I need to use a timing pointer here for a customer with a Big Stuff 3, and I figured I'd ask here first before I spent a bunch of time looking for one. I figure I'll just make one unless one is available, what have people used out there in LT1 land?

Thanks in advance

 

You still have the opti?

 

Considering that timing is not normally adjustable, I doubt that anyone has ever produced one. I think you are going to have to make one.

 

Nick, I tried to find one, as far as I can tell, they don't exist, but maybe someone has had better luck than me. I made one out of sheet metal, bolts to the lower waterpump bolt. HTH

 

I modified a pointer that I picked up from Checker. I drilled one hole in it and mounted it using the lowest A/C compressor bolt - worked perfectly. I had to use a pointer to set my crank reference angle for the FAST system.

 

How are you guys knowing that the timing you are reading off of the pointer is the correct? Even watching a laptop, at idle, the timing is bouncing around a couple of degrees (atleast it does with a decently sized cam). Your timing will change (around 3*) depending on the temperature of the car, also, and I can't remember if it shows it in Datamaster or not.

 

I'll thought of taking some measurements and then getting out the Proform catalog to find one with similar bolt spacing I could modify, but then I lose two days and the whole weekend waiting on this deal. I think I'll make one today.

 

Doesnt the opti block off plate have one on it for carb and distributor applications?

 

I made mine out of heavy sheet metal. Can't remember which bolt its on, and I can't find a photo of it. I have the ATI Super Damper with the 360-deg markings on it.
You set the pointer when you build the engine. Its tied directly to TDC #1. Then you're assuming everyone is using the stock PCM and that's not the case. Doesn't matter though, because if you set the pointer correctly, you are reading the actual timing, even if its moving around. Its always going to bounce a bit as the ECU moves through the timing tables in response to MAP and RPM variations. Did the same thing with the old distributors, as the centrifugal weights moved and the vacuum varied. A scanner tells you what the PCM is setting the timing at, but it doesn't tell you what the actual timing is. Hopefully they are the same, but it doesn't hurt to check.

 

I see now.

 

YES IT DOES, that's why I asked if he was running a opti.

I've also machined timing covers for the tavia timing pointers as well.

Bret