Ignition timing advance/retard

[Tony Griffiths]

I find that reconnecting the manual advance and retard helps one to imagine that playing with it has a beneficial effect. As David Wortley once pointed out, being able to do this sometimes gives the impression that an extra 1 m.p.h. has been achieved. One thing that does help on the all-manual distributer is to lock down at the full advance setting, the "bolt with spring" that allows the body to rotate. I used to do this for competitions but always reverted to the "wobble setting" for road use in the hope of sparing the crankshaft.