TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Vacuum retard was only on later cars, not a 57 TR3.
TR2-4 used 4 BTDC (not ATDC) as the factory (static) ignition timing, and then had a very aggressive centrifugal advance so the timing was advanced much more than usual as the engine came off idle. The purpose, I believe, was to make sure the timing was late enough to avoid kickback when hand cranking. With the spark occurring significantly before TDC, all it takes is for the cylinder to be full of combustible mixture and the crankshaft to be moving very slowly, to cause the cylinder to fire and force the crankshaft to turn backwards.
You'd have to check with Jeff for details, but I believe he installs a slower advance curve, such that the total advance is about the same at normal operating rpm, even starting with 16 BTDC static. (Or maybe just a pinch more, the factory total advance is fairly conservative.)
Just for grins, here is a comparison of the centrifugal curves for a couple of TR2-4 distributors, and a TR6 for comparison.
TR2-4 used 4 BTDC (not ATDC) as the factory (static) ignition timing, and then had a very aggressive centrifugal advance so the timing was advanced much more than usual as the engine came off idle. The purpose, I believe, was to make sure the timing was late enough to avoid kickback when hand cranking. With the spark occurring significantly before TDC, all it takes is for the cylinder to be full of combustible mixture and the crankshaft to be moving very slowly, to cause the cylinder to fire and force the crankshaft to turn backwards.
You'd have to check with Jeff for details, but I believe he installs a slower advance curve, such that the total advance is about the same at normal operating rpm, even starting with 16 BTDC static. (Or maybe just a pinch more, the factory total advance is fairly conservative.)
Just for grins, here is a comparison of the centrifugal curves for a couple of TR2-4 distributors, and a TR6 for comparison.