i have a 79 f100. 351M was built in san jose, California. The truck has the egr taken off, edelbrock 600cfm carb, and performer intake. the truck gets 16. 3 mpg with mixed driving. however, according to the plugs she is running lean . the kicker is the balancer doesn't have any numbers on it. it has these dimple things but no other markings. it has the needle that you use to set timing. How would i go about seeing what the timing is at? i was running 87 octane and on occasion would get a small ping at idle. after switching to 91 and tuning the idle/air mixture for the best vacuum she runs a little better. every once in a while it will have a slight miss/ hesitation at idle when warmed up. firing order is correct. ignition control box deal is new. i have a set of new plugs and wires im going to toss on ( the wires imo are the culprit of the miss) anyway to figure out if my timing is correct? i wouldnt think it would be so lean with a 600 cfm carb that has the stock jets that comes with in right out of the box


thanks for the help,


travis

 

Remove the #1 plug and remove the distributer cap. Use a drinking straw or some small rubber hose to put in the plug hole to feel when piston comes to the top of cylinder, at the same time have someone bump the starter to get the distributor rotor button pointing to the #1 wire location.
With the #1 piston at the top of the cylinder and the rotor is pointing to #1 wire location(approx. 1 o'clock position) you can lightly sand the harmonic balancer surface about 2" either side of the timing pointer. This should expose the timing degree indications.

 

thanks for the great help ill give that a shot!

 

Hy Yalu it a quick question I have a 1973 f100 with a 360 I went to the junk yard and bought a carb off a newer style now lil is diff will it work? And I don't plan on useigthat o e just mismatching it to make my carb good. The top plate of the carb is cracked will send pics if you email me with response