Most likely you're going to have to change the dist gear. Give your engine builder or cam provider a call with your cam part# and information. They will tell you what dist gear to run. Don't guess, don't let people tell you that they are all the same for certain years or for certain cams. This is one of the areas when aftermarket parts are installed that things get a bit complicated, but your engine builder along with the cam provider will set you straight.

Raymond_B wrote:

Most likely you're going to have to change the dist gear. Give your engine builder or cam provider a call with your cam part# and information. They will tell you what dist gear to run. Don't guess, don't let people tell you that they are all the same for certain years or for certain cams. This is one of the areas when aftermarket parts are installed that things get a bit complicated, but your engine builder along with the cam provider will set you straight.

Its a steel gear.

John Ha wrote:

I've had really good luck with the remanufactured CARDONE units.  I've run them on 3 different engines and they've always been very reliable.  I normally got mine from O'Reilly's but I'm not sure they sell them any longer.  Rock Auto does though.

BTW, I think CARDONE sells a line of new distributors as well.  Some have reported issues with those (cap fitment is the most frequent one I've seen) so my recommendation is to get a remanufactured one, not a new one.

The one that is on it now has a cap fitment  issue and I am thinking I may have got it at Rock Auto.  the ones on LMR.com seem to be pretty good. They are 89.99 for the 1985 dist with steel gear for manual trans.

 

BILLY WALTON from GEORGIA wrote:

The one that is on it now has a cap fitment  issue and I am thinking I may have got it at Rock Auto.  the ones on LMR.com seem to be pretty good. They are 89.99 for the 1985 dist with steel gear for manual trans.

Just an FYI, all of the CARDONE remanufactured units I've gotten have had FORD casting numbers inside them.  So they were, at one time, original Ford units.

BILLY WALTON from GEORGIA wrote:

Good to know I could look at it at parts store before purchase
 

They've been under the breaker plate, and under the plate that holds the weights.  So you'll have to do some disassembly to see them.   EDIT TO ADD:  Silly me - you could also look at the vacuum advance.  In the photo it has "Motorcraft" cast into the housing.
find duplicates in csv online

Last edited by John Ha (3/19/2025 9:37 AM)

6sally6 wrote:

BILLY WALTON from GEORGIA wrote:

Raymond_B wrote:

Most likely you're going to have to change the dist gear. Give your engine builder or cam provider a call with your cam part# and information. They will tell you what dist gear to run. Don't guess, don't let people tell you that they are all the same for certain years or for certain cams. This is one of the areas when aftermarket parts are installed that things get a bit complicated, but your engine builder along with the cam provider will set you straight.

Its a steel gear.

YOU SURE...??!
BET YOUR MOW-DER ON IT SURE...??!
It's dat impotent..
6sally6
 

yes I have had 2 differet ones in it so far. The Petronix distributor and new coil is laying on passenger seat in a box and the Distributor that is in it now also has a steel gear but for some reason my friend that put it in has it set at 36 and no vaccum like a race car and I dont feel like that is best to run it like that. It seems to run out strong down the road but it is hard to crank and driving around at slower ssppeds sux.
 

Following up what BobE said, there are a couple of places you can send your distributor to get the advance curve set up to match your engine.  One is Dan at the Mustang Barn.  I sent him the distributor for my 250 after I'd messed around with it for a few months trying to get it right, and I'm very pleased with how it works now. 

The other fellow that does it is on fordsix.com.  His screen name is wsa111, his company is Ambler Racing.  I have no personal experience with his work.

Last edited by John Ha (3/19/2025 9:35 AM)

John Ha wrote:

Following up what BobE said, there are a couple of places you can send your distributor to get the advance curve set up to match your engine.  One is Dan at the Mustang Barn.  I sent him the distributor for my 250 after I'd messed around with it for a few months trying to get it right, and I'm very pleased with how it works now. 

The other fellow that does it is on fordsix.com.  His screen name is wsa111, his company is Ambler Racing.  I have no personal experience with his work.

I messaged Dan at the Mustang Barn and he said they use a Old Sun machine which I looked up and I remember seeing these machines in shops when I was a kid. Found a few videos of people still using them.
Adjusting a Distributor on a vintage Sun Distributor tester
 

BILLY WALTON from GEORGIA wrote:

John Ha wrote:

Following up what BobE said, there are a couple of places you can send your distributor to get the advance curve set up to match your engine.  One is Dan at the Mustang Barn.  I sent him the distributor for my 250 after I'd messed around with it for a few months trying to get it right, and I'm very pleased with how it works now. 

The other fellow that does it is on fordsix.com.  His screen name is wsa111, his company is Ambler Racing.  I have no personal experience with his work.

I messaged Dan at the Mustang Barn and he said they use a Old Sun machine which I looked up and I remember seeing these machines in shops when I was a kid. Found a few videos of people still using them.
Adjusting a Distributor on a vintage Sun Distributor tester
 

That Sun machine would be great to use.  Knowing what the optimum advance rate for an individual’s car is the critical part.  For most of us this becomes a trail and error exercise.  Including re-tuning the carburetor, and vacuum advance (if equipped) which each change.
The MSD distributor I have came with six springs of different values which gave me multiple combinations of springs to try, which I did until I found the best combination that worked for me.  MSD did provide a chart that indicated each combination of springs impact the rate of advance change.