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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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First want to thank you guys for the explanations on venturi vac and manifold vac. VERY VERY helpful. After my MSD cooked I installed my old dist. ( 57). Has pertonix kit. Need to change advance. To update you I have put in the 2500 stall convertor, sure help, along with adding a couple thousands on the valve adjust. Now idles. Timed to 14 int. put on vac line jumps to 55 deg. Have an adjustable vac can. Think I need to bring that down some?? Much more power, but afraid of the 55deg. Does not ping. Hope you all can understand what I trying to say, little merrgie. Need advice on advance springs and whatever you guys think will help.. Thanks in advance. God Bless
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By Pete 55Tbird - 17 Years Ago
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Hi; A little info please. After you add vacume at idle what is the advance? If it does not ping then it does not have too much advance. Even 55 degrees will be OK provided it is not pinging. Other opinions please. Pete
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie - As it sits - what is the maximum mechanical advance with the vacuum line disconnected and plugged? At what crank speed does it stop advancing? No load vacuum advance can be really large without too much worry - but I'd think 45° maximum might be more the norm. Makes me think the mechanical limits now in the distributor are a bit high for 14° initial. The internal advance limit may need to be "stopped" to control the upper end of the mechanical curve.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Good Mornin' Thanks Pete and Steve!! Will check total advance this morning(after everyone wakes up-- littlle noisey). Did notice on lite throttle seems to have slight flutter-miss, could this be too much advance, also do you guys remember which to turn the hex screw to adjust the vac can?? Lookin forward to hearing from you!! Many thanks God Bless
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie - The set screw inside the vac can is turning in a regular RH thread "nut". With the screw fixed to the diaphragm and the nut "free" to travel in the hex housing - turning the screw counter-clockwise compresses the spring - and limits diaphragm travel. Turning the screw clockwise backs it away toward the nipple freeing the spring and increasing travel. The "new" one I just put on my outfit is a "Standard" part and it takes a 7/32 hex wrench. 
The instruction sheet suggests that you gently turn the screw (clockwise) until the nut has "stopped" at the full out position (it gets snug) - then count turns counter clockwise as you compress the spring. There isn't any calibration chart - I've just been driving it - and turning it a half turn and driving it.....and so on to creep up on the maximum the thing will tolerate. If its old and crusty inside - squirt some WD40 down the nipple port and try to free up the screw.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Guys;; Adjusted vac can, now 45deg. Looks like total is about 40-42, still no ping!! Got a cruise tomorow so will see how it goes!!! Next week will pull dist. plate and try to limit advance, don't quite know how to do that but somewhere someone was telling me about brazing the slots. Will try to find the article on the net. Again MANY THANKS--- that's what's sooo nice about this site- everyone is willing to help and share!!! God Bless
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By charliemccraney - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie, An hour or two at your local junkyard and you can net a couple different advance plates. They all have two slots which are numbered. For example, one slot may be numbered 18 and the other 13. These numbers correspond to distributor degrees. Double it for crank degrees. I'll bet yours is in an 18 slot and flipping it around will probably get a more favorable maximum advance. This is muche easier than welding or brazing.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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WOW-- Charlie,, Where do you guys get all of this info.. Amazing and really fantastic for all of us. MANY THANKS and God Bless
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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This photo shows the flyweight section of the later version Y distributor - that shares its mechanism with vehicles up into the 80's. As Charlie says - you get two chances (slots are 180° apart) that one of the limits is more like what you want. Before you strip the thing apart - get some lighter advance springs - like the Mr Gasket #925D - so you can speed up the rate of advance if you need to. 
The photo shows it with the springs removed - the upper slot of this one (about the 1 o'clock position) is stamped 18L - meaning its going to provide 36° crank degrees of advance at full travel. To use this much travel - the factory springs were pretty stiff - you had to put in 3° initial per the Ford timing specs and wind your motor to 4500+ revs to finally get the full advance. The other side of this plate as Charlie said - shows a 13L - which is just about exactly what you want. 
This Ford distributor service chart shows a factory curve that doesn't get up to max until nearly 3000 distributor revs - which is 6000 engine revs. The factory spark curve was very slow in coming in - for performance you would rather limit the travel to 13° (26° at the crank) ...but get it all in by 3000 engine revs. So on the chart above you'd see it reach maximum (13°) at 1500. This will take a lighter set of springs in the distributor so the flyweights swing out quicker.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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On way out the door for club cruise, will get back to this Monday. Thanks for the pictures and all the advise!!!!! God Bless
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hello Again; Dist set at 18, how do I flip it around?? Have dist out--- Does shaft have to come out? Sorry to be dumb about this, also guess my hearing is not too good. Wife heard it ping under heavy accelation. Have ordered spring kit. Many thanks!! God Bless Eddie
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By charliemccraney - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie, The plate with the 18 and 13 is held on with a clip. The clip is in the center, below where the distributor button goes. If you look into the hole you should see it. A pair of needle nose pliers can get it out. Once this clip is out you can flip the plate around. Make sure it engages the stop. Maybe Steve can get some pictures. I don't have a distributor handy. So it is in 18? Dang I'm starting to sound like I know what I'm talking about.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Dang--- I think you know what you're talking about. Found the clip and have flipped around, Thank You Charlie!!! Have a fat spring with light tension and a small spring,but the windings are stout. Should I change both, which is primary and which is the secondary??? Many many thanks God Bless PS Charlie How far are you from Newnan-- Cousins live there.
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By charliemccraney - 17 Years Ago
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I don't think it matters which weight the springs are attached to. Swapping springs is a trial and error thing. Install a pair, fire up the engine use a timing light and take note of the RPM at which full advance occurs. Be sure to disconnect the vacuum advance when you do this. Swap springs until you get the desired rate of advance. It will be best to get an assortment of springs, such as the MR gasket set referenced earlier in the thread by Steve. Newnan isn't far. It's about 60 miles. Southwest of Atlanta. I'm northeast.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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I'll give it a shot tomorrow, hopefully springs will be here, Have ordered from Summit.. Looking so forward to getting it to run right. Again many thanks-- will keep you posted.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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As usual - I'm late tuning in - but......Charlie knows this drill as well as I do. My best advice for your first spring trial is to retain the softest Ford spring - and add a softer one out of the Mr. Gasket set. Then you get to put everything back together! How do your plugs look after a day of cruising? Cranking in the advance has a tendency to make it show lean. In some cases, lean enough to make it knock when a richer mixture wouldn't. With the 13L slot now in use - try 10°-12° initial advance for your first try. With the vacuum disconnected and plugged - watch with the timing light and rev until it stops advancing - and have your wife tell you how many revs it took to get there!
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Steve; Yeah plugs white running lean, even with richer jets and needles. On way home was giving me a surge. So you say start will light springs. I have some lightest MSD springs, and picked up somesprings at hardware store, this should get me started. Sure appreciate your time and knowledge. Will sleep on it and start fresh tomorrow. Many thanks
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By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Eddie - how is your dizzy project working out? Are you going to have to rejet the carb again?
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Steve;; Got the dist back in and fired, have been waiting for geardrive starter, came today and will go in tomorrow, also got the dist spring kit from Summit today, jeezes it sure fired off quick even with the original springs.. Will pull plate and put the faster springs in, then will let you all know how it works. Golly I sure appreciate all the advice and concern you guys have for all of us. Really nice to be working with friends that have a common goal.. THANK YOU ALL God Bless
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Hey Guys; T-bird is running great, Flipped the plate in the dist.---changed the springs(from Summit) Adjust vac Can. Did like John said with manifold vac. Total 40 deg. --- int. 14--- when I put the vac on the advance jumps to 39. Feels stronge, but still will not light the tires??? Have to space rear of trans up- on hard accrelating U-joint hitting the frame... Always something, guess that's what makes if fun.. Might add Gear drive starter from Auto Elect. is wonderful and they are very good to deal with!!! You know the words Thank You don't seem to be enough, all of your knowledge and help is sooo appreciated!!!! MANY THANKS and God Bless
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie: Sorry, I don't remember the details of your Bird. If you have the original FOM, it probably has about a 3.31 rear axle, possibly takes off in 2nd. Try putting it in Lo and nailing it on the asphalt if you want to see some tire smoke. Also, radials are harder to smoke than the old bias plies. The main thing is, enjoy your car! John in Selma, IN
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Good to hear form you John--- Rear is 3:79 was oiginal 3 speed. C/4 with 2500 stall.. While I think of it , John do you know any way of lengthing the shift speed on the C/4-- shifts into second very fast even before I can get acrows the intersection??? Thank you for the manifold vac explantation, it sure works. Talk to you soon God Bless
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie: If I remember correctly, the C4 has a vacuum modulator that controls the shifts. Many of these modulators are adjustable. Pull the vacuum hose off and stick a pocket screwdriver in the hole and turn the adjusting screw. Turning to the right increases spring tension which raises shift speed. I'm not a C4 guy, so if I'm wrong one of your C4 guys jump in and correct me. John
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By pegleg - 17 Years Ago
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The C4 can be held in first or low with the same trick as the Fordo and Cruisematic required. Start in low, shift to second when ready, them immediately pull it back to low. Next shift into second will actually shift into third or high. After it upshifts, move the lever to high. I would not do this too often, understand it's hard on the low /revese bands.
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By Eddie Paskey - 17 Years Ago
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Thanks John and Frank-- Will give it a try-- Frank, sounds like your gonna make me work tooo hard with all that shifting business, gotta have a little fun!!!! Many Thanks. PS-- Frank how's the back?? God Bless
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By pegleg - 17 Years Ago
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Eddie; Back's pretty good, now it's my memory!
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