IM trying to adjust my timing in my 383 stroker motor....what are the symptoms leading to my car "sneezing? through the carb then turning off? Too much timing? not enough? Miss adjusted valves? Its a brand new motor...383 10.38:1 comp. Iron eagle 64cc comb. chambers 215's, xe284 comp cams, air gap intake, 1 3/4 headers, eddy 600 carb for now... Running 91 octane gas.. How much should i set my base timing? 12 degrees advanced at idle?i have a stock hei distributor BTW...any help well be greatly appreciated....

is the vacuum advance pod working? is it connected to full time manifold vacuum? are the mechanical advance weights under the rotor sticking? is it advancing timing as rpm goes up? sounds like lack of enough timing at this point. get you a timing tape for your harmonic damper so you can time it properly with a normal timing light. mark the line in the damper and the 0* point on the timing tab with a contrasting color.

check/set the curve with lighter advance springs (curve spring kit from parts store) for about a 24*spread from where ever it is at idle for a starting point. if base idle timing is set at 10* with the vacuum pod disconnected and hose plugged,, you should be seeing 10+24=34* total timing,, all in by 3000rpm. this is before you connect the vacuum advance pod. it should advance from say 10 to 34 as you bring the rpms up to 3000,, then should stop advancing at 3000rpm and hold that 34* all the way to max rpm. each engine is different on how fast or early you can bring it in,, but that's a safe starting point with timing degrees. some can take the full 34-36 all in by 2600-2700rpms.

then plug in the vacuum pod and see where it puts timing at idle with vacuum. shoot for about 20-24 for starters. you can make a stop plate to go on the rear of the vacuum pod mount to limit the travel distance of the pod arm if it's bringing in too much vacuum timing. get the static and mechanical adjusted first,, then vacuum timing. hope it helps.

I'm on board with what 74RAT is telling you, but I would also suggest making sure that your idle mixture is on the money, and that your enrichment circuit is working properly (ie "squirters"). As I understand it a lean condition will cause a lean backfire through the carb. Get out your vacuum guage and tune the mixture for highest vacuum reading at idle. A LOT of drivability and tuning issues are solved with proper timing and idle mixture adjustment (assuming the parts themselves work correctly and are installed correctly)

ok, i'll try to set everything up like you guys advised...hopefully itll work!!!'thanks

ok GUYS I GOT IT!!! To start, i put my manifold vaccuum port (small drivers side port) on the carb to the dist. and to my tranny. Plugged the two other ones... next i changed my carb gasket to make sure i didnt have an exhaust leak. Then i simply turned up the timing by hand until it idled the highest and smoothest. Turned down the idle screw on the carb since it was really high after advancing the timing soo much. And tightened it down. Put it in drive, and it idled PERFECT. Drove it down the street and gunned it, WOW!!! Works good for now... No timing guns or anything... but i bet if i knew how to use those i could pulll the most out of it......