How do you know what the timing should be at on your engine other than going by what the manual says? I just have stock 330's and in the manual is says for X & Y distributors use 8 deg. and for all others use 10 deg., the problem is I don't have stock distributors on my boat so I'm not sure what it should be at. I have them set at 8 deg. because that's where they were but as I was adjusting them I went the wrong way at first around 10 deg. and the engine seemed to idle a little smoother. The distributors that are on there are Accel 34100s series that I just installed Pertronix's electronic conversion kits in with 45k volt coils.

Also with the higher voltage setup should I open up the gap on my plugs or leave them at the stock .035?

Thanks for any info.

Where you set the initial timing depends on how much total advance is built into the distributor.
Initial timing is not nearly as important as the total timing.

Run your total timing at 34 and leave the gap at .035". A couple of degrees more timing may get you a few HP, but allowable WOT time may be limited and I have never noticed a difference by opening the gap with high powered ignitions.

Craig

Ok, so is there any way to tell what total timing is built into the distributor or do I need to get a hold of accel?

You should get the advance curve from Accel. I don't know but I'm guessing that it is a centrifical advance and may have advance springs that can be changed as needed to alter the advance curve. It may also have a varible maximum advance.

You want to inspect your distributor to see what springs it has and determine what Accel says should be the resulting advance curve. Then check the actual advance curve and max using a timing light with advance.

Dave