Moparchat - Home of MOPAR enthusiasts worldwide!



Go Back   Moparchat - Home of MOPAR enthusiasts worldwide! > Technical Forums > Performance Talk

Click here to search for Mopar cars and parts for sale.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-17-2001, 12:45 PM
Dr. Righteous Dr. Righteous is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: RURAL Tennesse
Age: 58
Posts: 1,839
Angry

I finally got around to ordering the Edelbrock 'strip kit' for my Performer 1407 carb.
Knowing that the jetting was too fat for my 383 the first step was the next smaller size jet. FANTASTIC! The car really smoothed out and has much chrisper throttle response!
NOW, the next order of business is a standing stop launch. It's late. About 10:30 and no one in sight and the light was red , and now it's green. Nailing the gas the Coronet ignites the tires in first and continues to spin in second. That's pretty cool, when the car hits third all hell breaks loose!
The engine starts pinging like crazy and I take my foot out of it. I have to limp the car home without accelerating because it pings like it is about to fly apart! Something has gone wrong, and I can't deal with too much hassle this late at night. I pull into the garage and kill the engine. I try to restart it but the starter drags badly. AH HA!, something iginition timing related. Did I neglect to bolt the distributor down securely?? Nope, it's tight. Something has given up in the distributor itself.
This morning I cranked the car up after several tries and check the timing. Its 48* advanced at idle! I take the cap off the distributor to eyeball thing. The inside of the distributor is full of metal filings!! The damn thing has come apart! The screw that holds the pickup is missing and the reluctor is all chewed up!
The pickup gap adjustment screw fell you. I never touched it. I checked the gap when I first installed the distributor and it was right on.
I bought the conversion kit last year but it might not be a year old yet. What is the warranty on these things?
I bought it at Summit Racing.
Luckly I have a backup distributor that works but it is 30 years old and ugly. I will call Summit and see what they say. If they say I am SOL I will be pretty pissed.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-17-2001, 02:27 PM
Dr. Righteous Dr. Righteous is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: RURAL Tennesse
Age: 58
Posts: 1,839
Default OUT of warranty!!

I looked at my invoice and it was bought in May 2000.
I called Summit and they told me it had a 90 day warranty and I was SOL. They gave me the number for MP tech support but they are closed today.
Not dead yet; I disassembled distributor and found the missing screw at the bottom. I replaced the reluctor and the pickup from my old distributor. Put it back on the car and I am back in business.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-18-2001, 12:01 PM
440 Jim's Avatar
440 Jim 440 Jim is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Lexington Park Maryland
Posts: 323
Thumbs up

Glad to hear you fixed the distributor with parts on hand. Sharing experiences is what this is all about.

I bought my MP electronic distributor kit in Feb 2000, so I read your post with interest. Mine has worked flawlessly, but I had completely disassembled before I used it. (I set the total mechanical advance to 20 degrees).
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-18-2001, 07:17 PM
451boy 451boy is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 286
Default

Quality must be a dirty word at the Mopar Performance headquarters. I have so many stories involving crap purchased from Mopar Performance that I could write a small book. I love the MP spark plug wires which are too short! The shortest one on the big block kit is about 8 inches long. What the heck is that supposed to fit? Or the dana 60 snubber which I just bought that doesn't even bolt on. The holes are in the wrong location. Aluminum heads which leak or have bad valve guides, crate motors which won't turn over due to assembly errors. The list is a long one! Someday they'll fire the idiots who run MP and replace them with real engineers. Just hope it happens in my lifetime.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-18-2001, 09:47 PM
ehostler's Avatar
ehostler ehostler is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Annandale, VA
Age: 57
Posts: 15,212
Default

Thanks for the warning. I'll have to pop the cap on mine and make sure that it is tight.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-19-2001, 07:00 AM
Joe Mad 73 Joe Mad 73 is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Glendale Az
Posts: 22
Default

A new pickup and reluctor should be under $25. I would get the old one back together, never know when you might need that 30 year old POS again.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-19-2001, 07:32 PM
Dr. Righteous Dr. Righteous is offline
Inactive User
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: RURAL Tennesse
Age: 58
Posts: 1,839
Lightbulb No Prob

There is MoPar show and swap meet coming up in June that I always attend. Used distributors (and most would look better than my old one) are a dime a dozen. I will probably pick up another spare for the 400 on the stand right now. I am going to apply some of the engine 'science' I have learned along the way and see how efficently I can make this 400 run. With hot enough compression (not too hot) and free flowing heads you don't need a HUGE cam to make power. The right combo and attention to details should prove to be powerful and get pretty good mileage.
I hope to find a pretty good Dodge 4x4 pickup that needs a big block engine.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Unique electronic distributor krazykuda Vintage MOPAR chat 4 02-01-2007 04:38 PM
Electronic Distributor Conversion Kit nick s Rear Wheel Drive - Parts for Sale 1 09-13-2003 11:22 AM
Electronic BB distributor moparmal Performance Talk 0 01-13-2002 03:20 AM
Mp Electronic Distributor Air Gap Setting del kerney Performance Talk 5 08-25-2001 05:36 PM
Is a Lean-Burn distributor the same as a normal electronic distributor? goose Performance Talk 6 03-27-2001 01:32 AM




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:32 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
. . . . .