========================= DISTRIBUTOR =======================
I posted this back in November, but got no response at the
time. Although I hate reruns as much as anyone else, I'm still
curious to know if anyone has any thoughts concerning the
following:
Last fall, a friend of mine came to me with his 1960 MGA 1600.
The engine is freshly rebuilt to pretty much stock specs, but
it was running very poorly. To make a long story short, I
discovered the distributor was on its last legs aside from
being loose; indeed, it packed up solid (YES, SEIZED!) in my
driveway.
Needing to get him going (car had no top, the other reason he
had come over to begin with, and it was about to storm) I
grabbed the nearest spare distributor I had. It's from an early
Triumph Herald 1200. It worked and, to my surprise, the car
felt very strong, with no obvious flat spots or other
hesitation -- this with 20-year-old+ points and by-ear timing.
The question: I know that, compared to the MGA distributor, the
Herald dist. has less initial advance, starting at higher RPM,
and less total advance, occurring at lower total RPM. Is this
likely to have a deleterious effect on the engine short term or
long term? Should I try to switch over the weights, springs,
etc. from the old MGA dist. if I can get it apart?
I can supply exact advance specs if it would help anyone's
educated guesses. What do you think? Should I leave well enough
alone? (Heck, the guy DID pay me for the distributor!)
Andy Mace
<amace%sedofis@vm1.nysed.gov>
*Carburetor is a French word meaning 'leave it alone'.* -- Dick
O'Kane
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