Real low spark advance on start up

[JamesJ]

I heard someone talking about running 10 degrees at the 500 RPM point for start up, then in the next RPM column taking it up to normal advance. Does anyone do this? Supposedly makes start up much less stressful for the bearings.

This is on a SBC but the idea can translate to any engine.

[oestek]

Yep, it's called a spark retard or startup retard. Really helps high-compression engines to spin over freely. You can program digital ignitions to do this, or some MSD parts have this capability built in.