I understand why you want to get it sorted out ahead of time.
You could run more initial and advance. A little more initial will help out the idle while more total should help your power. I'd say somewhere between 15-20 degrees initial maybe 22 with as much total as it will take without detonation. Going with more initial than that may give you starting problems without some kind of start retard as stated earlier and these numbers still apply to the MSD. Things start to change a little bit as the efficiency of the combo increases, but that's another story.
__________________ 2001 Z-28....Gone, but not forgotten!
Luckily I only have to pay $15 for the dyno. It is my buddies buddy, LOL!!!
Anyway, I thank you for all the info. It seems that no matter what the initial timing is, the advance should never go past, say...34ish. So to understand this fully, If it was setup at 12 base, and 34 total, then if I advanced it to 20, I would have to take about 8 out of the total. Makes sense to me.
MSD ignition timing on SBC 
No curve needed when it has a 4500 stall.. Idles nice and clean also.
