When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
You will gain absolutely nothing by changing from the stock ignition system to an aftermarket system.
I have posted this info here before, but it warrants an occasional re-hash. Bottom line: Buy, use and install whatever ignition system you are comfortable with tuning. Here is a re-post of an article I did not long ago:
What Distributor and Ignition System is "The Best" for my Street Car?
By Lars
The "best" distributor and ignition system to use is the one you're comfortable with setting up and tuning. Any two systems, set up with the same timing curve, will perform virtually the same on a mild street car. For a mild performance street-driven car, I also highly recommend getting one with vacuum advance, and there are many to choose from.
To demonstrate the equivalent performance from one system to another, I actually did dyno testing at Westech with Hot Rod Magazine several years ago. Here are the results that I've published here on the Forum before:
A few years ago, I did a bit of dyno testing at Westech Performance with Matt King, former Editor of Hot Rod Magazine. We tested several of the aftermarket capacitive discharge systems and top-end distributors against a plain ol' points-type distributor. The engine was a nice street-type 302 Ford putting out 370 horsepower. We tested ignition systems and distributors from Crane, MSD, and Mallory, making sure that each distributor had exactly the same centrifugal advance curve in it with the same total timing. Once these nice aftermarket systems were tested, we went out in the parking lot and pulled the stock points distributor out of Matt King's crap Falcon: We set it up with the same advance curve on Westech's distributor machine and dropped it in the 302 test engine. Results: There was no change in the engine's performance whatsoever at any point on the rpm curve. Absolutely none.
So here's the recommendation: Run whatever distributor you're comfortable with tuning and curving, and set it up with a good performance curve to match the needs of your engine. Whether this is a tach-drive points-type distributor, an HEI, or an MSD ProBillet is completely irrelevant as long as you can get it set up right. Buy something of good quality that is easily tunable, and make sure you run vacuum advance on any street-driven engine. Trigger boxes, amplifiers, huge coils, and fancy systems will not gain you anything on a moderate performance street engine - spend your time getting the curve and total timing set up right on whatever system you use - that's where the power is.
Here's Matt King (black shirt) and me setting up the points distributor from his Falcon in the 302 test engine to run head-to-head against the top-end capacitive discharge systems:
Notice that we even used the old crap wires out of Matt's Falcon for the testing:
Here's the same engine with one of the fancy aftermarket systems in it and some really nice red plug wires:
Famed Westech Dyno Operator Steve Brule (left) overseeing the testing:
Results: Absolutely no change in power whatsoever from one system to another, as long as the advance curve remained the same (note Matt King's astounded "I can't freakin believe it" expression):
Here is my own 407 that's in my '64 Roadster on the engine dyno. It puts out 500 hp with 500 ft/lbs torque. I run the stock tach drive distributor with a nice set of points and an aggressive advance curve which nails the optimum total timing for max power and performance. All you need is to get the curve right and the total timing right in a system you know how to tune. Everything else is fluff:
Running the additional benefit from vacuum advance (limited to 12 degrees) hooked up to manifold vacuum makes a huge difference in idle quality and engine operating temperature of this big-cammed, solid roller engine:
I thought my HEI dist was working properly.
My only complaint is that is only has 13* of advance in it.
I have to run 19* initial to get the 32* I need.
Is there a simple solution to get more initial advance?
The dyno guy said I need MSD for more than stk power.
I run MSD distributors because advance curve is Gerber food......foolproof to setup, and once it is setup, you know what you have, stab it in and go.
You can modify a distributor to do anything you want......but me personally, I just don't want to.....other things to do.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Originally Posted by Taijutsu
The dyno guy said I need MSD for more than stk power.
TIA
Complete nonsense - he has no idea what he's talking about.
If you have stock heads, you need at least 36 degrees total - not 32. If you have aftermarket aluminum heads, the 32 spec is fine.
Nothing wrong with running 19 initial (unless you're trying to pass an emissions test). Make sure your vacuum advance is limited to about 12 degrees so you end up with actual timing at idle of roughly 30-ish degrees.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
If you have the Trick Flow heads, you want to retain the 32 degree total timing spec and not advance it to 36. Your mechanical timing curve is good, and the ignition system you have is just fine for your application. Just check and limit your vacuum advance so it does not add any more than 12 more degrees. Most vacuum advance units will add anywhere from 17 to 22, which is too much for your setup.
MSD Dist and Ign?
This is very simple:
