351 w timing?

[gumby]

i have a 351w with a msd6al ignition
and a msd dist witout vacuum adv.

when i set the timing at 6 degrees idle i only get about 26 total'
should i set it at the high end about 36 degrees and not worry about the idle timing?

it seems to stumble quite a bit from a start ,or when reving the engine

thanks

[rdorman]

A lot of variables here but from the information provided, assuming that the engine builder says to run 36 degrees then the answer is 'yes' to your question! Many of us run as much initial timing as we can get away with and from the sounds of it, that is how your distributor was setup.

[CobraEd]

This may work, but watch for low RPM ping under load

[Speedysnake]

Gumby,

Your engine / distributer set up sounds very similar to mine. Initial tests on mine indicated 36 deg. total advance. MSD instructions say there is 20 degrees total built in the dist. If this is true, then I'm at 16 degrees before the advance starts at 1500 rpm. I recently advanced the dist. a couple more deg. & took out a bit of a flat spot in the acceleration. I'm running 93 octane Amoco gas with no spark knock issues.

[SuperHart]

A good rule of thumb, now that you have an idea about how much timing is built into the distributor, is to gradually advance the initial timing until you begin to get some ping under acceleration and then back off a couple of degrees. However, there is a limit to how much initial timing an engine can tolerate. Too much initial timing and you will experience difficult starting when the engine is hot. 20* of timing built into the distributor seems sparce. Usually, around 24-26* of mechanical timing is the norm. Read the literature supplied with your distributor to see if the amount of timing can be adjusted. Best way to do this is on a distributor machine. Ford engines will begin to be hard to start at around 16* initial timing. 36-38* total timing should be about right.

[392cobra]

With a stock, from the factory settings,you have :
Blue advance stop bushing - 21 degrees centrifugal advance
2 silver (heavy) springs - all in at 4,000 rpm

21+6= 27 NOT GOOD
4,000 rpm " "

Try 13-15 degree initial with :
2 blue springs = 2800-2900 rpm or
1 silver (light) & 1 blue springs = 2,400 rpm

[onefastmustang]

I have the same setup and I run 14 on mine.. runs great...

[Scott S]

Originally Posted by 392cobra

With a stock, from the factory settings,you have :
Blue advance stop bushing - 21 degrees centrifugal advance
2 silver (heavy) springs - all in at 4,000 rpm

21+6= 27 NOT GOOD
4,000 rpm " "

Try 13-15 degree initial with :
2 blue springs = 2800-2900 rpm or
1 silver (light) & 1 blue springs = 2,400 rpm

Good advice here, but I would take the stop bushing out entirely and run the light silver and blue springs.

Scott S