Baddad, not all Fords and not all other cars use the timed vacuum port. There is one advantage to using straight manifold vacuum to the vacuum advance; that is that it can improve the idle at a lower rpm than you can using ported (timed) vacuum. While driving the car there is no difference between the two. The only difference is at an idle.
You can accomplish the same result by simply giving it more initial advance and keep using the timed port. That does the same thing as using full vacuum with the factory suggested retarded timing setting.
Yes sir! Baddad you are correct...The ported vacuum(from carb) should go to the "outboard" nipple on the vacuum advance housing.Sorry man...I thought it was opposite day.Sometimes I am not the sharpest light bulb in the knife drawer...
The mark on my balancer is invisible so I turned the dizzy until the car evened out and sounded smooth. Idles around 700-800 and doesn't make the weird sucking popping when I let off the gas at speed. Better mileage too. I turned it maybe 1/2 inch clockwise when I installed the new points and stuff. Runs really nice now. 2800rpm @55 mph.
You had me worried there for a day or two as to what I thought I knew and learned over the years.............................
Ditch those points for a Pertronix (or other drop in module) and you'll find more power, easier starts and longer tune up intervals
Except that when you advance the distributor you are adding to the overall advance - even under full power - and using manifold vacuum you are not. Too much advance can and will hurt your engine - eventually if not sooner. It will definitely hurt fuel mileage and power! so it doesn't do the same thing at all - especially once the mechanical advance starts adding timing too! Just think about it....... OK?
In other words you are saying that you're guessing. You need to know for sure or like PaulS said you can hurt something. I would hate to hear that you melted the tops off your pistons or burned your valves. Half inch movement on the distributor is a lot of timing, I'm guessing 20-25 degrees. I never moved one more than 3/16"-1/4". Most of the time I its closer to 1/64"-1/32" if that much. Crawl under the front of the car with a rag and clean the timing marks and highlight the mark with chalk or white-out then you should be able to see the timing mark with a timing light at the pointer.
Been doing it that way for 30 + years now and never hurt one engine. And run em with up to 20* initial advance too. Never hurt the power or mileage either. You do yours your way, I'll keep doing it mine.:Handshake
What do you run for total advance? I have a DS II distributor that has 18 and 16 stamped on the advance plate. (it is on the shelf and not in my cars) if you used 20 degrees initial advance with 36 degrees in the advance (18 side) you would have 56 degrees total advance!??? It all depends on TOTAL advance and that means adding initial and mechanical advance together and how quickly it comes in. I prefer a fast mechanical advance of about 24 degrees at 2500 and initial advance of 10 degrees. I like to see between 10 and 14 degrees of vacuum advance starting at 10" Hg and completing at 20" Hg. That way I get decent performance and good mileage without ever running into detonation. Depending on compression ratio I can get away with 87 octane unleaded regular. 21 mpg and all the performance one can expect from a 100000+ mile 302. You do it your way and I will do it mine.
My car barely ran when I got it and now it runs like a champ. Starts very easily and idles under 1K all day long. I believe my dizzy had turned over the years and was WAY off. My car puffed smoke occasionally and had a bad tone to the exhaust note. Like it was missing. The timing light also didn't strobe steadily which is lame. I wiped and tried to clean off the marks on the balancer to no end. They are either gone or I can't find them. The front of my engine got a healthy dose of brown water when I changed the crusty waterpump so everything is painted brown under there now. My car is literally a daily driver, I drive no other car, and the engine is dirty and grimy like a 36 year old car.
Don't know what it is, and I've never cared. All I know is the method I and many others use, just plain works.
That will change very soon. Both my Ranger's 5.0 and the Comet's 331 idle at 500-600 rpms. I went to change the 3+ year old spark plugs in the Ranger today and once again pulled two plugs, looked at how nearly new they appeared and put the new set back on the shelf. Maybe next year they'll get used. (I told myself the same thing last year too)
