Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Fired up the 250.........Questions about dialing it in.

Got the 250 running for the first time today in my '72 K20 Chevy pickup.....This engine was in a '69 C-10 we parted and it worked great, I put a Clifford Intake and truck exhaust hearders on it, decided to go with a 500 CFM Edelbrock carb with manual choke instead of the q-jet. Anyhow, I set the ignition timing at 4* BTDC, but I was wondering what you guys prefer? We have a few old manuals laying around and I seen everything from TDC, to 4* BTDC? What is correct? It idles and throttles up great without hesitation, but acouple things do not see right.....First, after idling for a period, and you go to move the truck or throttle it up, it leaves the noxious smelling exhaust like it is running rich.........but like I said, rev's great and doesn't stumble. Is this the nature of the 4brl carb intake? I tried to lean it out, but it runs the best where I have it currently. Second, it seems like it is running hotter than it did when it was in the other truck.......I put a new distributor on it, which is why I asked up above about where to set it as that maybe the culprit.........The only other thing I can see that maybe decieving me, is the water heated intake and extra hoses creating more excess heat than I am used to. The gage setup in the truck doesn't read out in numerical temps, and the sending unit may have bit the dust as it didn't read anything on the gage, but it just seemed it was warmer than the other sixes we have around here. I was thinking tonight while mowing, I may have put new plugs in I have for a 350, instead of the set I got for this engine, I'll have to check that too.

Oh, before I forget, should I plug the distributor vacuum advance or run it? We always ran them on the 250 with the stock setup, but on the V-8's we plugged them off and it seemed to work better.

Thanks

Quote"Oh, before I forget, should I plug the distributor vacuum advance or run it? We always ran them on the 250 with the stock setup, but on the V-8's we plugged them off and it seemed to work better"
That depends, do you want to get better gas milege or not?
You can change to different metering rods on those carbs. They have steps in them.
You need to measure the different steps in the rods & come up w/a leaner mixture @ idle so it does not smell so rich.
The fatest part of the metering rod is your idle.Try & find metering rods that are simular insize(the other two or so steps) but a little thicker at the idle section (top, thickest portion)
The slimest part on the metering rod is the wide open throttle (used when your engine produces no vacuum,, area)

Yes; set the timing per specs in manual (hose pluged) and then connect it. It's an important/necessary part of It's operation.

The V-8 plugs won't affect the temp. But it is probably best to run what is called for. Either way, make you set spark plug gaps to spec.