i am wrapping up the punch list on my 56 project and noticed that the distributor didn't move when the engine is rev'd - so i replaced the vacuum advance mechanism. that was straightforward enough. As far as timing it, i followed the manual and set the static timing to have the rotor pointing at cylinder one when it was at 0 deg TDC. the pointer was pointing at the ball in the window by the starter as expected. The engine started, but was a little rough. Then i tuned the engine using a vacuum gauge, adjusting the distributor for max vacuum. When I completed this task, then engine was running well, but the steel ball was no longer visible in the window because i believe i advanced the timing such that it isn't visible in the window when the timing light is triggered on cyl 1.
do others observe this situation on their engines? Should I expect problems? the shop manual suggest that the engine should run at 0 deg TDC, but for me that is just not the "sweet spot"
thanks for any ideas/comments
