[Wayne 962]

Hi folks. Most of you know I just recently bought a '72 911 RS clone with a 3.0L in it. This thing was built in a hurry (for the German AutoFest), and still has a few issues that I'm trying to work out. One of them is the distributor.

The first thing I did was ditch the points and install a Pertronix Ignitor. This is a very good upgrade, and I really feel I should have featured this in either one of my books, but I overlooked it.

Next, I tried to set the timing, and I checked the advance. Seems that the distributor wasn't advancing enough, which leaves power on the table. If the distributor isn't advancing, then that means the weights inside are not expanding fully, right? Wrong.

What appears to be happening is that the springs have become weak and the distributor has started advancing *too early*. So, at idle, the distributor is already advanced 10-15 degrees. When it gets up to 6000, it's supposed to have a full advance of 31-38 degrees (2.7 distributor). I'm finding it's only advancing about 15-20 degrees total.

So, the springs appear to have been weakened. I'm trying to source some new ones (not an easy find, as these were never sold separately - when I find them, I will either stock them or let everyone here know where to get them). Then I'll install them in the distributor, and check the advance.

The bottomline? Your distributor is very important to gaining power out of your car - if it's not advancing properly, you may be leaving 10-20% of power "on the table." Most people look at the distributor and assume it's working, without checking. One way to check to see if it's advancing when it shouldn't is to check the timing with a timing light by cranking the engine *only*. Set the timing to TDC while cranking (disconnect fuel pump or CD box, etc). Then start the engine up and check the timing at idle. If it's the same, then you're distributor is not advancing prematurely. If it reads advanced, then you need new springs.

This applies only to 1965-83 911s, as the 1984 and later cars didn't use a mechanical advance mechanism...

-Wayne