24 is really good, and 22 for the year is great! I recalculated mine, and got 18.4 for the first 400 miles. I need to do a decent tuneup. I gotta get it in the 20's. The twin-stick is really cool, and after 45 years, it has earned a place in your car. But I can understand wanting a T4 or T5. However you go - I'm sure your American will be cool. On Sat, Jul 5, 2008 at 8:46 PM, Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx> wrote: > I'm pushing close to 24mpg now, with 22mpg average for the calendar year. > > A month or so back I started bumping the ignition timing (advance). It's > done the expected performance and mileage improvement. It has NEVER pinged. > > Put the timing light on it today to see what I was at -- 20 (twenty) > degrees static. It made no sense until I RTFM'd again, and forgot that > the distrib specs are: > > (10 degrees static recommended) > 10 - 12 total mechanical advance > 11 degrees total vacuum advance. > > So 20 static isn't insane, just too much at idle, where it doesn't > matter so much. It does idle smoother with less advance, it's a little > poppy. > > It's got a Pertronix unit and hot coil, and looser springs so my advance > comes in around 1800 I think. > > My plan is to modify the distributor for more mechanical advance, like > 18, then reset the static to something sensible (10 - 12). > > Then I can see if more vacuum is called for. Not even sure what a ping > in this motor would sound like! > > > Since I've not leaned out the carb etc, it's all free horsepower, and > man, a few HP here is quite noticable. This car is now up into the > "peppy" category. There's no problem keeping up with traffic, and only > the wide-spread gearbox is holding it back. > > > I haven't forgotten the T-4/T-5 business... Though I'd hate to give up > twin stick, a 4-speed (or 5) would really be tons faster. I could > probably sell my cherry T-96+OD for more than what a T-4 would cost me! > > > Hmm... make the OD lever be reverse and I could keep the shifter I got... > _______________________________________________ > Amc-list mailing list > Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://splatter.wps.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/amc-list > _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://splatter.wps.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/amc-list