Timing advance ?

[CaptainJoe87]

Ok, I have tried searching for this but I am not really finding the answers I am looking for. My money is limited and my car needs a couple things before I start putting too much money into the motor. I have a L28e that has been rebuilt about 20,000 miles ago. I have a set of 3-2-1 headers that I have yet to install because I am saving up for the exhaust pipe kit from thezstore.com and a cone air filter. Other than that my a/c compressor is removed because the pulley locked up and I have a N42 intake manifold that I am waiting to put on so I only have to change the gasket once. My question is about timing advance, I have read a lot of things on here about it but would like some more solid information on the effects of doing so. I read that if you advance the cam timing 4 degrees it will have a large impact. Would someone mind explaining the process of doing that as well as the types of effects it will have on the motor. I know through reading that advancing the timing alters the timing of the valves opening and closing which will increase engine compression. If I were to advance the cam timing 4 degrees as I have read on this forum, what type of differences will I notice over stock? Any change in the HP or Torque? Where in the RPMS will I notice the change? Is the difference noticeable enough to be worth doing the work? My main uses for the car is street driving, but I want to improve my skills and start doing autoX.

 

The other type of timing advance I have read about is doing it from the distributor, which from my understanding is just loosening a screw and turning the cap. My questions with this method are the same as the cam adjustment. What effects can I expect from this method. If I advance the Cam timing, should I also advance from the distributor? I want to get the most safe output from this motor in its stock form while saving up to do some other things. Any Ideas for free/ cheap ways to improve the performance of the L28e motor would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am pretty much trying to find some ways, with a stock EFI and mostly stock motor, to get the most out of this motor, power and response wise that I can.

 

I have read a lot of other posts where people have been asking for cheap ways to get HP from these motors and it usually turns to turbo swap, which is why I wanted to ask about something a little more specific. My car needs a good bit more work before I start looking into a motor swap. I just want to keep improving this car as much as possible within my budget so I don't get too discouraged with my project. Thanks in advance for any information or help that you can give, be it a link to a thread I didn't find, or an answer to my question.

[skirkland1980]

Your mods are limited by the stock efi. If you start changing things I would get a wideband to monitor AFRs. You won't see much improvement without getting more air/fuel through the engine. Have you read BRAAPs sticky?

Edited November 20, 2012 by skirkland1980

[m1ghtymaxXx]

I'm in for more info as well. I was going to swap my L28ET into my 77 over winter, but I decided against it to keep the car in E-stock for next autocross season. This means anything I can do to squeeze a bit of power of out the stock motor withouth spending too much money on anything that can't be used on the 83 L28et. A wide band is on my shopping list. Besides advancing ignition timing, I'm not too sure what my options are.

 

skirkland, is BRAAP's sticky in a different forum, or is it no longer stickied?

[NewZed]

It's in the FAQs but easy to miss because it's in the "L Series" box at the top of the Powertrain page. Lots of other good stuff on the L series page.

 

Here's a link to BRAAP's tips - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/95316-braaps-l6-efi-induction-advice-and-tips/

[CaptainJoe87]

Awesome, thanks. I'm going to read through that as soon as I have some time.