New distributor needed

Who makes the best electronic ignition distributor that has a feature that I can set my total advance. I need more initial timing but less total in this combination.

I would suggest haveing your welder weld up/shorten the slots in the cam plate then file em open to get the amt you want & there's the FBO plate tho people have complained that the too large center hole lets the plate shift changing the amt (no opinion/exp with that) & the hole ID could be reduced. If you have an early 70's (non Mallory based) dist that is what I would do. For a recommendation for a dist here is a BTT for ya.

I use a MSD dist and bought this.
https://www.ebay.com/i/222896913875

The last generation MP distributor was a good design with the plastic keys for setting advance. That design had a lot of adjustability but you had to take it all apart to make changes. The MSD pro billet has some adjustability but not a ton. Out of the box it is limited to 16 degrees of advance so you can run 20 initial and 36 total. I eventually gave up on mechanical distributors and switched to digital just because of these issues.

The one distributor I'd love to have was the short-lived Crane model that had a programmable vacuum advance feature. I went into sticker shock when they first came out, and by the time I was willing to consider one seriously, Crane was in major financial trouble and that series of their distributor line got the axe. Never found one listed anywhere since then, so it's possible there were none actually produced, either.

http://4secondsflat.com/Mopar%20Mechanical%20timing%20limiter%20plate.htm

simple 25 dollar fix.....

Firecore dist have adjustable plates. You do not need to take apart dist to adjust. You would need to take it apart if you wanted to change springs. Msd dist are crap

Andy I was under the impression that there was a flaw in those Mallory based ones that was a pain (maybe something Ehrenberg said). Am I off base on that? If it is just that you gotta dig into em to rework em, well that's what we do.

My fire core didn't last a season before it was junk. I'd go msd.

So what went bad on it?

I never had any problems with my MSD dist. It has been on my car for 10 years.

The plate for the mechanical advance broke. It advanced the timing even though it was locked out.

I agree ---- I went through 3 of them. Go MSD!!!!

The Firecores are adjustable. I like that feature as the Hemi doesn't like a lot of advance...Its tough if you want to make precision adjustments...

And for the record, my Firecore coil quit in less than a year...The distributor is still going though.

On my 512 I wanted vac advance for street use. Had a Firecore which was OK but didn't have vac.
Went with an FBO-reworked MP distributor with their plate in it & set for 20 initial, 36 total.
Perfect, lit right off cold or warm, zero issues, spot on.

Thanks guys. This is the kind of info I need. Anyone used the complete FBO distributor they sell?

Do you think they could set one up for say 23 initial and 31 total? My car likes all the timing it can get at an idle...I tried a locked distributor with a retard...it never worked on the first try...Was going to break a starter or worse.

Ok, here is the trick. On the mopar, fbo or firecore dist. Take dist apart. Run just one light spring. One. Not 2. Set up your timing wherever it starts best. As soon as it fires it will go full advance. You cant do this trick on the msd's unless you do some work to hold the weights because they are held in place by the springs( that will eventually rust away, lol)

I have run a fbo dist and box years ago. Worked great. Never a problem. Went 10.50s at over 3700lbs and drove the car all the time. Hpwever, when I finally put a msd 6 on my car, there was a noticeably better idle, air fuel went leaner under 3000 rpm which told me that those boxes really work

I was looking at those last night (the new HR-series billet ones, not the Pertronix or earlier cast-body FBO deals) and was going to ask the same question.

I talked to Don at FBO yesterday and he is very knowledgeable. I ordered a complete distributor package from him. Should be here in a week or two. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Please do. I have a 383 in the shop with an MP dist & Rev-n-nator box, and it seems a weird setup.
Wants a ton of advance + vac down low for throttle response, and retarding with no vac adv over about 2500 on the road to prevent detonation.

Did you get his billet one? or a Mopar style? I'm curious about the billet one, if it uses Mopar guts or Mallory guts, or something else.

There are picture of the billet versions' "guts" on the FBO web page HERE.

sounds like my customers car.

Those are some nice pieces.

I thought so, too. But I don't "need" a new distributor to try out vacuum advance with the parts I have on hand and can't justify purchasing one.