Fleet, follow Hot Rod Lincoln's advice if you're gonna spin up that 6.
I don't have a distributer machine, but I degreed the damper, that along with a timing light and a handful of distributer spring and some trial and error got my distributer curved best for my situation.A dial in advance style timing light will work if you have no additional degree marks on the damper.But you have to be careful, dentonation at full load can turn pistons into scrap pretty fast.Old engines like 235/261's only need 34 degrees total cranshaft advance for maximum power, the newer 6's maybe 36 total.I'm running 34 degrees total advance in the 261, all in by 3000 rpm, the vacuum advance limited to half it's original travel.This requires 92 octance fuel to eliminate pinging with an actual compression ratio of 9-1. These older engines including the 230-292's are more sensative to octane requirements than newer fast burn head designs with electronic engine management.My 261 is never run over 4500 rpm so the single points are ok in my case.
As always, your driving style,fuel, gearing and engine modifications will determine timing requirements and ignition type.
