The guys at some of the specialty engine forums have been complaining about the quality of some of the low-end stuff coming in from China and India. They recommend using Cloyes or Ford Racing parts wherever possible.

 

I second that… you want a good quality, name brand timing set. most pro's like Cloyes… I've had good luck with SA's better quality sets. You really want a good German chain… not the cr*p that comes out of India or China. Many of those are too loose right out of the box. We put a really high quality chain in my kid's new dirt modified engine this year. I didn't want to compromise even though the engine builder suggested a cheaper deal. The extra $100.00 didn't kill us but the cheap chain may have killed the engine.

Quality isn't cheap.

Here's some info…

Comp timing sets...Any good? ? Speed Talk

As far as advancing the timing… advance for torque… retard for top end. The last engine we did the cam grinder ( www.jonescams.com ) ground the advance into the cam so we set it heads up. The Hughes reground roller I have in one SB Mopar engine is installed +4 degrees. Same with an SB Olds I have on the stand.

Given that the early 70's-80's smog motors came from the factory with retarded timing 8 degrees advance from stock would work just fine if you are replacing a stock cam.

 

I had a buddy awhile back who was constantly building corvair setups. Turbo charged, super charged, non charged and so on. He had a huge selection of 4V holly. Some with air boxes for the charged engines. I was using different intake manifolds almost weekly and complaining about my MPG. He stopped me one day and said throw those 2Vs away and use a 4V. So I did. I tried several ones that he had extra and could not believe the difference. A small 4V will often get tremendous performance gains with great mileage. When possible use a 4V. I had a 300 I6 that I converted to 4V 600 CFM and it really kicked it in the rear. Thanks