[TR] TR3A Distributor

[terryrs at comcast.net]

Shipswrong Disease.
My distributor is original to the car (it seems, anyway).  It's a DM2, and the points that I've been able to get didn't fit right.  Also, the top and bottom points plates were wildly loose in the center and wobbled badly.  So I sourced an upper/lower points plate for a 25D.  
Things started going squishy.
For starters, the new lower plate did not have the pronged mounts for the terminal bush (where the coil wire attaches). So to make things fit, I took the old bottom plate off my DM2 dizzy, attached it to the new 25D top plate, and was in business.  
When I took the plates off the dizzy, I inspected the centrifugal weights.  I should have known better.  If I hadn't seen the problem, it wouldn't have existed, right?  One of the weights had the spring completely broken and off.  Off I went to the hardware store, picked up some small light action springs, and manufactured replacements that let the weights swing easily, yet rebound.  At the same time, I cleaned and put tiny drops of oil on the action pins.
So two questions: 
After reassembly, I seem to lack power, and hear pinging I didn't hear before on acceleration.  I seem to have two courses of action that may be correct.  1) Do I simply advance the timing, thinking that the new top plate from the 25D is more retarded than the DM2?  ...Or 2) Do I need to order the $30 set of springs because the ones I manufactured don't have the right physical properties?
Terry Smith, '59 TR3A
New Hampshire