I need help to set my timing. I have an old style timing light that has no way to set the advance, its just a strobe light with an on and off button. How do I set my timing step by step please. This is a 1 bbl 1920 holley carb with electronic ignition. Just a stock engine. Any help would be appreciated.

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Shane
Pasadena, TX 77505

If you know the basic's then its easy to turn up your advance. here is a brief over view. pos and neg terminals and #1 plug wire hooked to timing light. The marker is on the front of engine and the crank pulley/harmonic balancer. You should have a marker to see TDC right? there is +/- 10 deg. markings on it as well. At the distributor there is a 7/16 bolt loosen it and adjust accordingly. Drive it each time with small increases at a time to see if you here "pinging" that tells you have too much. Best I can do for ya.

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it's like a vw, sounds like a million miles an hour but goes really slow. (for now)

That old light should work just fine, the newer dial back lights only make recurve easier as far as I can tell.

The only things I can add are;
Be careful of the fan and belts. Its easy to get going on checking timing and get hurt with all that stuff around not to mention getting your timing light wires chewed up.

Don't get shocked by the number one plug. My old timing light uses a metal spring that sits between the plug wire and the plug end. When that falls off from time to time the light goes dead so I have to re attach it, but I don't do that with the engine on that's for dang sure...

Keep in mind that if your harmonic balancer is old and used up like mine is that the mark etched in it could no longer be accurate, or that mark could change due to slippage. Do some searching on TDC Top Dead Center and verify that the mark is still accurate as compared to your timing cover marks.

A VIM 103 wrench will make getting at the other 7/16 dizzy bolt you don't see much easier.

I'm in the middle of doing my timing chain as my timing mark moves about 3 degrees up and down while I watch with the timing light.

Cap the vacuum line at the carb that goes to the dizzy while setting or checking the initial timing and make sure that the idle is set to spec (or on the slow side if no tach is available) so that the mechanical advance of your dizzy does not play into your initial timing reading.

I think 7 or 8 degrees before top dead center is a good number to shoot for however there are too many variables to quote you anything other than what the under hood sticker says for your car. Some searching will yield all kinds of info on this subject. Search for recurve or recurving.

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74 Dodge Charger 225 factory A/C auto 1920 carb stock exhaust.

Mods;
HEI, MSD B3, Magnecor 8 mm, ZFR5N, .060 rotor, CH410X cap, new 3874814 dist, fuel mod, valves hot .010 & .020, all new hoses, JP chain, brake hoses and fluid.

Hardcharger is correct on his post. follow this and you square!

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it's like a vw, sounds like a million miles an hour but goes really slow. (for now)