Hi all, any hints for remove that pesky "circlipish" thingambob that is located inside the top of the reluctor? I gave it a passing fiddle and realized that I need Zen like calm and nimble fingers to make this come out nicely. Might help to trade in my eyeballs for a 20 year olds too. Anyway, I am trying two small screwdrivers but that thing is tough to hold still...next stop might be some long needle nose pliars, etc.

Looking for some advice on this on--any tried and true tips?

Looking to swap out the advance springs this week...

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Slanted D150

I used needle nose pliers.....

Got a bit tweaked, but I rebent it back into shape when reinstalling......

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Those work, as well as the bent nosed variety (like forceps)...

-D.Idiot

Got it out...
Thanks, needle nose pliers worked

So, 15R governor and 8.5R vacuum advance can--thoughts on this in a truck? I was on the road today and spent 15 minutes yanking a distributor out of a Dart. Strikes me that this stuff might be ok in a truck...Note that I am cleaning up the MOPAR super fast advance kit...

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Slanted D150

I used a little flat head screwdriver to hold it in place then a sharp almost like dentist scraper pick that came with my tool set to get under the clip and shimmy it out.
Kev

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Is this truck a hauler 8' bed or 3/4 ton or a play truck like a short box?

How heavy is the truck?

Automatic?

3 speed?

4 speed?

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Ted,

It is a 1982 half ton D150, 4 speed (A833 O/D Miser with a 3.56:1 rear end). First is 3.09, forgot what 2nd is, 3rd is 1, and I think O/D is 0.73:1 or so. I Super Sixed it and I have a Weber 32/36 DGEV two barrel on it. I junked the wretched Lean Burn (the mice made nests of most of the wiring and vacuum hoses). I installed a MOPAR Orange Box ignition kit and associated distributor (this was before I found this web site).

The electronic distributor that I put into had what appears to be a normal long looped heavy spring and a light spring, the vacuum advance can was unlabled (grrrrrrr), and the mechanical advance governor was a 9R. The performance with this stuff was not what I was hoping for so I read everything you guys wrote on recurving and made a trip out to a wrecking yard and grabbed a distributor out of a 4 door Dart (no trucks with Slants sadly). Anyway, the springs in the Dart dizzy looked exactly like the ones in the refurbished dizzy, but I swapped them anyway. The Dart governor was a 15R which I also replaced into the truck. Finally, I swapped out the unknown vacuum advance can for the 8.5R can from the Dart.

Performance is noticeably better--I think it is the governor that did that. I have my timing set at 16 BTDC--I romped on it and it pulls strong all the way (even in O/D at 70 plus mph). No pinging noticed--please note that I DID recently dump some octane boost/gasoline funk cleaner in it so that might have helped. I doubt it though, at 8.4:1 compression getting it to ping might take some work! I have been running fuel cleaners about every 3 months or so since the truck sat on a farm for 15 years and never moved. I think after 18 months any nasty varnish goo is probably gone by now.

So, short list, here is what I currently have in the distributor:

15R mechanical advance governor, 8.5R vacuum advance can, "normal" heavy looped spring, "normal" light spring.

Truck hauls stuff up to vehicle weight limit. A-833 O/D transmission with 3.56 rear end, Weber 32/36 DGEV two barrel on a Super Six manifold, EGR is disconnected but not blocked off in any way.

Performance is good with the new distributor curve, no bogs or flat spots. I wonder if I am at the limit of what a stock motor feels like. I suspect a larger exhaust will help as well as a numerically higher gear ratio. I am really looking for some advice on the recurving--never dug into that in my ill informed "motor heading youth" days. Aside from junkyards is there a decent source for stuff like vacuum cans and advance springs? A distributor manchine would be a fun addition to my already silly collection of stuff--I remember those big red Sun machines when I was a kid in the 1960's, seemed like every garage had one.

Anyway, thanks for your help--you guys are a great resource! Any idea on how you figure out what the advance is on an unlabeled vacuum advance can is? I like the idea of shaving the head but it sounds like that might be an issue with hydraulic lifters (shorter pushrods needed, etc?)...

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Slanted D150

tirol,

That is not a bad set up. Sounds like a nice truck!

One of the key points in setting up for the most punch is to be sure that when you plug in the ported distributor line into the can is that there is no change in rpm. If there is, then you left some advance on the table. To get that back, you need to rotate a 3/32 allen wrench in the snout of the can to the left one or two or three turns to where there is no change in idle speed. Try to set your idle to at 750 rpm, no higher, if you can go lower great. Mine idles at 16.5 " of vacuum in gear at 600 rpm. At this point you will have maximum advance back and should have plenty of punch.

To fine tune the springs you can rotate the spring post on the primary (light spring) to max length and shorten the spring post on the heavy looped spring. That will ensure you that the weights will stay in and not partially extended at idle. Big block distributors have a longer looped spring and a stiffer primary spring. That is what I am using and it provides maximum punch. On the heavy looped side it buys you a little more advance.

I have seen three different long looped MOPAR springs so far and 3 different MOPAR primary springs. You can't buy them any more but you can collect them from old 340, 400 and 440 distributors. You really don't want the light Mr. Gasket or MOPAR springs. They are fun to try for a few days but you will soon get tired of burning rubber and want a better tailored curve to suit your needs for mileage, cruising or hauling.

Give that a try and see how it feels. If you are still looking for more mileage, install a 11R Can, VC-208. It will provide another 22 degrees on top.

Seafoam is great for cleaning out the tank, lines carb, head and valves.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Ahhh, I do have some of the advance apparently available yet. Have to fiddle with the vacuum can adjustment. Great information--these tips are hard earned and are well appreciated. I will tweak the truck in a week or so, off to get some new paint on it. $3500 for paint on a almost straight and rust free truck! Tons of labor on painting a rig--I will post some before and after pictures on it. It should look good... This was my Grandfather's only new truck so I want to preserve it for my son in about 11 years.

FYI, I did the Seafoam thing a while ago--wow, clouds of smoke when you dribble that stuff in the carb.

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Slanted D150

Just add a can to the tank every 3 months or so. It really is a good product.

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Aggressive Ted

http://cid-32f1e50ddb40a03c.photos.live ... %20Swinger


74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

That distributor clip is sort of like a c clip in that you don't compress it to remove it, you need to spread it apart and then lift it out. If you have a cheapy set of needle nose pliers you can grind a couple small grooves into them to capture the wire part of the clip.

Sixpac, good idea on modfying those pliers--I do have an assortment of cheap Chinese needle noses that would be perfectly suited for this--thanks...

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Slanted D150