Capri - Ignition Timing 1600 Engine

  I recently shouted myself  a new timing light as my 30 year old veteran finally would not produce any light! It has been some time since I checked the timing on my cars & because of some adjustments to the points as well as difficult starting of my green Deluxe, the new light was necessary. Autobarn was having a sale so I saved myself $20 on this model & it was about $45.



It is very easy to set up especially with the inductive clamp that goes onto the No 1 lead. I had put a few drops of white paint on the appropriate markers & that made it very easy to see what was going on.
With my green car (1970), it is very easy to loosen the distributor as there is plenty of room on that side of the engine. I found that the timing was far too advanced so I brought it back closer to the recommended setting of 10 degrees BTDC. I also used a vacuum gauge at the same tine to get a consistent reading of about 17 on the gauge. I also had to adjust the idle speed a fraction & it seemed all good in the garage. After several runs, it is pulling well with no misfires & is starting first up which is big improvement so I have left the setting as is.

The white XL (1972) is a different story. Firstly, the adjustment screw on the distributor is extremely difficult to get to. It is an electronic Accuspark model but the maze of water hoses connected to the automatic water choke on the Weber & the heater make things difficult. Also, the battery is on that side of the engine bay, being an automatic, as opposed to the other side for the manual. When I finally loosened the dizzy enough to move it, I found that the timing was set at about 20-25 degrees BTDC. This is far in excess of the 12 degrees stated for the GT motor so I brought it back to that. It seemed to run OK in the garage but on the road, it was hopeless. I barely made it around the block. Back to the all the manuals & Dr Google. Various reports suggested that running the 32/36 Weber & the electronic dizzy required more advance than usual.  So, using the timing light & the vacuum gauge, I gradually put the timing back to nearly where it was previously & it ended running well at about 18-20 degrees BTDC. One fairly long run seemed to confirm this setting is pretty correct but after another few runs, I will be confident of this.

So, the new timing light was very useful.

Postscript:
I have since had to reset the timing again as after driving the car, although it went quite well, it was very cammy on deceleration. I retarded the timing a fraction, so it is closer to the 15 degrees but not as far advanced as previously. After driving it around for quite a while, I think this is better & I will keep it at this setting for the time being. The vacuum gauge is still steady on 17 when idling so it is not vastly different.