I have been working on mine and my dads 49 ford coupe for a little over a year now using the suggestions from the wonderful members here. i have it running now, but i dont know where to set the timing mark as the crank pulley only has ( what i assume is) a tdc mark my dad and I are trying to leave for the power tour on friday. so i dont really have time to order a timing tape( if they make one). could someone give me a measurement like 1/4 inch or 3/8 of an inch Ect. of where the timing should be set its a 239 bored 30 over unknown cam(but lumpy) edelbrock heads and 4bl intake 390 cfm carb headders&straight piped and a msd distributor (edit) its also running an electric fuel pump and running a 12 volt system
The bump on the stock pulley is 2 degrees advanced IIRC......best way I have found to time them is with a vacuum gauge.
Yes, the factory marks are not zero TDC, they are the correct timing setting marks, which I believe varied through production.
It is time consuming but this is how it is done. pull out number one plug, stick in your plastic wire tie knob end first in the hole. Slowly crank the motor by hand until it bottoms out under the head, mark that spot on the crank pulley. Reverse direction, on the way notice where the plastic wire ties bottoms out in the hole, that is 180 out. Finish cranking it around unitl it stops and make the mark. The center between the first and third mark you made is TDC. Like I said, the second mark is 180 out. Half way between the TDC and 180 is 90, half way between 90 and TDC is 45. You see where this is going. a few marks later you will have calibrated your crank pulley. Wrap a piece of masking tape around the pulley if you don't want a bunch of timing marks everywhere, I did mine on the back side then moved the relevant marks out front for timing purposes. I run a ton of timing in this flathead so there was no need to calibrate below 29 really but you have to at least go to 11. Spinal Tap.
Crank the engine over by hand until number 1 piston is at TDC and the rotor is pointing to #1 plug wire on the cap. With that, the raised dot on the crank pulley should be lined up with the pointer on the timing cover, thereby indicating that your #1 piston is at top dead center, ready to fire on the compression stroke. I have the same 239 Ford set up as you except that i have a Mallory Uni-Lite dist.
The easiest way to determine what stroke the engine is on is to remove the #1 spark plug, put your thumb over the hole, and crank the engine until your thumb blows off. The bump should be close to the pointer.
The best performance I got from my 59ab in the pickup was with the vacuum gauge. Set the timing for the highest reading then back it down 1”hg. This is a stock engine with a Mallory electronic distributor. I did the find and mark TDC and did the timing light thing but the vacuum gauge worked better.
I did the same as forty1fordpickup and had great results. Highest vacuum reading with a 390 carb on a stock 8BA was 20" mg. Also, be sure to adjust the secondaries as shown on U-Tube. Makes a huge difference.
As noted the dot is 2 deg BTDC. With a lumpy cam, I like a little more initial timing. I would say about 1/4" advanced. Measure the diameter of the crank pulley and do the math to determine the circumference of the pulley. Divide by 360 to get 1 degree. I don't have any measurements right now to help with the distances.
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