Well I have been pondering this so here it goes. I bought a hei ready to run distributor. I installed it and it just seems that the timing is off. The motor just doesnt sound right to me. The GM cap is bigger than a Ford. With that being said , is there any chance that since the GM cap is bigger that it would throw the timming off? Since the base is the same and the gears were the same as the Ford how does it reach the tabs on the inside of the dist. at the same time as the ford? I may just be out in lef field on this but I thought I would ask.
the spark goes from the coil on the top of the hei down the center of the cap to the center of the rotor. it goes along the rotor to the tabs inside the cap. then out the plug wires. this is pretty much the same as any distrubor. this really has nothing to do with your problem. did you set the timeing to the same as it was with the old distributor? does the not sounding right situation happen at idle or other times? the advance curve will be different than the stock one. this could cause a sound change. you can get different springs and weights for a hei at most auto parts stores.
You didn't mention it ... did you use a timing light to check it? If not, it is pretty easy to get it a tooth off while installing it, if you just marked the rotor position. The gears have a helix, and it turns the shaft a bit as it goes in. If you didn't use a timing light up until now, it is OK to leave the distributor in there as installed. You will have to turn it to a new position for it to be right, and as long as the vacuum port has room around the manifold, etc., the new position ought to be OK. I tend to shoot for around 10 degrees of initial timing, and work from there to see how the motor likes it, but mine is not stock. I think the factory setting was 6 and made the motor feel lazy.
Would this be a Pro Comp distributer? I've read a lot of feedback on these distributers and not much of it was very good.
