At BRITSPEED, we deal with a lot of Classic British sportscars and saloons and their owners and we receive telephone and email inquiries about how to make these machines run better. We also listen to and read about all kinds of opinions on the minutiae concerning distributors and how one solution is better than another along with some wild claims of performance improvements gained by switching from one to another.
Our experience gained over decades of driving and tuning classic British street cars and also competition cars is that the whole subject has been amplified beyond belief or merit. These days, electronic media has given voice to backyard experts and also savvy product marketers who expound on the subject, making wild claims of power gains. Let me clear the air about POWER gains. The bottom line is that if you have a street car, it doesn't matter much whether you stick with the original equipment (most commonly Lucas dizzy with points & condensor) or add an electronic trigger to it or if you splash out and purchase a brand new replacement dizzy like Pertronix or 123. Whichever you choose, you will end up with almost the same identical power. Considering that many of the cars that are in our interest group, usually late 1950's to late 1970's and especially those built from the late 1960's through the 1970's, suffered the insult of power robbing modifications in the name of emission reduction. These mods included lower compression pistons and cylinder heads, air pumps and plumbing, emissions friendly carburetors and yes, changes to the distributor advance settings, advance curves and even vacuum retard controls. All of these things together strangled the poor engines into becoming the 98 pound weaklings at the beach. Most of the cars today still suffer from running most of the same equipment but others have been modified in an attempt to restore some of the lost power and driveability. Most often these attempts have been well executed but the one area that is seldom addressed is the very simple task of correctly setting the timing and this is due to the confusion caused by reference to methods and degree points given in the original manuals or printed on under hood decals. To best explain my point, I direct you to an excellent real-world article by Tim Suddard in Classic Motorsport where you will see the results of actual comparisons of a number of different distributor options and also reference to properly setting the timing. Should you have any questions on just how to apply this knowledge to your Classic British car, I will be happy to assist. Enjoy Tim's article: https://classicmotorsports.com/articles/distributors-dyno/?mc_cid=7a3d15bcff&mc_eid=89531f973d
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AuthorBob DeShane is a life-long British Car nutcase, restorer, racer, driver, talker, business owner, and Nigel Shiftright fan. His whole life is directed to enjoying the cars and people connected with the British Car scene. ArchivesCategories |