Hi, I have a 1972 Maverick with a 302 and a T5 manual transmission, but I'm having some issues with driveability. Last week, I got tired hesitation under moderate acceleration so I check the timing and discovered in was at 17 degrees. I know that ford initially built them to 6 degrees timing, but upon returning it to that setup, I now get light acceleration hesitation. Any suggestions to remove the hesitation entirely? is my timing procedure incorrect? Is it my carburetor? I have a 575 CFM Speed Demon carb that has the floats and, from what I can tell, the fuel screws are where they should be as tightening them would result in engine stall. The car warms up at about 800rpm, but after driving for a distance it idles at 1100rpm and requires a kick down to bring it to 1000rpm. My timing procedure, atleast from my knowledge, is to change the timing to 6 degrees with the vacuum advance connected and the headlights on. My uncle says that one should advance the timing as far as it can go before it starts to ping. Any suggestions or answers? thank you
Stock or mild cam? Set your initial advance with the distributor vacuum hose disconnected and plugged to 12*-14*. The vacuum line should connect to the carb's timed port. Adjust the carb idle mixture screws evenly for highest manifold vacuum.
One thing to check is the balancer. I have saw plenty balancers spin and cause alot of headaches with timing.
X2! Find Top dead center on Cyl #1 and check it with the marks on the balancer. FWIW my last engine loved 16*, but it was low comp/mild cam.
It's a stock cam. Like I said before, it was at 17 degrees and it was running well aside from the hesitation. 6 degrees has light acceleration hesitation and 17 degrees has moderate acceleration hesitation. Is there anything that will completely eliminate the hesitation?
Set the timing to 10-12 BTC, then adjust the idle speed screw, bringing the idle down to about 600 rpms, then fine tune the idle with the mixture screws. As for the vacuum advance, if it's connected to the timed port (passenger side of the main metering block) you should be able to leave it connected while doing all this. It shouldn't advance at all until the throttle is opened.
