whats the right way to set up cam/and dizzy timing

[Nailen]

hi there i have a e16 se with a piper bp300 rally cam and vernier pulley.am also running twin carbs does anyone have the correct ways to set my cam and dizzy timing up as its starting to do my head in lol.

[Stuart]

Well setting the lift at tdc as per the cam makers spec is a good start. Then tune that on a dyno if you like.

Then to set the dizzy and carbs, take it to someone good rather than ballsing it up yourself and proclaiming carbs and cams are crap.

[chrisd1986]

i wouldnt have a clue on setting up a vernier pully but i use a timing light for the dizzy timing on my cars

[bazil]

Ask Iain ( NOV4-SPORT ) who sets up his sport carbs, take it to the guy and job done

[Nailen]

am pals with iain he uses seditas cars. i only want to know if anyone knows how many degrees or after my dizzy timing should be i found out how to set up the cam there the now

[Stuart]

Ps 9/10 times the vernier pulley is set to 0 and it matches the standard pulley for timing the cam lol

[Nailen]

I know it's just I have to set an overlap on the cam which I found out is 109degress atdc so it's just the dizzy timing now to find out

[mowgli]

dizzy timing... set it to the haynes book with a strobe, then retard it a couple of degrees cos of unleaded.. then mark it with a scribe, then manually tweak it about a little till it sounds right all the way thru the rev range. its called tuning for a reason

[marc69]

I set the cam timing and dizzy timing on my 1.4 so should be similar. Mine was a Kent cam but as said above I set it dead central as Haynes says. I tweaked it a tiny bit each way but found that it ran better on zero.

Regarding the dizzy timing, mine had no cover and therefore no markings to set with a strobe light, if you have the markings it is very easy with a strobe light and is a 1.6 not designed with unleaded in mind? if it is them at the correct idle speed (once the car is warm) set it bang on the marks.

With no timing marks... I got it so it would at least run badly, then kept it going (sitting with a little throttle at this stage) until it was fully warmed up, then set the dizzy so I got as good an idle as possible by ear, then it was time to look at the Carb. I didn't go to an expert for tuning (too expensive) but what I did do was experiment on the road where I did repeated journeys. Mark the initial setting so there is always a base, then turn the dizzy a fraction one way each time until it is either better or worse and then do the same in the opposite direction, again, I ended up sitting with my initial by ear tuning. This takes a good few weeks but once set and marked that's it.

I did get it rolling roaded a few months afterwards because I was thinking of upgrading the engine further, the power output was pretty good actually and the guy coudn't believe it had been tuned by ear and then trial and error and commented that for any more gains it would need a lot of money spent which wouldn't be worth it for the tiny gains I would possibly get. I spoke to Ricky Gauld who is a bit of a legendary tuner up here who concurred that not much more gain could be got without an awful lot of money etc.

Hope this helps somehow

[mowgli]

the e16se was designed to run on 4star, but could be adapted to unleaded.

as both fuels were readily available at the time, the factory figures were for leaded 4 star fuel.
the c16se was obviously designed for unleaded, as it had a cat.

[marc69]

the e16se was designed to run on 4star, but could be adapted to unleaded.

as both fuels were readily available at the time, the factory figures were for leaded 4 star fuel.
the c16se was obviously designed for unleaded, as it had a cat.

typical, I never know which engine code is which engine!

[Archie]

am pals with iain he uses seditas cars. i only want to know if anyone knows how many degrees or after my dizzy timing should be i found out how to set up the cam there the now

Seditas had 3 attempts at setting up my mates Webbers on his MK2 Golf before he gave up and went elsewhere.

[meritlover]

optimising the ign timing properly (and to some extent the cam timing) should be done on a dyno. Timing is generally advanced until there is no further increase in torque at a given load/rpm. setting up base timing and book figure for lift at TDC is a great starting point and probably 98% there...but its often finding that 2% that is the difference between a good engine and a great engine. Anything else is just assembled.

base ignition timing figures should be the same, as is the method of adjustment, regardless of cam position. after each adjustment of the cam, the base timing should be re-set...or you will never know what gain/loss is from the cam and what is from the knock on effect of timing change.

im interested in how the timing is set on the 1.6 inj. is there a feature to lock the map (at say 10deg) so that the trigger can be aligned dynamically to the crank with a strobe?

with a sharp increase in timing below idle speed and a lot of retard after means that there isnt really a point where the map is 'steady' perhaps these primitive GM ECUs dont really use 'maps' ? i have never bothered with them.

for this reason, TPS and idle speed have to be as the book to give a decent figure..or it will give you a false reading.

[meritlover]

the e16se was designed to run on 4star, but could be adapted to unleaded....

by 'adapted' did they mean "simply have the local dealer twist the distributor forward by a ball-hair? lol

i take it they all have hardened valve seats as recession has never really been a problem on even high mileage engines...even the OHV

[mowgli]

the ohv can be leaded only, but all ohc engines run on unleaded iirc. the trick is to look for an asterix on the engine no on the block.
i used an X reg(81/82) donor engine for my 1.2+1.3=1.4 and it ran brilliantly on unleaded

the std way to time the e16se is to unplug the tps & short out the connections with split pins, thentime it to the mark with a strobe thenretard it a couple of degrees & test it to see if it runs right.... seriously... the main issue is that the same trigger in the dizzy is also the trigger for the injection, so timing is rather important. i've often thought of rigging up a 2nd trigger so i can time the injection differently, cos it would definitely run better if they were separate

[meritlover]

same could be said for the SPI Corsa. it porbably would run better, but not worth the effort. the easiest way would be to put a 2 point trigger on the crank for the injection, and use the distributer purely for ign trigger. If the std engine is batch fire the gains would be minimal as theyre not really syncd to the valve openeing anyway. With each adjustment you would be offsetting the whole 'map' by the same amount so where you might get a gain at peak HP, you will loose out mid range and vice a versa.

anyone who is after such gains would fit standalone management or find gains elsewhere.

[waggygsi]

Seditas had 3 attempts at setting up my mates Webbers on his MK2 Golf before he gave up and went elsewhere.
seditas are ****e!! couldna set up ryans mk2 ither
think it turned out be a fooked head in storries golf