I was a Ford service line technician in the early seventies. Upon completion of a V8 points, plugs, condensor minor tune-up this was the engine adjustment procedure:
Dwell - 30 degrees, +/- 1 degree (make sure you lube the cam that the points ride on)
Timing - set at recommended factory setting for that engine with the vacuum line(s) off and plugged at the distributer. The Timing should be set with engine at about 650 rpm, curb idle, idle solenoid unplugged.
Carb adjustment - Reconnect vacummn line(s) to distributer, leave curb idle at 650 rpm, idle solenoid still unplugged. If using a manifold vacuum guage, adjust carb mixture screws to achieve highest manifold vacuum reading on the gauge (around 29 inches) and try to keep mixture screws within a 1/2 turn of each other.
Without a vacuum gauge, use a dwell tach. Screw in mixture screws to lean engine short of the idle starting to stumble. At that point you can back out the mixture screw a 1/2 turn if you want to avoid a stumble on acceleration. The mixture screws should be within a 1/2 turn of each other from the closed position. Now verify your curb idle is 650 rpm. If so, now connect the idle solenoid and set this idle at 750 to 825 rpm. On most Ford vehicles the idle solenoid is energized with the ignition. However, some were energized when the A/C compressor was on. If this is the case the idle was still set at 750 to 825 rpm. Get in the vehicle, hold the brake and put the vehicle in gear. If the overall vehicle idle remains above 650 rpm with the A/C on, you are fine. Otherwise, adjust the idle solenoid to achieve optimal idle. The purpose of the idle solenoid was to allow the throttle to drop down to a lower position on the carb to reduce the incidence of "dieseling" caused by shutting off an engine at a high idle while burning high octane fuel.
Another check on the carb is the accelerator pump lever. Make sure the clearance on the eccentric cam is minmal and that the cam is lubed with a small amount of light grease. This will also help prevent a stumble or hesitation when accelerating from a dead stop.
The automatic choke fast idle for the highest point of the cam was usually set at 1200 to 1400 rpms. The choke spring housing is normally set at the midpoint between lean/rich.
Do a final inspection of all vacuum lines to avoid leaving a leak to the manifold. Test drive the vehicle and tweak these settings to your final satisfaction.
In the seventies this was done roughly every 12,000 to 15,000 miles.
A major tune-up included plug wire replacement, carb overhaul and compression testing of each cylinder. This was done at about 50,000 miles.