engine and drivetrain Dizzy over distributors... ID and parts availability?

[jerry]

i did the search and learned a fair bit more in the process..

My Specs:

292 schrick cam,

9.4 CR bathtub pistons on a used engine (recently returned from mothballs)

Weber 38/38 with jetting from a post on this forum

Bosch Distributor (bought used at Brisbane $4.00) with points and condenser

set the valves to 0.008in cold.

set timing with light at around 1000RPM, timing ball dances a bit (worn dizzy?)

used vacuum gage and tachometer while adjusting idle/air

car starts right up, idles nicely, seems to respond well at all RPM's, but diesels slightly upon shutdown.

i'm thinking i have a timing issue because of the dieseling but i'm not happy with my ability to get the timing light on the flywheel ball.

looking through my stash, i was surprised at how many vac-advanced distributors i've collected.

i'm currently running

0 231 115 071, JFUR4

I have the following distributors on hand

0 231 180 008, JFUD4, (for automatics, apparently)

0 231 115 081, JFUR4

0 231 176 084, JFU 4 (vac adv&retard, 76 '02, apparently)

0 231 115 045, JFUR4 (cast iron, early style)

0 231 176 059, JFU 4 (vac adv&retard)

I'm thinking of sending 1 or 2 of these to Advanced Distributors for rebuilding. I just don't know which??

i'd love to use the old style cast iron one, but i'm concerned about parts availability for the rotor, cap, condensor and points

i know some condensors have a round mount pad while others have a square mount pad and the caps have different recesses which prevent them from fitting on some distributors.

are there parts issues with any of these? any comments on the distributors listed? any other info?

thanks in advance (pun intended)

[TobyB]

Couple things to try-

higher octane fuel.

retarding timing just a bit.

other distributors- you might find that something works

better than the others. There was science to it once,

but after 40 years, they're probably all 'worn to fit'.

And if that fails, call them first and see what they say!

I too have a boxful, and found that the one that works best wasn't what

I thought it'd be...

t

[ray_]

And... lower yer idle.

;-)

Cheers,

Ray

[Guest Anonymous]

If you set the timing with the ball at 1000 rpm you are too far advanced. The ball is at 25 degrees. Set the timing at 32 degrees at full advance (rpms over about 3200).

[duckdudess]

A couple of things:

Advanced Distributors rebuilt a Tii (mechanical advance) for me and it came back as new. They also installed a Pertronix points replacement which also works well with the red coil/ballast resistor set up in the car. I would highly recommend them.

On timing, I used a different method to find the best advance. The goal (for me) was to set the advance to maximize engine performance. Engine performance was determined by the fastest time between 2 fixed RPM values. The theory is that if the car goes fastest when the timing is optimized. The method used was to find a flat stretch of road, put the car in 3rd gear, and determine the time it took to go from 45 mph to 65 mph (or so). Going back over the same stretch of road, advancing and retarding the distributor as the elapsed time was measured allowed me to dial into the best setting for the distributor. This was obviously done at full advance because of the RPM test range and when I then put the adjustable timing light on the ball, I discovered what the timing was. In my case it was approximately 34 degrees.

So, this process assumes you have a reliable source of fuel that delivers the same octane for which you dialed in your motor. I discovered the importance of this when I bought premium fuel from a truck stop and ended up with serious pinging problems.