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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 02:23 PM
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Does anyone have the MSD adjustable retard unit on their car? I was wondering if they work good? It seems like an ideal set up. Retard the timing for starting and driving around town and advance the timing for more power when needed.
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 02:28 PM
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A stock distributor does exactly the same thing..............
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 02:51 PM
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yet another high dollar solution to a nonexistant problem
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike Ward
A stock distributor does exactly the same thing..............
My car runs good with the timing advanced but street driving is a little rough. I can manually retarding the timing for a little better idle but saw the MSD unit that I can control from the dash board. Is this a good idea?

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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 05:26 PM
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If your set up with max timing all the time .. then yep that will work and what it is meant for. I am guessing you are cranking very hard after she warms up. I think it requires a MSD box like the 6AL ..

As to why you would want to change timing for driving i have no clue , but i do know some blown and other set ups run at 36 degrees 100% of the time . It is usually for a pure race motor though or a super powerful street / strip set up.
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 06:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike Ward
A stock distributor does exactly the same thing..............
Glad you said that. I got a stock HEI and compared it to my Corvette HEI. The weights and cam on top of the dist shaft were different. I did a quick measurement and had less centrifugal advance with the Corvette HEI verses a stock HEI. I changed the cam and weights and will try it out later. There is snow in our forecast for now.
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 07:27 PM
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Originally Posted by 68vetteman
Does anyone have the MSD adjustable retard unit on their car? I was wondering if they work good? It seems like an ideal set up. Retard the timing for starting and driving around town and advance the timing for more power when needed.
68 Vetteman
To retard the timing for starting, you can use a 5 pin GM hei module with a manual switch to the 5th leg to retard approx 10°.

FYI, Ford modules of that era automatically retard 10° internally for ease of starting. Must have been where they got the "better idea" slogan.
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Old Mar 24, 2013 | 08:58 PM
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run them in everything......especially good in nos applications
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