Im looking for a distributor for my new motor and Im not sure what to get. there are SO many options out there and the price range is ALL OVER THE PLACE I looked at summit and seen one (MSD) with a magneto pickup for $1600+ and there are some as inexpensive as a few hundred bucks. Im not made of money thats for sure although I act like it lol Im not trying to cheapen out but I dont want to over spend at the same time. this dizzy is going to be for my new 363 stroker Im down to paying the last $600 on the carb and buying a dizzy I have some money in my paypal account and my bill me later balance has been paid off so I have SOME money to play with. I just dont want to spend $1000+ if I dont need to what brand what model and why please
I got a MSD Pro billet on mine..you can get a china knock off for like 120 bucks but please dont waste your money lol...this is the one that i got...heres the link to it. http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/msd-8503/overview/ 385 @ summit.. i think i paid near 500 locally for it mind you i live in canada. and why...because it hasnt failed me yet...
i would suggest getting a 1985 mustang gt stick shift distributor. its a duraspark distributor that can trigger an msd box. it has a good timing curve in it. its for a roller cam. if you plan on high rpm power (over 6500) then a msd distributor could be a benefit. which one depends on what your ignition requirements are. are you going to be naturally aspirated, boosted, or nitrous? i think the ignition box you choose is more important than the distributor. which ignition box you use really depends if your naturally aspirated, boosted or nitroused? if your n/a then you just need a box with a rev limiter. if your boosted then a box that has timing controls that are boost referenced is recommended. if using n2o then a box that has a timing retard in it. also if your dragracing then you may want more features like a two step or shift light control. let us know more details of your motor, trans choice, and intended use and we can more specific suggestions.
well the motor is going o be super charged and running 20+ pounds of boost I do intend to drag race it some I also plan to drive on the street. the trans I havent figured out yet. Im thinking a well built c4 I like the power glide because theyre proven reliable racers but that would be horrible on the street and I dont know how well an aod would perform on the track so lots to figure out in the trans dept yet. the goal for this motor is 12-1300 hp at the crank so I can come in around 1000 to the wheels
With cylinder pressures like that.. you're into methanol injection or race fuel territory. The C4 can be built to handle close to that power level.. but you'll have very little margin until parts start breaking. If you want to stay with a Ford setup?.. look into the C6 as it'll handle more power. Otherwise.. you'll be into manuals with dual/triple discs or swapping over to a Chevy transmission to get er' done off the line. I've ridden in many powerglide setups and I don't prefer them myself.. but they can be made to handle 2,000+ horsepower without issue so there are compromises to be made at your power levels if you want to be able to carry the front wheels very far. The guys who run lessor rated transmissions are more careful coming off the line(less shock loads) and are happy enough make up their times on the big end where the transmissions will more easily take the power. They still run into 8's with this kind of power. Also.. you'll not lose that much power to parasitic loss. Figure on about 12-15% max FWHP losses. A large turbo.. or twins will make the same amount of power with considerably less boost and be easier on parts in the process. Oh.. almost forgot to actually answer your question. You'll want the MSD billet stuff.. or comparable.. and a programmable ignition box. I run the 7531 on my E85 Blazer which is overkill.. and plan on using the 6530 on my little high revving N/A small block. Both are nearly infinitely adjustable and have boost controlled timing maps available when using a 3 bar MAP sensor. Programmable all the way.. and I would recommend nothing less for your motor.
I know that MSD is the market leader... but don't forget about Accel and its brand Mallory. Price them against each other and compare features. Keep 'em honest, man!
well at first I was going to run two carbs but decided to only run one for the sake of tuning. I dont like fuel injection because of the extra stuff you have to have to make it all function I want to go as oldschool as I can go with as little electronics as possible. I dont like the idea of plug in your laptop and play with that for a minute or so and there you go you just tuned your engine. I DONT LIKE THAT. I want to hear the engine running and be able to listen to what its saying by adjusting this or that with a TOOL or by changing a setting and go run the car and see what the time difference or reaction difference was. the car isnt going to be a super competitive race car thats going to be transported across country entering in every event possible or anything like that. its going to be set up for e85 fuel so it will perform at the track and if I want I can still drive it across town or across country if my wallet can afford the fuel as far as carrying the front wheels goes I have no specific goals to carry them any particular length but I do intend to have to change my underwear when they do leave the pavement until I get used to it I dont know what time class Ill be in but Im suspecting high 9 maybe 10? somewhere in there Ill be happy as long as the car pulls hard and straight every time
are you going to run a blower or a centrifugal super charger? with a blower you can run a simple ignition box and lock out or limit the advance of the distributor. running one or two carbs is not very different in tuning. its more important to have the right carbs.
Ok bud.. you've seen enough of my posts by now to know that I shoot from the hip when I care enough to help and no disrespect intended here. While I certainly understand the desire to keep things simpler and trying to avoid spending cash needlessly.. you are undoubtedly playing with VERY HOT FIRE in this power range. At this build($$$$) and high boost level.. only extremely confident and experienced tuners would ever "test and tune" in that manner without a dyno and all its supporting electronics. At the VERY LEAST.. you'll need a wideband O2 setup on both banks to keep from burning this motor down if things aren't absolutely perfect in the tuning department. The more power you want(meaning boost levels that you run)?.. the higher the likelihood that things can and will go very very wrong. Bad enough when you torch a stock block setup.. and far worse when you watch dollar signs pouring out of a high-dollar motor in the form of coolant and oil smoke. I've seen grown men almost burst into tears when it does happen and it makes you wince as if you just watched someone get kicked in the nuts. And the bigger the nuts($$$$).. the more you grit your teeth as you watch the pain being inflicted. The wives and girlfriends involved only see $$$$ signs lost and seem to only make matters worse. Look at it like this too. The regular MSD box with a few of the critical requirements needed for your boosted setup(limiters and stepped retard functions.. which still requires an additional window switch..yes, more $$) will run you around $300 bucks. One with even more adjustability and the extra options of boost referenced timing(trust me.. this is very good and what many pay thousands for with high-end engine controllers) will only run you $70 bucks more. Seems like a no brainer. Also.. the money spent here will give you improved efficiency(which locked out timing will not).. MUCH extra electronically controlled safety margin.. and easily pay for itself in your very first dyno session. This is because tuning a higher powered boosted setup obviously takes more time since you MUST carefully sneak up on the tune one little bit at a time. A programmable ignition box allows you to spend more time where it really counts.. on boost levels and proper fueling. Plus.. you'll leave less on the table by avoiding the tippy toeing around with locked timing numbers and get more for your money in the long run. As for the blow through setup.. lot's of guys do it these days and they surely make big power. But similar to the programmable ignition box merits mentioned above.. you won't be saving as much cash as you think you will in the long run. A single blow-through style/e85 carb alone will easily run you upwards of $700-800.. or more.. and the rest of the system will border on fuel injection cost anyways due to the volume required to get this much power out of e85. Also similar to the above.. the time involved to test and tune a carb at various boost levels on the dyno. Again, you'll need to sneak up on max power starting out low and working your way up the boost chart with pully swaps and BOV settings. Some guys even run a high dollar motor N/A to establish that everything's copasetic before adding boost into the equation/even more $$$. This extra dyno tuning time easily eats away at the money you thought you were saving with that carb vs just opening a laptop and changing FI fuel maps and duty cycles in 1/10 the time.. no exxaggeration. The reality is that carb tuning an N/A motor making big power is somewhat stressful(especially when it's your $$$$ on the line) and can be very time consuming to begin with.. but becomes downright critical when higher boost/power levels are involved. Burn-downs, scorched pistons, and popped gaskets happens before you can even get out of the throttle if things are being changed incorrectly and pushed too quickly. This is why it takes so long and is done in many stages @ various peak rpm ranges. The potential damage can also be cumulative as well and makes for "sudden surprises" when you think everything's fine with the current tune and it's all been dialed in. Boosted motors don't always show they're hurt until you reach full boost levels under load. Of course.. then it's to late to stop it from occurring. Electronics are exactly like insurance. You just need to ask yourself.. "how much can I afford to go without it?".. and "how much am I willing to pay to get the bare minimum I require to effectively protect my investment?". In the end.. avoiding 21'st century electronic tuning aids and the protective advantage they provide can be very costly unless you're extremely experienced in tuning boosted setups and the extra time is spent doing it in a conservative manner. But.. even the guys that do it all the time still make mistakes and break things too. It's a known fact that electronics give them more margin for error and have saved many customer asses in the long run. It's a high powered racing engine and they provide you no warranty whatsoever that things will hold together during the tuning sessions. So, with all that.. the main point is this. Electronics are ABSOLUTELY AND UNDOUBTEDLY THE CHEAPEST INSURANCE YOU CAN BUY. PERIOD.. AND EXCLAIMATION POINT. Not trying to dissuade you one little bit.. just adding some food for thought, is all. Your time.. you money. Good luck with it.
very well put thank you. I know how fast things can go wrong Im just intending to do this the hard way and learn for myself AFTER a dyno set up of course. I intend to take the engine on a crate to the dyno shop (NO NOT THE ONE AT WALMART LOL) before doing anything else and have them break everything in and give it a safe tune then once Im ready to actually start running it in the car (YEARS from now) Ill drop it in bolt it down and take it back to the dyno shop. Ill be standing over there shoulder the hole time seeing what theyre doing and learning all I can I dont know how close to full boost I will run I realize Ill have to have some electronics but I want as few as possible. as far as the insurance part..........call me stupid but if I break it I learned a hard lesson and will prolly do it again just a little differently after all its just money and I learned something Im not supposed to do. dont think I wont be crying all the way home and everyday for a month (if I stop that soon) if things go horribly bad because I will be lol
so what type of supercharger are you planning to use? i am completly on the same page as grobberts just not as eloquently spoken. if you are doing a blow through carb you will no doubt be spending a lot more than you would on efi and you wont get as good of driveability. today's efi systems have so many safety features and self tuning ability's that its hard to justify carbs.
thats simpler due to being a draw through set up. im not sure but i suspect that you will need dual carbs to make the power you want. the other thing to learn about is fuel. pump gas wont be able to make the level of power you want. it will encounter preigniton at the cylinder pressures you will need to achieve.
