Timing starting point.

[Graham Honnor]

Hello
I have a '37 Ruby engine M244... with a 2 bearing crank and h.c head.
Could someone please tell me if a starting point for setting the timing is TDC or 
11/2" BTDC at the flywheel?
I usually have it at TDC but to make it run at it's smoothest I need to slightly retard it which can't be good
so I end up putting it back to TDC.
However, I do wonder whether I should be starting at the 1 1/2" BTDC point which I thought was for the earlier engines.
Or have I got that all wrong? which isn't unknown for me.
Many thanks for your time
Graham.

[Derek Sheldon]

I personally set number one to TDc , put the distributor in to the hole in relation to number one on the rotor arm.turn on the ignition, turn the dizzy until you hear the click of the spark .!Then start the car and adjust the dizzy from there. Always works for me

[Bob Culver]

This topic recurs endlessly
For sports regularly using and exceeding 4000 rpm and after power at any price the situation is somewhat different and the following is not for them.
 
Advance greatly increases crank loadings. For the owner of the average car, esp with original crank, it is prudent to err on the side of caution.
For manual advance owners were advised to set to 1 ¼ to 2 inch full advance and fine adjust after. For those blessed with a manual control this is dandy.
 
A full 2 inches is usually excessive. The Bill Willaims book recommends less even for specials.
A now very elderly former Seven guru who maintained many cars locally advocated a very modest advance.
 
There are two original auto distributors; early 3/6 deg and for the 37 head 8/16. Whichever is fitted actual internal components, wear, springs now fitted can hugely alter the advance characteristic, and hence the ideal static setting.
And there are the alternative distributors. (An auto with manual control can cause confusion.)
 
Unfortunately  the early Ruby handbook repeated the manual advice and many other books copied. This has led to hours and hours of wasted time and stressed cranks over the decades. One inch is 11 deg.
 
For the early auto, static (retard) setting was advised as ¾ to 7/8 and for the later 0 to ½ inch.
For those familiar with Sevens and esp their own it is easy to find the appropriate setting. But for strangers it is a mystery. These seems no performance whatever!
It is important not to confuse engine and exhaust noise with performance. Both increase markedly with advance.
 
(With a little ingenuity distributors can be fully advanced and locked there for setting up)
 
If you can find a “hill” ie slight slope that car will take at 30 mph or more in top, a good test, remembering that performance improves as the oil heats and thins.

Fastest idle may or may not give the optimum.

Seven settings are based on turning the engine with carnk handle, not as shown by an idle speed timing light. (Owners of older cars often get in a muddle due to using a light; although the able canuse to check advance operation)

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I personally set number one to TDc , put the distributor in to the hole in relation to number one on the rotor arm.turn on the ignition, turn the dizzy until you hear the click of the spark .!Then start the car and adjust the dizzy from there. Always works for me

Works for me as well.

[Graham Honnor]

Thank you to all for your replies, I shall continue as I always have done then by starting at TDC.
By ear it sounds at it's happiest at very slightly retarded from this position and as Bob suggests when I test
it for pinking up a slight gradient in top she doesn't pink.
However, she does tickover a bit too fast for my liking at this point, and even by playing with the mixture screw
on the carb and the timing position , I still can't slow it down to where I'd like it to be.
The throttle screw is obviously turned right back and I even tried it with the throttle linkage disconnected, but 
I still don't seem to be able to slow it down the small amount I think it needs.
Any suggestions would obviously be very gratefully received or maybe I just have to live with a slightly fast tickover!
Thank you once again
Graham.

[AustinWood]

Perhaps there is wear in the throttle spindle allowing air to upset the slow running

[John Mason]

Hi, It could be a blocked jet. The jet that is accessed by removing the small brass screw on the under side. There is no need to remove the jet just the brass screw then then the first clean out with carb cleaner and an airline. The purpose of the jet is to allow a small amount of air to get past the throttle butterfly to allow the engine to slow run when this butterfly is closed.

John Mason

[Graham Honnor]

Thank you John and Jim for your replies.
The carb was rebuilt around about 4 years ago and the spindle is actually still very good.
I also "discovered" the hidden jet underneath some years prior to that when I owned my first Ruby
and couldn't work out why the mixture screw was so unresponsive and I think it was actually someone
on the forum who pointed me in the right direction in that instance.
Although I never actually remove the jet for fear of damaging it, I always manage to keep it clear 
either by the use of fuse wire or/and the use of the air blower on my compressor.
So in response to your very kind suggestions, I'm afraid I have already ruled out the actual carb's 
various jets and am in the process of checking for any leaks on the manifolds,etc.
It's certainly a puzzle, but what else is there to do on such a gloriously hot day than to spend it
with your head under the bonnet?!
Thanks again.
Graham

[Bob Culver]

The gradient is to check pulling. The only pinging I ever heard was momentary when flooring the accel at low revs immediately after overrun at high revs with the engine very hot. Under same conditons would run on, as do very many older cars of other makes.