Hi Anthony,

Yes, it's 5 degrees on top of the 8 degrees in the workshop manual, total 13 degrees before TDC.


Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm for your reply, sorry forgot to say that it is all standard, just popped out one of the spark plugs and almost running correct just need to lean it out a very small amount. when you say advanced by 5deg I take it that this is before top dead centre? So you would be setting it at about 13 deg in total

Many thanks

Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Well done! Another Magnette back on the road.

You don't mention whether you have kept the standard engine/carb set-up, but it won't affect my reply much. Obviously, if you have changed the engine or carbs, the standard timing is unlikely to be very relevant, so you need to check the recommended timing for the model that the engine came from.

These days we have another problem to deal with too: modern petrol. It doesn't behave much like the stuff that was being pumped in the fifties. It has greater anti-knock properties, so in general will tolerate more advance than the old stuff. This being the case, setting the timing for optimum performance is a bit more experimental than it used to be. I generally add 5deg advance to the standard setting and then do a road test, focusing on situations where pinking would occur if it is advanced too high (e.g. pulling from low speed in top gear or going uphill in top). If it gets through this test without pinking, advance it a bit more, re-test and repeat the procedure until pinking occurs. Then wind it back to the last pink-free setting.

If you have a timing light, it is a good idea to check what happens at various engine speeds. Static timing only sets the timing at one point, without the engine running, so it is really only a start-point to get the engine running before you tune it properly.There is a good article on this on the Tech website:

www.zmagnettetech.info/maintenance/ignition/79-ignition-timing

You will probably also find the distributor article useful too.

Good luck!

Malcolm

Hi every one, just got the car on the road after a full restore lasting 14 years. Having done some 400 miles in the last two weeks enjoying driving it , it istime to tune it up a bit. At the moment i have the ignition set to what the book states 8 deg. It is running a bit rich at the moment so i need to sort that out, but i was wondering what other people have set there's to. I have no pinking at the current moment but only getting 18 miles to the gallon. Any advise would be great...

Many thanks

Anthony