I recently had an electronic ignition installed on my 72 Cutlass and almost immediately regretted doing it just because it wasn't original to the car. I had the shop take the EI off, but several days later, I noticed that they had not put the vacuum advance back on the distributor. The car seems to be running fine, so my question is: Will it do any harm to run the car without the vacuum advance until I can find the time to put it back on? Also, I am debating about doing it myself rather than take it back to the shop. Will I mess up the timing just by disassembling the distributor to put the vacuum advance on? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

No it will not hurt to drive without the vacuum advance. Putting the vacuum advance back on should not change the timing, however it's worth double checking anyway. Which electronic ignition did they put on and remove? Did they remove and/or replace the resistor wire when it went back?

 

I have a vacuum advance if u need one mine came with a Mallory ei conversion so I don't think I'm going back

 

The work order just shows that the points and condenser were replaced. There is no brand name on the EI that I can see. I have several small parts I am going to put up for sale on this site as soon as I can take some pictures. The EI will be one of those items, if you are interested.

 

Bill,

Would your vacuum advance be the same as the original advance on a 72? They may all be the same. I am not familiar with other model years.

 

Mines off of a 70 350 rocket I think all the components should be there but I'm not sure if they are the same can anyone knowledgeable help

 

Vacuum advance -

1970 350 2bbl: Starts at 8-10"Hg, goes to 11°-14° at 25"Hg
1970 350 4bbl: Starts at 8-10"Hg, goes to 8°-11° at 23"Hg
1972 350 All: Starts at 6-8"Hg, goes to 13° at 16-17"Hg

- Eric

 

But will it work for his cutlass Eric and can you explain those numbers to me all I can make our is degrees

 

They'll work, but, as teqdave said, he feels like his car is working alright without even having one.

The start point is the amount of vacuum where the advance begins to pull in.
The other numbers are the maximum amount of advance that the unit pulls, and the amount of vacuum required to get it to that point (after which vacuum may or may not increase more, but the advance won't).

- Eric

 

Oh ok I that clears it up a lot better and thanks for answering the question lol

 

The typical distributor vacuum advance is held on by all of 3 screws; 2 on the outside of the base and one on the arm inside the distributor housing. An easy job to remove/install.

Installation will not alter your timing setting.

 

Am I missing something?
The VA unit holds the rotating plate that determines your timing
If the VA unit is MISSING, what holds that plate still?

It damn well DOES need to be in there, though it need not be hooked up.

 

Actually... A good point.

The centrifugal will return to zero by spring pressure, but the vacuum advance plate would just flop around without the unit, unless the "mechanic" had done something like wired it in place.

- Eric

 

I didn't think of that.

 

teqdave, why did you not want the electronic unit? It's not visible from the outside, so no one other than you would know it's there. It should function the same as the original points but not need the routine maintenance, so that's a plus. I really don't understand why you wouldn't want it. I swapped my points distributor for a later HEI and I wouldn't consider going back to the original points distributor now. I'm not comprehending why this is an issue for you?

As for your other questions, installing the vacuum advance unit is a very simple operation and you should be able to accomplish this yourself. It is held in by a couple of screws and there isn't really anything difficult about the install. You should really get a timing light to verify the timing since any time you work with the distributor you may alter the settings. This should be one of your basic tune-up tools no matter if you have points or an electronic setup.

 

Kenneth,

That is the same argument I got from the guy when I told him I wanted to remove it. My reasoning is that I am the original owner and I want to keep everything on the car as close to the original as possible. I appreciate your input, though.

 

Nothing wrong with points, so long as you keep 'em adjusted.

Try to get either OEM or Blue Streak points from an old stash if you can - they're better made and will last longer.

- Eric

 

There is nothing wrong with points, very simple to maintain.