retarding timing or advancing

[Kevin71]

If your intial timing is set at 14 degrees BTDC.  Which direction would you go to retard it.  16 degrees BTDC  or 12 degrees BTDC.  I am assuming the oposite direction would be advancing it.  If a engine is running hot would you advance it a degree or two to see if that helps?

[Strawdawg]

12 degs is less than 16 degs and that is considered retarding the timing...going from larger to less.

If you have 16 degs of timing for initial and something like 36 degs for total, then I strongly doubt that any heating problem is due to timing. 

If you have the vacuum advance connected, then you can plug the port on the carb so it cannot work and see if that makes a difference.   I doubt it will unless you are running a ton of vacuum advance.

[Kevin71]

It's got a real choppy cam in it.  It was set at 14 degrees intial.

[Strawdawg]

Assuming your total advance is around 36 or so, and the vacuum advance is not providing a lot of additional advance that takes it up to 60 or soat cruise (if it is connected), then I would look for something else other than timing.

Would like to assume by now that you made a mark on the balancer at 2 3/8" as Chryco provided and have demonstrated that your total advance is in that range (36 degs)

[Kevin71]

In what direction would you measure from and to.  Clockwise from the timing mark or counter clockwise.  Vacum adv has been disconnected.  It's a msd distributor with manuel 16 degree adv arms in it.  And when I make the mark on the balancer do I bring the rpm's up to say 3000 when all adv is in and the new mark should be lining up with the O on the timing indicator or bracket.  How do you know that the bracket is in the right place.  I assume it can't adjust.  But I do see some after market ones that say they will adjust up to 20 degrees.  It just seems like there ought to be a better way or more accurate way.

[cudabob496]

no additional marks on balancer needed if use one of these to check total advance:
You turn the dial, to get the timing mark to zero, then look at the dial, and
it tells you your total timing.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g1059/overview/

[Strawdawg]

In what direction would you measure from and to.  Clockwise from the timing mark or counter clockwise.  Vacum adv has been disconnected.  It's a msd distributor with manuel 16 degree adv arms in it.  And when I make the mark on the balancer do I bring the rpm's up to say 3000 when all adv is in and the new mark should be lining up with the O on the timing indicator or bracket.  How do you know that the bracket is in the right place.  I assume it can't adjust.  But I do see some after market ones that say they will adjust up to 20 degrees.  It just seems like there ought to be a better way or more accurate way.

Clockwise