No carb or distributor to use on the Cleveland. I've run everything from 20 to 44 degrees of total timing so far.
What happened?
Controlled timing was 34 degrees at 2000 RPM. Locked out timing (including vacuum advance) from the electronics and had 15 BTDC on the balancer. Held RPM above 2000 and advanced to 19 or so BTDC, RPM increased and engine was smooth. Increased again to ~23 BTDC with the same results. Shut down after a bit and pulled plugs.
Ok, ater trying to interpret your comments, my guess is that you are saying the following.
you do not have any type of vacuum advance and the advance is controlled by an electronic box.
your initial timing is 15
you have 34 at 2000 rpm using the electronic timing controller.
total timing added by computer is 19 because 15 + 19 = 34
with the timing controller disconnected, you have the following:
timing somewhere above 2000 is less than 19 which is way too low
you advanced the timing to 19 while you maintained that rpm and the rpm increased and the engine still ran smooth
you then increased the timing to around 23 and the rpm increased and it still ram smooth.
you did not mention how it idled or started with the additional timing but i didn't ask you that.
you did not mention if you drove it and if it pinged when you did.
if all the above is correct, your timing is way too low in the locked out position but you dont run it locked out .
since you have a timing control, i would try a total of around 22 at 2000 rpm and 34 at around 2800 rpm if that is possible.
the 34 at 2000 rpm you have using the computer is way high.
i would also limit the total timing to 34.
after the timing is reset, i would do the same test again but try advancing it at idle also . 15 sounds about right but every engine is different and i just did an engine that idles best at 22.
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