6sally6 wrote:

Hi-torque starter ???
ABSOLUTELY SURE....you have plenty of grounds ?( starter to block/engine to body/badd-dree to frame(ish) subframe/unibody...CLEAN ..SHINEY metal ?)
Biggest CCA badd-dree that will fit
I made a switch to interrupt power to the distrib....let the starter spin the engine.... THEN flip switch to energize distrib.
(Race cars use them I just can't think of the name) I use this ON THE RARE occasion the engine is hot and the weather is hot and the starter struggles to spin...like once in a blue moon.
Did you use 'light springs' in the distrib?
LOCK OUT the total timing to 36-38 degrees?
What kinda heads do you have? (real efficient heads like AFR don't NEED lotsa total timing)
You can decide just how much total timing by driving the car to see how it performs....
Sounds pretty sweet ...(gets the Ol'Sal seal of approval !!)
6sally6

Its a high torque starter with 2 grounds to the engine to frame.
We didn't change any springs in the distributor.
We capped the vacuum canister and carburetor when we did the timing.  Is that lock out?
Trick flow heads.
It fires up ok warm when the initial time is 5 degrees and 15 degrees of total timing.  Doesn't seem to run as well and the throttle response not as crisp. 

Thanks
Steve

 

Steve69 wrote:

6sally6 wrote:

Hi-torque starter ???
ABSOLUTELY SURE....you have plenty of grounds ?( starter to block/engine to body/badd-dree to frame(ish) subframe/unibody...CLEAN ..SHINEY metal ?)
Biggest CCA badd-dree that will fit
I made a switch to interrupt power to the distrib....let the starter spin the engine.... THEN flip switch to energize distrib.
(Race cars use them I just can't think of the name) I use this ON THE RARE occasion the engine is hot and the weather is hot and the starter struggles to spin...like once in a blue moon.
Did you use 'light springs' in the distrib?
LOCK OUT the total timing to 36-38 degrees?
What kinda heads do you have? (real efficient heads like AFR don't NEED lotsa total timing)
You can decide just how much total timing by driving the car to see how it performs....
Sounds pretty sweet ...(gets the Ol'Sal seal of approval !!)
6sally6

I
We didn't change any springs in the distributor.
We capped the vacuum canister and carburetor when we did the timing.  Is that lock out?


Google................Ford Duraspark distributor recurve

 

This^^^^ will explain what to do to "fix" the timing.
It's the one I went by and others on here. It's a pain to take the Duraspark apart to modify it butt-well worth it in my opinion.
 Possibly the BEST mod I did to my engine as far as "seat-of-the-pants" increase and improved driveability 
The light springs let the advance happen quicker  And the distributor needs to be limited so it won't keep advancing to 50-60  degrees advance as the RPM of the engine increases.
I made a bushing out of a piece of push rod to stop the advance at 38-40 degrees.
Others used a piece of shrink tube over the post  to limit the total.
REALLY gets that crispness you want when you wing the carb.
Without this mod the engine just WON'T perform like it should because....the weights & springs inside are a compromise so Grandma will be happy enough and if some clown fills it with cheap lo octane fuel it will run.......OK.
Those are good heads and won't need a bunch of total advance like stocker do.
IF the engine has a big(er) camshaft it really needs this mod butt even a stock cammed engine will run wayyy better.
6sally6

Last edited by 6sally6 (2/12/2024 6:44 PM)

I agree wSal, but ask what is if the total advance of the Duraspark distributor in stock condition?  Just seems like it should advance more even for the stock engine.  Leads me to think that maybe the advance plate is getting stuck at some point in its normal travel?
Just a thought. 

We'll do some more research and look at the distributor a little bit closer.

Thanks
Steve69

Steve69 wrote:

50vert wrote:

Someone smarter than me may recall .... butt, doesn't one of the wires on a correct Duraspark conversion retard the timing in start?

    I thought I read something about this too.  
 

IIRC there is a white wire from the Dura Spark that connects to the start wire. Best to connect at the solenoid.. This is suppose to retard timing 10 deg during start.

Thanks guys.  We'll check out the wiring again at the box.  

Steve69