Changing distributor on AMC 360, any need to know's?

[Distordera]

I am about to upgrade my 360 with some parts but I need to ask about changing the distributor.

I have read stories about gears, vacuum advance or not, different brands and so on ...

What do I need to know before buying?

[joe]

Put your old dizzy gear onto the new dizzy.

[Ristow]

what year? if its a motorcraft distributor keep it. yes,you want vacuum advance. dial the curve in and run it.

[Distordera]

It´s a 1981 "Swedish Air Force version" with a staggering 145 Hp.
I was told (and I have read in forums) that a new carb, manifold and ignition would spice things up.
Is this wrong?

[mattmopar440]

shoot us some pictures of the engine ?

intake and Carb yes ignition there are some cheap mods you can do to the motorcraft dizzy to get some decent power out of it

[Distordera]

Cheap mods that will add power? I like it!

Some pics of one dirty engine:

[Ristow]

you need to dial the ignition curve in. not replace it. what you have is fine,it just needs to be tuned.

yes,intake,carb and exhaust will wake it up. a decent cam too.

[joe]

What's your goal? The stock duraspark is a good ignition. Swapping from one elect ign system to another is not going to give you any power, performance, mpg gain what so ever. For normal driver use Duraspark, HEI, TFI, MSD perform equally well if in good condition and tuned correctly. If you're looking for more vroom vroom save your money for carb/cam/exhaust/axle gearing mods.

[mattmopar440]

Are you required to pass emissions where you live if the vehicle doesn't have to pass smog a performance intake and getting rid of a bunch of those vacuum lines and getting he back to 1970s will help alot that looks like a nightmare

does not appear to have air injection lines or smog pump from photo

[Distordera]

you need to dial the ignition curve in. not replace it. what you have is fine,it just needs to be tuned.

yes,intake,carb and exhaust will wake it up. a decent cam too.

Ok, sounds good. You just saved me a couple of 100's. Thanks!

What's your goal? The stock duraspark is a good ignition. Swapping from one elect ign system to another is not going to give you any power, performance, mpg gain what so ever. For normal driver use Duraspark, HEI, TFI, MSD perform equally well if in good condition and tuned correctly. If you're looking for more vroom vroom save your money for carb/cam/exhaust/axle gearing mods.

My plan was to exchange intake, carb and maybe cam and after that change the ignition but as I hear it's money lost. Thanks for that info!

Are you required to pass emissions where you live if the vehicle doesn't have to pass smog a performance intake and getting rid of a bunch of those vacuum lines and getting he back to 1970s will help alot that looks like a nightmare

does not appear to have air injection lines or smog pump from photo

No need to pass emissions on my truck in Sweden so there were no pump or air lines on this one.
but it still looks like a nightmare and my old fuel line that is still there is not helping either.

[Distordera]

you need to dial the ignition curve in.

Help a noob out here?

I have to install a tachometer (and locate + on ignition and a rpm-signal)

Then I locate the mark on the harmonic balancer and the markers on the timing cover.
After chalking them up and plug my vacuum advance I start the engine and let it warm up at 600 rpm idle with gear in drive.

Then i start my strobe (connected to cyl #1 cable at distributor) and turn the distributor around until I hit 10 degrees on the timing cover (according to service manual at least)

Is this about right?

Or are there an easier solution?