well for the fuel question 4 gallons of 89 regular to 1 gallon of Sunoco 112 octane which I ran in the last several engines and had good luck. I do agree that one engine against another is not a good benchmark, I guess I should say I've been racing in this same class for 14 years and have been through several motors but never this particular problem and I have no way to measure E.G.T.s as no telemetry besides tach, oil, and water allowed but the pipes actually melted the paint off the floorboard directly above them and burned my foot/leg and have never had that. the timing light is a little older digital MAC light so it could be off? I think I'll try backing off the timing this weekend and see what happens?