Do you know what kind of advance and spark plug gap I should be running with a 428FE engine for max horsepower? I am not worried about gas mileage.

Edelbrock Performer Intake
Crane Cam 290 duration 520 lift
Heddman Headers
10.5:1 compression
bored .030
accel street billet distributor 52200
holley 750 carb
mustang heads<!-- / message --> <!-- controls -->

 

I run 40 deg total in my hot rod(428 CJ). Get it in as quick as it can.
Do you have an MSD? If not, then stock (about .035), is what I run.

 

I just have the accel distributor, I was going to get an accel ignition box but the directions said that this distributor would work just fine without it and that I would have to pull the module out to use it with a box. I think the mechanical advance is factory set to 22 degress and then however much more the vacuum advance will do. How do you adjust the vacuum advance? Anytime I have had to adjust timing in the past I have just tweeked the distributor a little bit. Forgive my ignorance on this subject.

 

Mean, if you're really interested in horsepower, get rid of the Edel performer. That thing is strangling your engine. DinosaurFan, and I really am at my Dad's house

 

THe old Stock advance you adjust with washer type shims the nipple unscrews. But if it's the new sealed type then you do it inside the tube end nipple with a small allen wrench inserted in the vac nipple.tube... my 2ents.. orich..........

 

I never run vacuum advance on any of my stuff. Good or bad depending on who you ask so can't help you with how to adjust. With what orich says....I can recall the aftermarket cans did have a set screw in the hose hole you can adjust.

With 22 degrees in the dizzy, that can give you about 18 initial, which might be a bit high, but might start okay(with 40 total). My 428 like about 14-15 degrees to idle correctly(and still starts okay). I'd say run with what you got.

 

Well, back in the day of really good, honest to God leaded gas, Ford never recommended more than 38° mechanical advance. I did run 44° in my G/SA Ford Cobra 428SC with Ram Air in first and second gear, but always dropped back to 38° in high gear to prevent engine damage. With the 4 speed Cobra without Ram Air (G/S) I ran the 44° in 1st thru 3rd and then 38° in 4th. It made both cars quicker. It made for a lower ET but the mph was unchanged. On street machines with todays gas I keep timing no higher than 36°. If you notice in my signature pic, No vacuum advance, real race cars don't have vacuum advance!

 

I'm a mechanical advance as well. And do agree that 40 degrees total works well. I 2 would ditch the intake for something better. Also run a ignition box (like a MSD or Mallory) 6AL and run a set of Autolite 124. I never liked the 45's for my liking. That, you will notice right off the bat!!! No joke. JMHO

 

I was not going to get into this question, but what is important is quality of fuel, air temperature, engine temperature, altitude, and if your timing tab is correctly set. If all the above is optimum, you can get away with more timing, but 38 degrees total timing is a good starting point. With poor conditions you can get detonation even at 38 degrees.

 

That is true as well. Run name brand fuel (like 76, Texeco, Shell and so on). Stay away from off brand places!!! And run a good breathable air filter like K&N or other aftermarket brands. JMHO

 

I agree. Back in the day of high compression and real quality high test gas, Ford said a max of 38° and with todays junk gas I shy away from even 38°. 36° is the most I've been able to run without pinging in the engine.

 

If you can get your hands on a little AV Gas would help LOL.

 

I can still get my hands on all the AV gas I want, or a better way to say it "AFFORD". AV gas, aka 100LL is unreasonable for street use. I used to have a great supply of the purple stuff, that's 115/145. It has so much lead in it, it cause inttermitent lead fouling. I had to cut it with unleaded premium to make my 428CJ run on it. But I still ran never more than 38° in high gear.

 

I use to run AV Gas for a # of years, untill July of 07 when I sold my Blue Beast. I never had a problem with running 40 degrees in the valley in that havey azz truck of mine. But I ran 5 gal of Av gas with 14 gal of super. Worked out great. If you are running a auto trans does help fug that a little bit. I was running a NP435 in the Blue beast. Not for everyone persay.

 

And the valley was how high? 3600 feet maybe?