"Matt Whiting" wrote

How so?

Whem I was much younger, an all cars had points and condensers, I would do
my own tune-ups.

Sometimes the timing would need to be adjusted. How to do it, if you did
not have a timing light handy?

I would loosen the distributor bolt, until it was tight enough to move by
hand, but not so loose that it would not vibrate around. After that, I
would get the engine warmed up, and take it out on the road, and punch it.
It was not so obvious if the timing was retarded a bit, until it was really
retarded. It was _quite_ obvious when it was too far advanced, as would not
have much power, and would knock like crazy.

That a good enough answer?
--
Jim in NC