No problem- - - -You're very wise to start with the basics, which is how these engines ran for decades. They were designed to respond to tuning efforts by mechanics with limited access to measuring equipment (or none at all) under some very primitive field conditions. It's possible to do a perfectly acceptable job of setting timing without even running the engine, and that's the way the "pointer and ball" was designed to be used. A strobe timing light helps to compensate for wear in the timing gears, distributor drive gear, and distributor shaft and bushings. Once you're comfortable with doing the basic timing procedure, we can move on to more sophisticated procedures later if desired. The basic procedure will work sufficiently for the next 50-odd years without any further tweaks, however. Getting anal-retentive about stovebolt maintenance is a good way to kill time, but it's a fool's mission!
Jerry
