Can you assist me in geting better ¼ mile performance while keeping my Comet a streetable car?

I have a stock Dura Spark dizzy and box. If I recall correctly, they are a 1985 carbureted Mustang application. Do you know how much affect changing the distributor curve might have? How about an MSD box?

 

BTW is your T-Bird in as good of shape as it appears in the picture?

 

My old combo was a flattop 351w with 68 302 heads, it had an antique cam c4 with 3500 ish stall and 4.11 gears. On motor it ran a best of 8.44 at 81 with a 1.8 60ft. On a 175 shot 71n 63f tune it went a 7.19 at 93 with a 1.49 60ft. I now have a 351w .040 over with flattops promaxx 185 heads and a comp extreme energy cam and on the 1st pass it went a 7.96 at 86 with a 1.77 60ft on motor bogging of the line. It blew the trans up the next pass. I think with a looser converter sticky tires and a small 125 shot you could have a mid 11 second car pretty easily

 

Your leaving a lot on the table with that distributor setup. It can be modified but it's a pain to do on a duraspark. For simplicity sake I ran a Mallory for years. The curve is easily adjustable in minutes. You need the curve on that thing to be short and come in pretty quick. In fact I'd almost guarantee it pick up quite a bit if it was locked out. As far as the msd box goes. It might help some but probably won't see much change in e.t. in my opinion the best reason to run one is the Rev limiter. And that Mallory distributor is a stand alone unit. No box required.3 wires and your running.

 

Yep 'cept for RF fender and header panel(has Ford replacements)it's sportin' mostly orig paint, was in a fender bender sometime before I bought it in '97... Originally a 4cyl Turbo Coupe, I yanked the pressurized half motor in '99 to install the TF headed 5.0... All systems unique to "87-'88 Turbo Coupes(Ride Control, ABS etc) still in place and operational...

Engine bay before I pulled the 5.0, prob hit it with some fresh paint before the 331 is installed...

 

Nice bird. I have an 88 turbo bird myself. Needs a lot of work but it only has 53k miles on it.

 

Is the distributor at the following link one you would suggest?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-4255111/overview/make/ford

 

I neglected to mention concerning the rich fuel mixture, my spark plugs have a nice light brown color.

 

My 1/8th mile time is 8.51 @ 86.18 mph with a 2.08 60 ft. No squeeze please. All motor.

 

I used the series 37 mechanical advance. 650-3755101(jegs) and change the gear if you need a steel one. What rpm are you leaving off the line at? My old 308ci stock head motor went 8.teens with low 1.7 60' and I drove it everywhere.

 

My 2,400 stall TCI converter will only allow me to do 1,800 rpm before it will force the car through a staging beam.

 

Definetly need more converter but the timing will help quite a bit.

 

if you are trapping 86 in the 1/8 you are making good power. If it is a street car I would get a set of et street radials or hoosier radials and a much looser converter. The loose converter will not be fun on the street though, my maverick seemed to run around 3000rpm because of the converter. In an automatic car the converter will make it or break it s far as dragstrip performance in concerned. With the combo you have I see no reason it shouldn't run 8.0-8.1 in the 1/8 which would be mid 12's in the 1/4

 

What track do you race at ?

 

Agreed the Bird would run low 8.4 in the 1/8 but never MPH more than 83...