Hey guys I appreciate all your comments & suggestions. I put the original mustard top coil coil that came with car 58 years ago and running it with the original style resistor and leaving the ignitor in place. The car is running very well. For the sake of keeping things simple I will run it this way. The only difference I see is that it takes a few more crank revolutions to start the car. With the Flamethrower I barely heard the starter. The performance seems the same.

An interesting note, now that I have Vicky up and running, I removed the ballast resister and now I have a definite miss at lower RPM? Checked all wires, all seem ok, wonder if the module has developed a memory in the last 13 years under lower voltage through resister?  Now that I am running without the ballast, the higher voltage may be causing havoc in the module or possibly damaged it?  I have sent an email to Petronixs and I am waiting for a reply. I am also going to put the ballast back in and see if that helps. I will keep all informed! 

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning!

I would expect a cam with the specs of yours to have a miss at low rpm.  Make sure you are not confusing that.
If it was ok immediately after removing the resistor and has developed into this, then you may be onto something.



Lawrenceville, GA

Ok Charlie, now you have peaked my interest! Please excuse my ignorance, but are you saying that the miss may be normal due to the lumpy cam? It runs fine once you are over 2000 rpm. I was going to re-install the ballast resister to see if that makes any difference. I just noticed on the inaugural drive, when cruising down the highway in 5th gear, it seamed to have a miss (like it was on 7 cylinders) when cruising below 1500 rpm. So this may be normal and I may be looking for a problem that doesn't exist, is what you are telling me?  

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning!

Yes.  Now that you have specified the RPM range, my bet is that it's simply the cam.  Go ahead and reinstall the resistor just to see, it's free to try and by all means, go through and check things, but I think there is probably not a problem.
A really good ignition may help.  In my case, running manifold vacuum for the vacuum advance helps, but it's just the nature of the beast and it's not going to go completely away.  You may consider a shorter rear gear to go along with it.



Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie,
I put the ballast resister back in and when I got up over 4000 RPM it felt like the ignition shut off!  I am starting to think that you may be right. I can't afford a new distributor right now, but think I will step up to a new Petronix II or possibly III (any suggestions?). As per the vacuum advance, I am not running one. My engine builder Rob, told me he has my motor set up at 36 deg. full timing and NOT to run a vacuum advance as per how he degreed in the cam? Does that make sense to you?

Thanks 

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning!

Well, I would listen to a guy who builds engines professionally before I listen to a guy who does this stuff as a hobby (me).

But it seems odd to me that you can't run the vacuum advance.  I disconnect it when racing but for the street I would expect it to be good.  Ask him more questions about that.  Maybe there is more to it and not running it is the short answer.



Lawrenceville, GA

Rob.  With the vacuum advance properly hooked up, low end throttle response will be improved as well as fuel mileage.  I’m all for the vacuum advance being hooked up assuming the existing distributor curve and carburetor are tuned correctly for it.  The other key to this is having a vacuum advance chamber that’s adjustable so that the amount of additional ignition timing being added during cruise rpms can be tailored to your combination.  If the distributor has already been re-curved to have all the timing come in at a much lower rpm, then adding a vacuum advance system could potentially have too much ignition timing available under cruise situations.  Surging during cruise is a good indication of this.
 
At idle, the timed port within the carburetor throttle bore must be above the throttle blades.  If the port is level or below the throttle blades at idle, then there will be too much ignition advance at idle.  While the port being below the blades at idle is indicative of a performance camshaft with narrow lobe centerlines, a vacuum leak, too small a carburetor, simply too high an idle speed, or any combination of these, there are several fixes for this.  One is to simply open up the secondary blades more so that the primary blades can be closed some.  Another fix is drilling holes in the primary throttle blades so that those blades can also be closed up more thus putting the timed port above the blades rather than below.  Before doing any modifications to the carburetor, it’s important that any potential vacuum leaks have been taken care of.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Rob - There are lots of ways to tune an engine - and the use of a full mechanical advance is one of them. But........... the additional advance provided by a vacuum pot can enhance fuel economy - and everyday utilization of your outfit. The adjustable vacuum pots - and even the older models that can be set with shims - can add a bit of "cruise" advance and your engine will like it. here is an example:
My 312 outfit has 10º initial advance -  a reasonably quick "curve" to end at 35º and only 7º available from the vacuum pot at high vacuum (severely limited - but there). My engine and carb is set-up to run on live manifold vacuum for use on the street. So when it sits at idle in the driveway, the advance is at 17º (summed advance from both systems) - and manifold vacuum is 20" Hg. If I disconnect the vacuum for the purpose of a full throttle test run - as Charlie must do with his combo - the engine drops idle vacuum, gets a bit of Y-block thump to the exhaust - and the water temperature rises. Raising the throttle when the pot is connected - immediately drops advance to the mechanical curve and keeps it on that curve - until the throttle begins to close and manifold vacuum rises again at a cruise condition.

When using a full mechanical system many guys have the initial jacked up to say 15º-16º and the max limited to 35º-36º. The higher initial set point gets the manifold vacuum up, keeps the motor from idle heating too badly - but loses some potential cruise vacuum that could reduce fuel consumption. If you aren't running a steep gear - and gas quality has your full advance point pushed out to near 3000 rev's - and the local speed limit keeps you at 2500 rpm on the way to the drive-in - the extra 7º could be nice to have.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

my pertronix failed after 4000 miles went back to points   i did not use the resister  now i am back to stock