MSD Distributor

[flipscobra]

Has anyone bought a new MSD distributor,if so what advance springs did you change to an what bushing are you using.

[blykins]

For a light car like a Cobra, I would use the lightest springs to get the total in by about 2200 rpm. If it comes with the 21° bushing, you can just use it....set the total at around 36°.

[patrickt]

I run the light silver and blue combination, along with the silver bushing (25 degrees). I have 10 degrees initial, 35 degrees total. There's a shot of my curve below. It works very well, and the modest initial timing makes cranking easy.

[blykins]

Hey Patrick, post a high-res close-up of the end of your spark plug and I'll tell you how close you are.... ;-)

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by blykins

Hey Patrick, post a high-res close-up of the end of your spark plug and I'll tell you how close you are.... ;-)

I have one! But it's black and carbon fouled. When my idle bleeds clogged up a couple of weeks ago (before I spun my balancer apart...) I pulled them out and replaced them -- so the plugs in there now are almost brand new. In order to try and get my engine to idle I had to constantly pump the throttle and, of course, the accelerator pump was dumping raw fuel down the carb which fouled them up. Otherwise, I would happily post a hi-res shot of them. Light silver and blue is a reasonably popular combination. For an Edelbrock headed FE of my size, 35 degrees is pretty typical... maybe a degree or two more.

[FWB]

and your distributor doesn't look rusty anymore........

mines out and i just keep staring at it on the bench.........maybe it'll fall on the floor and break so i can buy something else.

[Gaz64]

Patrick,

I'd be lubricating that advance mechanism, red dust from dry pivots.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by FWB

and your distributor doesn't look rusty anymore........

mines out and i just keep staring at it on the bench.........maybe it'll fall on the floor and break so i can buy something else.

I spent some time on it with a little brass brush in my Dremel tool. I was going to do more to make it better, but........

Originally Posted by Gaz64

Patrick,

I'd be lubricating that advance mechanism, red dust from dry pivots.

I got side-tracked by my exploding harmonic balancer (well, it didn't explode, but it did come apart). I do need to do more work on it, that is true.

[elmariachi]

A word of advice. Start out by putting both heavy silver springs in, which will essentially lock out the advance at idle. Get your base timing and your carb idle set exactly like you want it, then come back and install the lighter springs. Otherwise the lighter springs let the distributor feed advance into the ignition around 950-1000 rpms and you may find yourself chasing your tail as the engine surges. Of course if you actually break it in on a dyno then your dyno guys will likely be on top of this.

[zrayr]

Originally Posted by Gaz64

Patrick,

I'd be lubricating that advance mechanism, red dust from dry pivots.

ha ha. most msd distributors have plenty of rust inside, so there is red dust everywhere, at least mine does. Lubrication can't hurt though.

Z.

[zrayr]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I run the light silver and blue combination, along with the silver bushing (25 degrees). I have 10 degrees initial, 35 degrees total. There's a shot of my curve below. It works very well, and the modest initial timing makes cranking easy............"

Many msd boxes have a start retard feature. I used my msd digital 6 box for five + years before I got the bright idea to try out the start retard . Wow. No more slow cranking a hot engine on summer days. It's amazing how fast the engine cranks when it's not fighting 12 + degrees BTDC of initial timing.

Z.

[flipscobra]

Thanks guy I will try that appreciate the info.

[Barry_R]

I'll use that real light spring for just that reason. It will crank with no advance but once fired the advance bumps higher for a better idle....