Timing question
 

Hey guys,
Quick question. recantly bought a 99 shabah 212 5.7 with a 2 brl carb that the engine had been replaced in. it has a 17 pitch prob and only runs 35 mph at 3500 rpm WOT on the lake with 3 normal sized people in it. some friends with simalar set ups are getting low 50s out of there boats so i started doing some looking around. i have not found a mis in it yet but i did notice the #1 plug on the dist cap is pointed all the way back at the #7 cylinder leading me to believe it has been twisted counter clock wise as far as it will go or the dist was possibly put in a tooth off. I was dooing some research on the timing and read i need to ground the purple and white wire to put the ignition into "base timeing mode" to set the timing. my question is about this wire? Mainly what does it do and mostly where does it come from and where does it go? thanks for any help.

Re: Timing question
 

It's the electronic version of unhooking the vacuum advance on an older distributor. It takes everything out of play so you can get an accurate reading @idle.

Re: Timing question
 

Thanks Husker. I got it set set and found 3 fouled plugs now she is running like a champ!!! For futrue ref on my engine the puple and white wire runs thru the harness on top of the engine betweent the starboard valve cover and intake manifold and is haning out of the harness near the front of the engine on that same side.