When I upgrade my intake this spring, I want to replace the distributor (Cardone unit from 2008) with a new new/rebuilt one that has been curved to better specs. Just nice for me to have one on hand, instead of trying to send mine out someplace as the existing may not even be the stock unit. I was thinking of an MSD unit as they can be adjusted easily with accessible springs, but it appears the stock units are still a good choice.
I see Mansfield Restorations appears to have rebuilt units, and will recurve them.
Thanks…saw his name on the vintage Mustang forum, but after going to his site, said said he was still closed. Will reach out to him. http://428cobrajetcars.com/
Recommendation in where to obtain another 390 distributor to send him as I thought he only did rebuilds and such. The existing is a Cardone unit from 2008…was looking at NPD and another Cardone unit unless there is a better choice?
From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t appear to be too difficult to recurve myself. However, I would prefer to just have a good rebuilt unit with a performance curve done ahead of time so I can in theory just drop it in when replacing the intake.
Found another person on FEPower that rebuilds them as well that seems to have a good reputation … Faron Rhoads
I just received a rebuilt / curved distributor from Faron Rhoads after supplying him with specs for my vehicle. I tried contacting a couple of the recommendations provided here, but never received a follow up…Faron seemed to have good recommendations from a few other sites.
I am curious what others think of the specs this distributor was setup for…seems a bit high on initial and low on centrifugal based on what I’ve read from others. I see around 14-15” at idle…but assume lower here due to our altitude at 5600’.
It seems curve suggestions I have found have quite a range…10-16 initial, 20-30 centrifugal…34-38 total, but all in by 2800-3000, in addition to 6-10 for vacuum.
I was a bit concerned Faron’s numbers (16-18 BTDC initial suggested, 18 centrifugal) are outside this range, but guess I can try it this summer as other FEs have been using these as a starting point. I was hoping to avoid pulling the distributor again if I had to mess with the plates…easier with it out of the car.
I’m at around 5600’ in the Denver area / front range, where I will do most of my driving. If I drive out to Steamboat Springs or other areas out west, there are passes in the the 10-11k range we have to drive over.
For now, it appears I will stick with Faron’s setup with 16-18 BTDC initial suggested, 18 centrifugal, 6 from vacuum. He appears to have done a nice job on the provided distributor…comes with an adjustable canister as well.
