whtcivic93 said:
Will be ordered monday, but until then what should i do? Isnt there a rule of thumb to advance or retard the timing at the distributor a few degrees?
I know what your talking about. I can't exactly place where i found this info from, but i thought it was 2 deg retard for every psi. I did find similar info on the MSD website and i quote.
"The MSD BTM (Boost Timing Master) comes in two forms... The BTM which is just an add on for any MSD 6 series ignition system and the MSD6BTM which is their 6 series ignition and the BTM in one unit... (less expensive this way) The MSD6BTM can both control the timing of the spark based on the amount of boost present and it can increase the current of the spark which under boost is harder to ignite. Simply put, it makes bigger sparks at the plug which means more air & fuel can be exploded at one time which equals power... With the MSD6BTM you can also run a stock or nearly stock ignition timing which will result in good 'off the line' performance but it also retards the timing a set amount as the boost pressure increases. The amount of retard is user adjustable from 0 to 3° per PSI of boost... A normal setting is 1°/PSI but more or less can be used depending on your setup and how the car is reacting to other variables such as air temp, gas octane, ect... So at 1PSI of boost, it will retard out 1° of timing... At 6PSI of boost, it will retard 6° of timing... When not on boost like at idle or cruising at a constant speed, it will not retard the timing at all... (Again, this is user adjustable) In any case, the MSD6BTM is more of a dual purpose device to both retard timing to PREVENT detonation as well as fire a spark with more energy which will help ignite the pressurized mix better. "
So this agrees with your info of 1 deg for every psi of boost.
If i may offer a bit of advice on what i would do if i were planning on boosting. I would have
at least A wideband o2 sensor with an air to fuel gauge, retard the timing (or better yet an MSD BTM or equivilent ), adjustable fuel pressure regulator (or better yet a fuel management unit), colder ranged spark plugs, possibly bigger injectors, and a bigger fuel pump. On a similar note i highly recommend you install an oil cooler, and an oil psi gauge
I wouldn't drive anything boosted at any psi unless i had those items atleast, and i knew how to tune it all well enough. But in an ideal world you need an eninge management unit and someone Professional to tune it.
