Hey Bill -
I have briefly owned a 616 (I stole the trans and sold the engine to a friend with the body going to PnP) but I've been messing with my 617 for a while now (same engine, just 1 more cylinder). Perfection is NOT required with these tough ol' engines - close enough is good enough and they're not too fussy about minor timing issues and things of that sort. Remember that taxi drivers all across the third world keep these suckers running acceptably with a tire iron and aluminum cans. Sorry, but these guys won't run much different if you strive for perfection!

I have one of the fastest 617's in North America (223 RWHP, 129.6xxx mph, real data from a dyno and a race track) and I honestly don't know exactly what my cam timing is! I TRIED to resolve this but it was kicking my butt and race weekend was coming up so I threw it back together and it ran just fine.

So don' worry, be happy.......

Dan