I have a 1970 bb ford I think its a 429 because of the 2bbl carb but its definately a 385 series can someone please give me the timing specs!!!

dove-c heads/dove-a block

 

Well the factory specs for my 1970 429 4V is 4 deg BTDC.

 

My 71 460 is 4 btdc also

 

they have alot more power set at 14

 

Can you run a stock 460 @ 14* BTDC on regular (47 octane) gas with no problems?

 

Im runnin mine at 14 now with regular gas and I am getting a little pinging on upgrades. Plus it cranks real hard and slow when hot so I need to set it back a little. My truck is a 75 but my block is a 77. I think i'll try it at 11 and see how that feels. It's a recent overhaul with only 1000 miles on it.

 

The definition of "stock 460" is too vague. Ford changed the specs on the 460 in the early 70s with taller decks, larger combustion chambers which lowered the static C.R. from 11:1 down to +/- 8:1.

The OP asked specifically about a 1970 429/460 which has the 10.300" deck and +/- 75 cc comb. chambers. There's no way I can run my 1970 429 with 11:1 advertised C.R. at 14 deg even on premium. I run it at 4 deg because that's about as much as I can get away with. I've tried it as high as 10 deg and it simply won't tolerate that much initial timing.

 

I run 20* inital and modified the distributor to around 6* to 8* ... total 32 to 36.
Will know better after installing 0* timing set and a timing tape. I tow a 12 to 14,000 lbs trailer. When I got the truck had to run 92/93 octane (had 44* total adv) now down to 89 maybe less with some more tweeks. Also started at 6 mpg hiway now up to 12 havent had a good hiway test run before putting away for the winter.

 

Thanks Bill for pointing out the major compression/head delta's between the early 429/460's and later "stock" 460's (like my '77). I was thinking of moving mine to 8*??

turbo - that's a huge improvement in gas mileage - was that done solely with the timing and distributor mods?

 

if it is cranking slow set up all u have to do is use o gage battery cables and use a 1000 cranking amp battery that sloved mine it takes alot to crank a 460.

 

Whatever timing you add to the inital timing you have to take out of the distributor. With that 11 to 1 comp I would advance inital to the point it would become hard to turn over .... back it off a few degrees to were it cranked easy (might take a bit of playing around) ... check your idle vacuum whils dooing this ... also keep an eye on idle water temps (water temps should run lower as initial timing gets close) ... if it proves out 16 degrees initial looks good then a total of around 32 ish should be good so total distributor should be 8* disttrbutor which doubles to 16 at the crank because cam runs half speed for a total of 32. Sme playing around with the springs in the distributor will be needed but start with full advance at 3000 RPM. Be cautious and ease into any changes watch for pinging ratteling run on etc.

 

I've experimented with a WIDE range of timing advances, from 30 BTDC to the stock 6 BTDC. Here are my findings (all numbers are BTDC):

30 - Hard to start, pings a lot even with premium fuel
25 - Not as hard to start, not as much pinging, almost liveable, good power & mpg
15 - No hard starting, no pinging on premium, excellent power, best mpg
6 - Easy starting, no pinging with any gas, gutless, 2mpg less than 15BTDC

I keep it at 15BTDC now, all the time. Even on regular fuel, it very seldom pings.

Keep in mind that this vintage 460 has a low compression ratio, and this particular truck has 4.10 gears, so the engine never lugs or struggles.

Oh, I almost forgot! At the factory 6BTDC, the engine runs hotter (as observed on the temp gauge) than at 15BTDC under all conditions. At 30, it pinged so much I didn't leave it at that setting long enough to check mileage, and I didn't test power, either.

I'm certainly no expert on this kind of stuff, but I learned a lot by just trying different ignition timing settings and observing fuel economy, coolant temps, seat-of-the-pants dyno readings and listening for pinging.