Altman HEI - 

I just set-up my HEI on the 69 GP.  After putting lighter springs in 
for faster centrifugal advance I was getting a ping at high rpm in 2nd 
and 3rd gear.  My mechanical advance was all in at 48 deg.!!  I didn't 
feel like trial and error and I don't have a Sun machine so I bought a 
plastic 360 degree protractor from the local craft store.   With the 
distributor out of the car and in a vice I cut the center cross piece out 
of the protractor and stuck it to the distributor housing.  Then I took 
a piece of floral wire ( same craft store ) and wrapped it around the posts 
for the advance weights and then out about 3 inches to make a pointer.  It 
takes a little fussing but I held the bottom plate still and moved the weights 
to the end of their travel.  The pointer moved 20 degrees, equal to 40 at 
the flywheel.  I wanted about half that.  Limiting the travel takes some 
work .  I guess the ideal is to do a little brazing to the slot in the plate 
but I don't have the equipment.  I took a solderless wire terminal, the one 
that looks like an eyebolt and put it over the stud the spring attaches to 
and bent  the other end down into the whole in the lower plate.  The end of 
the terminal needs to be shaped into a little tang.  More fussing and shaping 
and the advance is now around 10 degrees.  I checked the amount of vacuum 
advance  by putting my vacuum pump to the canister and eyeballing the travel 
of the reluctor against the protractor.  Adding all the degrees together 
along with the static setting it seemed like it would work okay.  I put the 
distributor back in and fired it up.  Eureka! a total of 33 deg. mechanical 
advance with the static set at 9 deg.  It was dark and cold  so I went for 
a quick ride didn't hear any detonation but we'll see when the weather gets 
warmer.   Although it would ping in almost any temperature before.  The 
car accelerated about the same but it always had plenty of advance.  MPH may 
go up in the 1/4 won't know till next trip to the drags.  

Ernie & Cindi Rizzolo <erizzolo@gateway.net>  Nov 2000