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Best small block vaccuum advance distributor

Posted By: hemienvy

Best small block vaccuum advance distributor - 10/25/18 03:11 AM

I know this is the race section, but....

I have 1979 D-100 truck with a 360. Cruises at 18-20 inches of
vaccuum on the freeway at about 2800RPM at 65mph, level road.
Motor is very mild and fairly new, in good shape. Nice truck.

But, I'm only getting 9-10 MPG. At that manifold vaccuum, you
would think there's not a lot of parasitic drag, binding, etc.
Also, coolant temp is stable and not out of hand.

The timing marks on the dampener are very hard to read, and,
I do not know for SURE if the TDC mark is really at piston TDC.
I realize I do need to nail this down...

I can't get a handle on the ignition timing. It has an MSD-6A
and some kind of Mopar distributor with vaccuum advance.
I'm wondering if I should buy a second distributor and have
a shop set up a specific advance curve, vaccuum + centrifugal,
something known at least.

If I buy another distributor, what's a good quality one ?
Maybe the MSD #8388 ? Another Mopar piece ?

I know I should look at the carb too (625 Edelbrock), but it
is in good shape and not weirdly jetted or anything. Really
there are no odd drivability issues.
Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: Best small block vaccuum advance distributor - 10/25/18 03:29 PM

No issue on the "race" section (they're pretty loose on that). I'm wondering if your gears are a bit low for highway driving (do you do alot of highway driving?) but changing gears ain't practical. Keep your present dist & tune it yourself. YES you need to find the timing marks/change the timing curve. What is keeping you from accessing the timing marks? You might even need to make a new pointer on the other side or underneath the dampener at 6 0'clock which you would need to get a $10 piston stop or make one out of a spark plug for that. Quick & dirty on the timing: set the initial to 20 & limit the total to 35 (with vac adv capped just for these 2 settings) with the FBO $22 plate (by far the best bang for the buck for this hands down). If you ain't pinging you are OK on the high end. basic compression test wouldn't hurt but I think you are OK there & dampener slipping does happen but is rare. Short version: bump & alter timing/strip kit for the carb. Holler how it goes & we'll continue on further.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Best small block vaccuum advance distributor - 10/25/18 04:37 PM

FBO guy is really really good--will set it up so you drop in set it forget it
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