[Fot] Bad Time

[Gary Schneider]

Scott,
 
Most distributorless ignitions give exactly that symptom. If you're electronic and you have two coils rather than four that's your situation. All standard timing lights read 2x the actual advance because there is an extra spark going to each cylinder. Each coil has two output towers and services two cylinders. The cylinder that has a dense fuel/air mixture absorbs most of the spark energy. The opposite cylinder is on the exhaust stroke at roughly one atmosphere, absorbs next to no energy and the extra spark is harmless.
 
There are higher-end timing lights that have a switch for "waste spark" and two-stroke ignitions (same situation, spark occurs twice as often as a standard timing light expects). All it does is divide by two in that mode. OTC 3367 is one model. They are hard to find in stores but easy online.
 
Don't know if you built this one to vintage or prod specs. If you have a conventional distributor system, replace your capacitor. You may be getting extra spurious sparks that the capacitor is meant to damp. That confuses timing lights too. You might also check the fine wire that grounds the moving points baseplate to the housing.
 
Gary Schneider



----- Original Message ----
From: "Barr, Scott" <sbarr at McCarty-Law.com>
To: fot at autox.team.net
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 7:10:53 AM
Subject: [Fot] Bad Time


...Based on the various observations detailed below, it seems to me that
the timing is ACTUALLY around 30 deg of advance, while the timing lights
all say it's at almost 60 deg of advance.  Is that possible?