Ok - I have heard how much better Electronic Ignition is vs. Dual Point, but can anyone give me some figures?

The dyno on my new motor showed 480 ft torque pretty much all the way to 5700 rpm, with hp around 475. Both Tq and hp dropped off drastically after that. The engine builder will be testing various components today to see where we can improve performance.

He changed the carb (small increase) – then he is going to check electronic distributor, and then assess going from 370lb valve sprigs to 430lb springs..

I am kinda hoping it’s the distributor …although it will cost me money, I would assume that would also increase the hp and be less temperamental than the dual point. Also – I would prefer not going to the 430 lb springs with concern over excessive valvetrain wear on the hydraulic rollers.

 

430# springs will damage your hydraulic lifters. If you are experiencing valve float go with the AFR rev kit. It will add the pressure to the lifter body instead of the internals. Dual point distributors are finicky. I got rid of mine and went MSD. Best single mod I have done to the car.

 

Springs sound like overkill for a problem that is not in the springs. Could be ignition of fuel. Check your fuel pressure at WOT. Make sure it is not leaning out at the upper end.

 

Can't give you any figures; only that when spark energy is viewed on a scope, electronic displays all cylinders firing w/the same energy. Points are all different levels--no consistancy due to the mechanics of the points.

 

Before i dropped down $350 on a MSD with tach drive, i just converted my points over to electronic with a $99 kit. you can find this anywere. Then pluged in an MSD 6AL Box and a HD coil. The difference is very noticeable. Not only in higher RPM's but in overall driveability. Low rpm driving is better, startups are better, idling, and most important is the High RPM running past 5500 RPM.

I used this set up for almost 4 years before purchasing the MSD Billit Dist, I also used the same MSD 6AL box and coil.

Good Luck!

 

Sent you a PM and email wrc.

 

Well – maybe I have quoted the spring rates incorrectly – will verify. I thought about the conversion style distributor, but felt I hated to ruin a good distributor. I still need to assess whether a multiple spark box is required if I go the electronic route.

Fuel was hitting 14.0 at times, so we increased the fuel pump and then increased the jet sizes – I think the front 70 to 75 and rear 80 to 84. We also open the secondaries (butterfly) a tad. It ran better and only slightly touched higher 13’s at 5000+ rpm.

I am anxious to hear from them on the dyno today and feel really good about the work they have done. Will make a post when they are done with the numbers.

 

AFR screwed up and sent me my 210 heads with H-roller springs. I just had to remove them and buy correct solid roller. If your interested pm me.

AFR-8016
1.550 OD .750 ID seat 140# @ 1.930 open 365# @ 1.380 .600 max lift

Also points should have been throw away by the early 70's An Hei is all you really need. Well maybe an HEI with a better coil cap!

 

Will get back - as for the HEI - I know.....

 

when I got my car 7yrs ago The engine was a fresh 330hp sb. It had a Mallory dual point. It worked but I thought it was way to old technology so I looked at the petronix flametrower(real easy to install) but ended up getting a msd pro billit w/6a Module. It wasnt so difficult to set up because Lars had already posted some good timming and carb papers way back then, I used those to get it dialed in and didnt touch it again for 100k miles until now. Im installing a new 383 engine. Ill just fresh it up and possible adjust the advance curve settings and stick it into the new engine, I think its a bullit proof dist. for any engine Ill ever have. Very reliable, quick starts a cold or flodded engine, Real hot multple sparks at idle and low rpm's. Hasnt ever miss fired even at 5-6k rpm.
Theres lots of documentation in the archives on how to set it up.
Let us know what you end up doing...

 

Just back from a day at the engine builders - Wow - these guys are serious about giving me what my engine needs!

First they replaced my dual point with their own test MSD dsitributor. That helped and gave the entire Tq and HP a 10-12 point bump. But the Tq and HP still dropped off drastically after 5500.

The next change they made was to add an inner 2nd spring on the valves. They were 370# and adding the inner spring made it 420 ish. He noted that the initial spring lost 16lbs since installation, which he figured 10 was max acceptable. This corrected the drop off in the dyno. When the weaker springs were removed, you could see a 'star' style imprint on the top of the valve stem where the valve was rotating in place.

Afterwards, we tried 1:7 rockers in place of teh 1:8's. ALthough the torque increased the first 1000 rpm, it dropped below the previous corrected readings and wound up losing about 5 -8 hp and torque. Upon re-installing the 1:8's, we could see the new wear pattern on the end of the valve stem - a horizontal mark all in one spot.

I will have to re-visit the final results - I am thinking it was 493hp and 485 tq. I am happy with that - especially now being free to buy 93 octane.

I see now the affects of the heavier hydraulic lifters - but quite honestly, for drivability and the increae in hp I am getting - I am very happy. Especially on htat hot Houston summer night, when humidity is 99% and its still 95 degrees at 9p.m.