I noticed that the advance curve kits for HEI distributers cost anywhere from $6.99 to $20.00. Is there any one brand that is better than the others?
They seem to be the same to me. I have used a couple different ones and in the past few years the weights look to be a cheaper make. Thin and poor edges on them. also the last one from mrgasket did not have the right plastic bushings with it . I needed to get to the NSRA in york that day so I drilled them and made them work!
Some kits have more parts.The funny looking piece that goes over the two pins and held down with c clips is what what limits the advance so you can dial in more in***ial advance while keeping the total advance the same. This part usually isn't in the cheaper kits.
YEH,I see moroso---$9.00 pertronix $15.00---and msd is $20.00---wonder if the msd is really that much better?
You got me thinking I need one.Bought this Moroso kit on Ebay for 9 bucks plus $1.85 first cl*** postage.It's a basic kit but has enough **** to get something done.The seller has more of them,he goes by race_basics
Interesting discussion. The factory weights are the one to use , the replacements are cheap jap stuff and dont fit OR work as good. However the factory weights wear at the pin holes and NAPA makes a repair kit with nylon bushings to fix them.
You allready have the factory weights in the stock distributor.What you need from the kit is the springs and the advance limiting center piece from the kit.The kit weights aren't needed from my experience.
I think GM sells advance only as an ***embly, but there's lots of aftermarket support and HEI's are practically free as used parts... I can't offer comparative data, but I noticed a reccomendation for Moroso from someone I respected (Vizard, maybe) in a book, and threw their (V8) kit into a six cylinder HEI for my old Nova. You REALLY need also a heavy truck vac can, the only GM one I know of not for EGR. The common ones have WAAAY too much vac advance for a non-EGR car. With the kit, I could bump static setting quite a lot due to shorter curve, and unlike the stock stuff, advance came in at actual useable RPMS. The 230 six felt like it had picked up 50 horsepower for the $15 project...
My vac can is adjustable---so I can vary the vacuum---what happened is I bought a blueprinted hei from summit,then I took it to a guy who has one of them old sun machines and told him I wanted it set for 38* total and 16-18* inital well,he didn't think that was correct and ****ed around grinding my weights and set it so my iniyal has to be at 8* and if I turn it up then my total is out of the ballpark what an ***hole--thats what I get fo letting someone else screw with my stuff
thats what I want to do,but I don't know if I should use the weights that the guy modified---thats why I asked which aftermarket curve kit is best
this is somewhat related, but do the advance weight kits for the '57-up delco points distributors (with the weights on top) fit the early cast iron dizzy with the weights down below the breaker plate? i'm also ***uming that the v8 kit could be used in a stovebolt/jimmy 6 style distributor?
Pretty sure no...I think pre-57 8 and the various early and late 6 cyl points distributors are completely different and generally of considerably smaller diameter than the '57-74 8 ones, making interchange very unlikely. Experiment! I am currently messing with a Model B distributor, which has too slow an advance curve, and oddly enough, Mr. Gasket doesn't list a kit! WTH?? So, I went to Jegs and looked up advance kits...ordered one of each spring set they carried, which was surprisingly cheap. Sorted out the various little bags of springs and found that Ford and Mopar kits had springs similar in size to Model B... I think you will find about the same. '57-74 and HEI Gm's are both bigger in diameter than other distributors of their time, so the weights are bigger and springs heavier than most others. Find some springs and a timing light and go to work!
No, the centrifugal advance mechanism in a 215/235/261 distributor is similar to the style used in the '56-'61 Corvette dual point distributor. I would imagine that '49-'55 Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles were similar as well.
OK,heres a good one! I went to the u-pullit and got 3 sets of weights (for $2.00) but One set has # 60 on the weights and #469 on the center plate,the other 2 sets have #41 on the weights and one centerplate has #375 and the other one has #368,they are shaped a little different so which are the best to use?
I setup distributors and the weights you buy in kits aren't hardneded and tend to wear out fast. I use the stock weights and machine the curve edges for faster curve advance. Also use different tensioned springs, and usually have to stop advance curve at 1250 dist.rpm.
I have a few different stock sets and one aftermarket set they are a LOT different, the set on the left is the aftermarket,but if U notice ,none of the stock ones are the same! especially the middle plate I don't know if you can tell by the pics,but if so which ones do U think I should use? Which one would bring the total in faster?
One of the important differences is how much TOTAL advance the combo of center doodad and weights allow. This is why the parts come with the recurve kits...springs alone will do the job of quickening advance, but then when you increase the static advance total will be too much with a fully stock setup. You can advance the system by twisting it by hand and measure total (approximately) against case with a protractor. Stock vac advance will also be way too much unless you find a non-EGR truck or aftermarket vac can.
I have an adjustable vac can. One guy on another forum told me if I use the #375 centerplate and the #41 weights it should give me 20* . and then try different springs to try & get it in by 2500 rpm. so if I set initial at 16* then I should get 36* total (without the vac) I'll try that combo & see how it works
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