The outer ring on the pulley/balancer has slipped. You only think that it is 17 degrees advanced when it really is retarded. Try this. Make a piston stop from a old spark plug, put in the number one spark plug hole. Pull the other plugs out, disconnect the battery for safety. Turn the engine BY HAND til the piston hits the stop. Mark the place on the balancer, turn it backwards til it hits the stop and mark it again. In the middle of the two lines is TDC. Not perfect but close. Put the plugs back In and time the car with the new TDC mark and see how it runs. If the factory mark is not real close replace the balancer. Jay 6155
Yikes, that would be an issue. Do you think it would also work to look for the point where the exhaust valve closes and the intake opens? It would require the cam to be symmetric around bottom dead center.
For the plug, do you mean break the ceramic out of a plug and add a bolt to hang down into the cylinder?
Thanks,
Mark
