Hey.. As a lot of you, I have plans and things I want for my motor.. Im currently in contact with a seller, that maybe have some stock heads and intake lying around. Im planning on doing a portmap on both intake and heads, and then a "doc mod" on the intake as well.. And of course a bigger carb than the 600 cfm thats on now.. A 750cfm or 800cfm.. But for this season, Ill only do small stuff because of a broken exhaust manifold that needed to be fixed.. Thats why I was thinking about recurving the distributor, as I read about others that did it with big succes.. Will it do anything on a stock nailhead, and which weigths and springs should I use, and from which manufacturer ( Mr gasket? ) Or should I wait, and do it together with all the other things I want? Thank you on advance Houmark
I went with the Mr. Gasket kit. You should notice a difference even on a stock Nailhead. I didn't do it when the motor was stock, but it made a big difference when I finally got around to it. With my setup, using one light and one medium springs nets full advance by approximately 2200rpms. Shoot for around 12-14* initial, and 32-34* total, and you should be ready to run! Good luck! :beer
If you start with a pre-64 distributor from a Dyna-flow equipped car, you'll already have the timing setup for about 10 initial and 32 total degrees of mechanical advance. The later ones are set up for 2 initial and 32 total. Either will require lighter springs to bring the advance in sooner.
Thank you Cameo.. Very usefull information indeed.. Is full advance at~2200 the best way to go? Does it ruin the driveabelity, or only good things? I'll order the mr. Gasket kit rigth away ;-)
Generally full advance between 2000 and 2500rpms will give the best results. It wont hurt driveability at all, only good things! Walt does bring up a good point. What year engine/distributor are you working on?
Its a Electra 401" th400 swith pitch 1965.. Just bougth a one season old 750 edelbrock with manuel chooker.. Got it for 40% of the of the shelf price, because the seller wants electric chooker That was one step closer my goal Houmark
If you use the bushing in the Mr. Gasket kit with your distributor (to limit the total amount of advance), you should be able to run 10* initial, and end up with 32* total.
Well.. Just got the recurve kit.. It's from Moroso.. as far as I can see, it only include springs and weigths.. At my luck, I'm a stainless smith, and can easy modify or make a new bushing.. But how big gap should there be in the "fork"? A little peice of plate thats tagged inside the fork opening should do the trick or? Thank you.. Houmark
The Moroso kit (72310) should have come with a small bushing. You can see it in this picture. And I think I misspoke earlier. I believe I have the Moroso kit, although I didn't use the new weights, just the springs and bushing. I do not know the dimension of the bushing, although someone else might. You might want to call Moroso or the vender you purchased the kit from.
I've had Carmen and Tom both set up distributors for me - with subtle differences, they both were looking for about 10 degrees initial and 24 in the distributor. Tom limited the mechanical advance by braising the weights, but Carmen used a bushing in the slot that was about .250 OD. However, you will really need to determine the best curve for your set up and dial it in through trial and error. No telling if your post/slot relationship is the same as mine... Or do what I did - buy a 25.00 ebay core and send it out to either one of these guys for re-curving. They both did a great job, Tom's curve just worked out better for me. Drop it in when it comes back, no downtime as you mess around.
CameoInvicta > Just looked the kit up, and it is the 72310.. Which of the 2 bushing is it? The big or small ? BigPig455 > I live in Denmark, and just paid 180$ shipping for 2 exhaust manifolds, so sending stuff around is too expensive when the recurve kits costs 35$ This is a project for me alone, with guiding from you guys Houmark
My kit only came with one bushing. The larger the bushing, the less mechanical advance you will have, thus allowing for more initial timing. More initial would be good for a larger cam, but you likely wouldn't need it for something mild. Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer!
No need to be sorry at all.. Im really glad someone wants to help me getting some knowledge, as Im green to all this.. But if I dont do it, I dont get better.. Leaning by doing.. I got the stock cam in, so proppely no need for more initial timing.. Im trying out one ligth and one medium spring, same as you, and se where I get my total timing
With a stock cam I've had good luck with about 8-10 degrees initial dependent on fuel quality - 34 degrees all in seems to work well for me too. Both my distributors have vacuum advance limited to 13-15 degrees total - I use a B1 advance from a 68 Chev 396 application (there are Buick applications too< I just don't know what they are)
Dist recurve is hands down one of the best , least expensive, long lasting mods you can make....:Brow: by all means do it..... the other is a cold air pkg.... and the other is my Doc dual plane mod. with intake/exhaust manifold matching....:Brow:
The doc mod intake is going to be done, but matching up the heads will first happen when the engine needs an overhaul :-( Looking forward performance wise when I get it recurved, with the bigger 750cfm instead of the stock carter, and allow it to breathe.. Got an aftermarket air cleaner, and boy the old one had restrictet airflow..
Does the doc mod pay off, with stock exhaust ( 1 1/2" ) and non ported heads? Everything is stock but the recurved dist and a 750cfm edelbrock..
yes, it does pay off.... big time.... :laugh: the very first one that I did,,, I changed nothing except the mod,,,, same air cleaner, same carb, same tune,, ect.... because I wanted it to be a ''pure'' experiment.... I was amazed that something so cheap,,,$3,,, and easy could be that much difference.... I wondered why Buick did not do it.... Just read the replies that the guys have made about their experiences....
That does it then.. It must be done.. ;-) Can i make the gaskets from same material as for the oil pan example? How about the exhaust dimension, would it change something to go with 2" or 2 1/2" , with some other muffler, instead of the stock 1 1/2"?
