I had someone turn me on to the Pony Carb website, www.ponycarburetors.com, I was reading the advantages of the Autolite/Motorcraft carbs and the services they advertise.

I read on and noticed they claim that most SB Fords can't be timed very accurately by using the harmonic balancer, since in many cases the rubber in the balancer has degraded and is not a solid point to use to adjust timing. They stated that almost always, Ford motors like more timing than what usually is stated as needed, and say they provide detailed timing instructions with each carb they rebuild. I'm gonna try and get the instructions, but was wondering if any of ya'll have heard of this theory.

 

It's easy to check the accuracy of the timing marks on the harmonic balancer. Bring piston #1 to TDC on the compression stroke using a small piece of wire in the plug hole to feel piston movement, the timing mark on the balancer should be at zero.

 

pony carbs are pretty opinionated to there thoeries. The balancer are ok, but they twist a little, when the motor is running and revved. I have only seen one move 4 degrees. I do however feel most fords like 40-45 degrees of timing. There are exceptions.