65 GT350 HiPo Distributor

[mygt350]

Who is the current go to guy for rebuilding and setting up the 65 HiPo dual point distributor for a GTt350.  Have one that needs the right magic fingers to make it spot on correct for a 65 GT350.
PM or e-mail with reliable references/recommendations please.
mygt350@aol.com

[GT350Lad]

Hi, it was a few years ago but a guy called Tim O'Connor did mine from memory in a small town near Indiana. I'll try pull his email out, not sure is he is still doing them?
He did a great job!

[GT350Lad]

Here you go, I found his website
http://428cobrajetcars.com/

Not sure if he is taking new jobs

[Rickmustang]

Jim or rockhouse66 on the 428 Cobra Jet forum. Done two for me. Restores and has old school distributor machine. Returns with a graph of your curve, and he can customize it if you want something other than stock. Rick.

[6s1640]

Looks like he is having health issues.  Dang.  Below is the note off his site.

CLOSED until further notice. Please do not send at this time. I will no longer be in the shop. Health issues have to be addressed immediately. I still have many of these parts in stock. Please include your email address.Sorry for any inconviencies this may cause. Thanks


Cory

[Rickmustang]

Found Jim's number. 770-823-1370

[bluemax]

I am interested in getting my distributor restored as well... I found this on the "DEAD NUTS ON" website;

https://rockhouseracing.com/

[Bob Gaines]

I am interested in getting my distributor restored as well... I found this on the "DEAD NUTS ON" website;

https://rockhouseracing.com/

He is the same one as in reply #3 . Jim is well thought of.

[mygt350]

Thanks gentleman. Will give Jim a call and see if he can help me out.

[mygt350]

I have it locked away somewhere, but my filing system is failing me, again.
Can someone please tell me what the correct initial and mechanical advance is correct for a 65 GT350 HiPo engine?
Thanks!!!

[mygt350]

Small block 289 Hipo with iron heads and 4 speed.

Assume target timing is 38 degrees total with 18 degrees initial with 20 degrees mechanical.

Verify number one cylinder on compression stroke. If number one piston is truly at top dead center, timing marker should point to TDC mark on balancer.

Is distributor dropped with rotor pointing to desired location of number one plug wire with balancer at TDC or is engine rotated to a location other than zero, such as 35-40 degrees before top dead center mark on balancer before install distributor rotor to point to desired number one plug wire?

[Bob Gaines]

Small block 289 Hipo with iron heads and 4 speed.

Assume target timing is 38 degrees total with 18 degrees initial with 20 degrees mechanical.

Verify number one cylinder on compression stroke. If number one piston is truly at top dead center, timing marker should point to TDC mark on balancer.

Is distributor dropped with rotor pointing to desired location of number one plug wire with balancer at TDC or is engine rotated to a location other than zero, such as 35-40 degrees before top dead center mark on balancer before install distributor rotor to point to desired number one plug wire?

The distributor is dropped with rotor pointing to desired location of number one plug wire with balancer at TDC (or stopped at the initial timing of 10 degrees etc.) on the compression stroke . In a perfect world it will just drop in . Reality is that most likely the oil pump drive will not line up with the drive opening on the bottom of the distributor shaft and the the gears on the cam will not easily mesh with the distributor gear  . It should go with a little fiddling. Only if you are trying to be historically correct and for the plug wires to fit properly as designed is the indexing of the dist body once it goes down. The front cap clip should be basically directly centered forward facing and the rear clip opposite the front when the the distributor is properly installed and timed. This makes the rear clip somewhat hard to clip given the high rise intake runner but that is just the way it was done. At least it was engineered from the factory to be like that. This is one of the most common mistakes I see when concours judging 65-67 GT350. If you don't care about those kinds of things then disregard.

[mygt350]

Thanks for the clip alignment tip Bob.

Set timing mark to zero on balancer after confirming number one at TDC.
Stab distributor with cap clips parallel to engine centerline and rotor pointing to number one plug at terminal marked 1 at approx 1PM position on cap.
Start engine and adjust distributor case to read whatever initial timing is desired (i.e. 10-12, 18 degrees) at idle.
Then verify mechanical plus initial advance gets close to desired total advance target.
initial + mechanical = total advance.

Am I getting sorta close?

.

[Rickmustang]

Yes. But put the engine at 10-12 BTDC, not TDC, before installing distributor. I put a timing light in number one plug with key on then turn distributor until light flashes. The engine is timed at that point. Just my preference.

[mygt350]

Rick
How is that different than setting to TDC and turning dizzy till it gets 10-12 initial at idle.