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Shortening springs is not to delay curve but to stop erratic advance at tickover, or at least thats the way i see it
Martin6, yes agree the full advance position is more important in reality. Essentially controlling fuel burn at maximum duress and load is much more important than idle control.Retarded position is just to facilitate easy starting and tickover speed control by retracted timing for convenience really. Can't really see a problem with early advanced curve though, assuming no pinking, as it will improve engine torque generally if you can get it advanced as soon as possible. I dont know why there's advice floating around to delay the advance curve by shorter springs, seems undesirable to me. Competent control of retard to ensure even tickover, yes. But other than that there's no reason to restrain in reality.Ideally, whichever method of initial setup, then maximum advance should be checked and verified as correct as good general practice.