OK, I like to know where my timing is with all the advance in. The Mopar Performance book says to set total advance at 30* on a slant 6. Is this what works for you normal aspirated, gas (carb) guys? The Mopar Performance book is usually pretty good about these things but I thought I would check with some guys who race, just to see if anything has changed.
I plan to put a mark on my balancer for this once I verify 0* @ TDC.

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

For NA motors, I would not go higher than 32 deg, and 27-30 deg (w/full mech advance) is usually where my cars make best power and drive best. Make sure to shorted the advance weight slots to get 10-17 deg at idle (more for bigger cam, 10 for small or stock cam).

My 2 cents...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Good to know. I'll be going back into the distributor soon. I had already swapped advance springs (swapped out the heavy one). Do you guys still run with the vacuum advance? I still have that connected.

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

For any kind of street motor, you want vac advance. No negatives for power and >10% better gas mileage.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

There are a few big things that really wake up the slant...timing curve is one of them...

This is a tedious process, especially with a new build where you have changed the compression and you have to map your mechanical and vacuum advance....

The rules of thumb as Lou noted are as follows:

30 degrees max of mechanical advance (32 max if it's a mileage build)
and total of 47-52 degrees max with vacuum advance.

The 225 also likes a fair amount of initial.

If you are building toward a 9:1 SCR engine for street (mild build), depending on the cam selection you will curve toward the 30-32, and 50-52 total.....

If you are 10:1-11:1 SCR you will shoot for 28-30 and total of 47...

If you are looking at a Turbo, then your total is going to be closer to 18..

To get more initial out of the recurve you will need to get ahold of the 1978-1980 super six distributor with the 9R governor, or a MP 10R governed distributor... ( or weld up the slots to limit the mech. advance).

If you have a heavy vehicle and/or and automatic then the curve has to be a little slower than if you have a manual transmission...

Hopefully you are using an EI distributor so you can use the adjustable pegs to adjust the curve as needed, stock points distributors up to 1971 do not have this capability...(EI also pays dividends by itaself...)

It's more race than street, but I plan to leave it connected. I figure it might help drivability to the track and back. Just wondering what my fellow racers are doing.

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

True 100% racers are installing a ESC distributor or welding the pegs to the slots leaving the timing locked where it runs best between 16-30 BTDC...

This will not drive on the street... providing timing for street/strip is very tricky... if you do dial it in, the vacc. advance should be disconnected and plugged when you get to the track...

Definitely has electronic ignition. I have a 79 super six distributor available. What makes that one so special?

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

It has a very nice 9R governor, making it easy to modify without welding anything up... If you have done things correctly that distributor should run like this:

12 BTDC Initial
18 degrees mechanical advance (all in by 3-400 rpm above your highway cruise rpm)
VC-184/185 for vacuum pod

I have had no problems running that combination street or strip in my duster 5-6200 rpm, 3200 lbs. , 10.3-12:1 SCR....

Forgive me, but what is the Governor? Is this the assembly with the springs and weights? (If so, I didn't realize it had a name).

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-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

The top part of that assembly, it has the plate with the slots that the weight pegs move within to determine the amount of advance that part will impart on the rotor... If you remove the circular clip from the inside the cylindrical section of the governor you can remove it from the assembly to make spring changes easier, and make sure it is cleaned and lubed properly.

Interesting. In my neck of the woods, we never really referred to the distributor mechanical advance assembly except by individual piece names, weights, springs, etc.
Anyway, I just wanted to be certain we were talking about the same thing.
Good times...

_________________
-MattMan
LEANED & MEAN

I found these two stories in MoparMax.com that fit this thread very well.

Part I
http://www.moparmax.com/tech/2015/x_11- ... ing-1.html

Part II
http://www.moparmax.com/tech/2015/x_12- ... t-2-1.html

Just some ideas

The article isn't too bad...lots of good information, there is some information that would have been pertinent to the data being culled, and the author didn't leave a lot of info for the DIY to make accurate picks for vacuum advance pods for the guys he just instructed to go out and mess with their distributor... (not to mention their is a bit of difference in flow and jetting of the 1920 Holley vs. the 1945 Holley...)

I am also curious about the engine builds as they also will change how the distributor is curved (i.e the 1967 may have a dime spot head which may add to detonation vs.the 1975 BL head which has the 1968+ combustion chamber)...

I see in his spring pictures he opted for the semi-linear set of springs, which works but there are other ways to skin that cat....