Stan:
Let me say from the outset that I have never tried this
personally, so this is ground breaking science for me. I have never
heard of a reason why this idea should not work, and in fact it seems to
me to be a real improvement. A vacuum advance is a significant economy
device, and you should see your mileage at cruise go up very noticeably.
The vacuum retard is an emissions device, and you can pat
yourself on the back for being so green minded.
The problem you describe can happen on the regular "retard only"
distributor as well, and the solution is very simple. Remove the
distributor and look down into the opening. You will see a gear with a
slot in the middle. Using a magnet or other suitable tool, lift the gear
up out of the engine just enough to clear the camshaft. Rotate the gear
in the direction you need the tach cable to go, and do so just one tooth
to start with. Lower the gear back into the engine.
Note that the gear is a helical gear, so it will rotate on it's
own as you lift it and lower it. Don't let that confuse you. Once it is
clear of the cam, rotate it one tooth in the desired direction and lower
it back. Now reinstall the dizzy and check the cable fit. Repeat as
needed until the cable is in the correct position.
Note that the slot in the gear drives the dizzy, and it is
asymmetric. That is, the dizzy will fit into the gear only one way, this
is to keep people from installing the dizzy rotor 180 degrees out of
phase. The engine doesn't like this when it happens =:-o I mention this
in case you lose the correct orientation of the gear, and then you
wonder why everything fits together so oddly and the engine won't run.
This should get the dizzy aligned properly for you. I applaud
your adventurous inclination, and I think you will be rewarded with just
a little more patience. You can get all the TR6 owners to say "gee-whiz"
at the next field meet, too.
Cheers,
Vance
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Foster, Stan
Sent: July 15, 2005 6:29 AM
To: 6pack@autox.team.net
Subject: Early distrubtor on later carb engines
<snip>
I finally got around to trying this early distributor out and the
experiment failed miserably. First I had to rotate the distributor body
clockwise more than was reasonable to get the engine to idle with 4
degree ATDC timing (advance disconnected). The distributor rotation was
such that the tachometer cable barely connected and it was clearly not
right. Even with the correct timing at idle the engine ran poorly, so
poorly I didn't even venture out of the garage.
Questions:
1. Am I wasting my time because there is no compelling advantage in the
vacuum advance and I should should stick with my original dizzy?
2. If I'm not wasting my time, has anyone done this successfully?
Thanks,
Stan
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