I’m sure this has been discussed many times. I read somewhere about marking the rotor and inner primary to time through the inspection cover.
I just can’t see the marks thru the timing plug and getting sprayed with oil to boot.
I tried it after lining up the advanced mark and marking the rotor. It seems to be right.
Has anyone else done this with good results? And can this be trusted as correct?

 

Hey Don, I've never timed mine like that but it should be very accurate.. It actually can't think of a better way.. I truly don't think that the status light on after market devices are as accurate.. I will after riding for about 20 miles pull the plugs to check the ground strap for the timing mark.. middle of the strap is where you want to be.. Sometimes when I'm in a hot riding mood I'll advance another 5 degrees on the base and man it's a pleasant difference.. Always check the plugs after that though for any peppering down inside the plug on the porcelain (destination)...
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Here's an example of to much timing.. However I never had destination... The motor liked it an so did I... Lol ..

 

I have in the past but never realigned it after doing some tranny and primary work. Does work good. I used nail polish as it worked good with the timing light.

Griz
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Sooo looking at the ground strap,does the mark tell you which way to go on the timing? I was having detonation when I thought it was timed correctly using the static method via Dynatek . Premium fuel always. Haven’t taken a ride since the timing light episode. With my old H-4 ignition it never pinged.Dyna is set on #4 advance.

 

Looking at the picture I posted the plug on the right you see how the timing mark is down close to where the strap is welded to the plug? Well that's a real lot of advance.. The closer it gets to that weld the more the timing is advanced.. Less timing advance would move it up the strap toward the electrode. Generally speaking you want that to be right in the center of the bend ..

If you're getting detonation when static timing with the status light and on curve 4, then I would suspect that your VOES switch is not working.. Maybe it's stuck or your running lean..

 

They sell a clear cover to go over the timing hole to kill the misting but still need some white paint on the timing mark. If your on #4 and having detonation a problem is present, #4 is for big cube engines, #2 should be a safety setting and a stock type 80" could run on #1.

I've always done it backwards, with a Wego I'll know the afr's are perfect adjusting the timing until detonation pulling it back to safety. From tuning EFI every 1 degree of timing advance lean's afr's by .1, on Evo's a carb is actually not bad on being accurate but may not get the exact target reading like EFI. Saying this, if a cruise target 14.1 for fuel economy using a needle setting, the accell pump blankets a roll on coming back to 14.1, if the cruise is set at 14.1 and timing is advanced 5 degrees without no needle adjustments, the afr becomes 14.6 and already on the hot side not allowing the accell pump to cover the roll on promoting detonation

Mentioned a carb may not hit the target 14.1 setting being slightly leaner to 14.2-14.3, add advance by the formula off .1 afr leaner per 1 degree of timing advance and a disaster, pull timing and power loss or over fuel does the same. This is the reasoning from sleepless nights behind knowing what the fuel settings are before trying to adjust timing on warmed up engines

 

With a good digital ignition module, you really don't need to do dynamic timing with a strobe light.. The good thing about digital is that there isn't any mechanism to wear out..

On my 113 SnS motor, with a 2000i, it needed curve 4 with the static timing TDC set to the far left of the hole.. Set in the center, it didn't ping but successive runs on a dyno lost power as the motor got hotter and hotter.

 

It would lose power, as heat is the enemy... This is why with E85 and Methane you can give it more timing to make more power because it doesn't create as much heat.. Bigger motors can't take timing advance like a small block .

 

Absolutely. The recommended timing from SnS was about 3 degrees too far advanced. Next time on the dyno the motor ran more consistently..

BTW didn't know that people were running cow farts for fuel.. I suspect that you mean Methanol.

I've got a buddy that runs Land speed car. Shooting for the record for four wheels.. He runs methanol without any water-jackets on the block. The methanol cools the motor..