Quote Originally Posted by NegativeZero View Post
My strategy largely reliant on looking at what other's did on the internet and adjusting it until I didn't hear any knock anymore. I do have a timing light, but this is why I am planning on going to a tuner since I'm not at all familiar with this.
You may have just found the problem! With the engine warmed up and running at idle unhook the vacuum line to your distributor and plug the hose (pencil or golf tee work good). With the engine at idle adjust the distributor position to your base timing with your timing light - I would start at 12 degrees before TDC for your SBC, tighten the distributor hold down bolt and recheck to be sure it didn't shift with tightening. You can rev the engine a bit to see with your timing light that the mechanical advance is working, then hook up your vacuum line and you're good to go.