PSA: The old shop manual for my '78 Ford pickup was wrong about the timing spec

Last week in my garage, I set it to 12 degrees like the book said and it ran rough, but a guy at the parts counter told me to try 8. Has anyone else found factory specs that just don't work anymore?

2 comments

2 Comments

anderson.sandra12d ago

Could be the fuel quality changed since the manual was printed. Modern gas burns different than the leaded stuff from the 70s, so the old timing numbers might not line up right anymore.

stellabennett12d ago

Yeah the "factory specs that just don't work" thing is EVERYWHERE now. It's like all the old rules for stuff, from cars to recipes, are just slightly off. Makes you wonder what else we're still following that's just plain wrong.