thanks guys for the reply..

the mechanic that had done the overhaul for me told me that the timing had been adjusted way higher than the recomended factory idle rpm...he said mine's running at 1000 or 1100 rpm at idle which i think its too high...btw, my car doesnt have a tachometer..thats a huge disadvantage..the recomended idle rpm is around 600-700 rpm according to the owners manual. the mechanic said because the engine is older, if set at this rpm the car will be harder to start?

im already using RON97 petrol, what else could be better?

any other synptom whereby i can know the vacuum advance system in the distributor isnt working?

thanks in advance