advancing the timing

[Curtoise]

right i have my little 1.3 sr and some people have been talking to me about advancing the timing on it to make it rev better. is it actually worth doing?

[comptoncj]

Not really, having it timed correctly may help but if you advance it too much its just going to pink and you dont want that. Putting a weber carb on it will make a difference and will make it more willing to rev, concentrate on making it breath well then it will rev.

[mowgli]

basically, advancing the timing is not some super duper tuning method. first check to see if the advance/retard mechanism is working. start the engine, and let it idle. pull the little vacuum hose off (it runs from the carb to the distributor) from the carb end & suck it. if the engine note changes, then all is good in the world. if it stays the same, then it needs replacing.

the 1.3 sr was designed with leaded fuel in mind, even though it will run fine on unleaded, by simply retarding the timing. advancing the timing with the same fuel ie: unleaded, will not necessarily gain you anything. if it runs smoothly, then the timing is probably ok, but you can adjust it a little bit & listen to how it runs... hence tuning.....like a musical instrument...