Not enough advance = Dirty Distributor?
 

On my '83 SC:

Timing specs with vacuum lines plugged SHOULD BE 5 BTDC at idle, and 25 BTDC at 4K rpm.

Right now, I get about 6 BTDC at idle, and only about 20 BTDC at 4K RPM.

So . . . . Is it because my distributor internals are dirty and sluggish and not advancing enough and I need to clean up and oil the distributor?

I want to make the 4K advance 25 BTDC and just forget about it, but another side of me wants everything to be "correct."

Most likely, your springs are worn and the mechanical advance is coming in at your idle speed. In other words, your real static timing is 1 BTDC. My advice is to put a few drops of oil under the rotor and set the high speed timing to 25 BTDC. Then leave the vacuum retard disconnected and plugged and reset the idle speed to 950. Then set you FV duty cycle (mixture) to 30-40 on the 4 cylinder dwell scale.

Jeremy,

How is the car running, any issues? Just wondering if you have any symptoms, I had some starting issues with my 82, had to replace the magnetic pickup inside the distributor, cleaned it with out removing to many other parts.
Now with it all back together it stumbles badly from 2k to 3k rpm with the advance hooked up. With out the advance a very slight stumble.

Jay

It runs fine - as far as - distributor issues go. It's not too fast, because I think I'm not getting my full mechanical advance.

It's also run hotter than I want (230) which I think is a combination of a few things, one of which may be improper timing advance, I guess.

There's a cold stumble, but again, it's a CIS thing, I don't think its anything to do with my dizzy.

Jer,
I"m dinking around with my timing right now too,,I am getting too much advance I think.
You're giving up some HP without the advance.
Have you looked at getting a digital WUR ?? I love mine..
T