I believe the '71-'87 motors were retarded 4 degrees for emissions reasons. Correct me if I am wrong please.

I need to replace the front main seal, and I'm going to pull the front cover off to check the timing set. I do not need to worry about emissions testing here(the air pump has been off since the 90's.)

Would this dinosaur(CCLB) benefit from a straight up timing set? I assume it would, but wanted some input before buying the new gear set if the old one is ok.