My 1980 TR8 (carbs) is mainly stock. It has a Pertronix Distributor with the Igniter 1 Module that the previous owner installed. The vacuum advance is hooked up to the proper port on the carb, the vacuum retard is plugged. The car starts up quickly and runs well.

I have been fixing Little thing that needed repair...... I am now ready to start going through the engine. I think the car should have a little more pickup. I haven't adjusted the carbs or the timing yet. Once the snow melts and the salt is off the road I am going to look at and possibly advance the timing.

I read here the Pertronix Dist had a less aggressive advance than the stock unit. Is this true?

Has anyone recurved a Pertonix or stock Dist?

What is the best Dist/Ignition set up for the TR8?

Hah, "When the snow melts and the salt is off the road" . That's funny. In NH I'm looking at late March or April, depending... At any rate, if your engine's vacuum retard is disconnected your initial timing should be set at 7° BTDC, 10° would probably be better. Retard is only active at idle so the initial timing of 5° ATDC spec'd is almost immediately eliminated when the throttle is cracked and timing goes immediately to 7° BTDC where the distributor will advance normally. So, if retard is disconnected but timing is not advanced to 7° (or 10°) Your timing will be retarded 12° throughout the rev range. Talk about sluggish! -Pete



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-12-15 03:22 PM by POW.

Ross...I changed the ignition curve on my TR8 last year...I'm running a Mallory unilite (3764301) mechanical unit, Mallory hyfire VI CD ignition box with promaster coil (29440)...with timing advanced at 10 deg....I changed the ignition curve by replacing the springs in the distributor ...original from the factory are two stage advance- purple and brown and I changed to a single stage curve with two pink springs -advance all in at 2500rpm...woke up the car and eliminated hesitation I had from the two stage curve at 1,600 rpm on hard acceleration...TR8 is a light car and can handle the quicker curve without pinging/detonation....