[Mike in NRN IN]

At the risk of being thrown under the bus. . . If I loosen the cam screw on the distributor and turn the cam, what direction do I have to rotate the cam to retard the timing?

I recently removed the upper plate to replace the wire and adjusted points/timing per Marco's page. I think the timing is too advanced - when I pull the spark control lever down past 1/2 way, the engine begins to misfire. I have re-timed it three times - with the same results. I'd like to loosen the cam and turn it ever so slightly to retard the timing and see if this makes a difference.

I know it's not the correct way, but I'd like to see if my theory is correct.