Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth Menace
I would have thought that the idle number was a touch high and the all out number was a bit low
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That is probably correct, but the amount of centrifugal advance built into a given distributor depends on the original application. 18 degrees of advance is not at all unusual, though it can limit the amount of all-in advance you can have without running into starting problems due to having too high a base.
The main goal for now is to make sure that timing is reasonable. Going from 26 to 32 all-in is a big jump that you should really feel. And now that you know a base setting of 14 gives you 32 degrees all-in you can bump it a degree or two at a time to see how it responds without having to measure all-in timing again. Modifying the timing curve can be set aside for later if needed.
What are the issues with the carb? Most of the external adjustments are for tuning idle speed and quality. If the engine is idling good then there's not much that can be done without tearing into it or getting a better carb.
One last thing I would do is put a vacuum gauge on it to see what the engine is pulling at idle. Note the RPM that the reading is taken at and whether the needle is steady or whether there is any pulsing. That will help confirm that the valvetrain is in good shape and also give us a bit of a clue as to how big a cam it has.
Other than that, I agree it sounds like your focus needs to be on all the other stuff to get past inspection.