Best aftermarket distributor/ignition upgrade?

[mtrdrms]

Well I am making my way through the list of engine mods for my 87 350TBI and was wondering what you all have had good luck with as far as distributors and ignitions. With the way my engine is built, I dont think the OEM unit is up to the task. Thanks guys.

Andy

 

[dyeager535]

I'd run what you've got and see how it works. Either you get enough spark, or you don't.

Stock stuff is plenty good, the ONLY time you need to worry about it is with nitrous or RPM's over 4500RPM. (and that number is way too low)

 

[mtrdrms]

Thanks for the advice. The reason I think I should upgrade is it doesnt seem like my dist is advancing or at least not well. When I try to set the timing to stock settings it just wont run. I have to advance it like 20 degrees at idle and then the power only comes on at 2500+ rpms. Also I cant get the idle to go below 1000 or I mess up the whole power curve. I dont know what the problem is. I tried to get this figured out on here last year but never did.
I thought maybe an MSD box or something but I really dont know much about them.

Thanks

 

[K5ing in AZ]

are you disconnecting the computer. on 87 & newer models you have a single brown w/white stripe wire you have to disconnect

 

[4X4HIGH]

You must disconnect the EST wire located by the power brake booster like K5ing in AZ said.

 

[Thunder]

There is nothing in the stock dist to advance the timing. All timing advance is electronically controled by the ECM and EST/ESC modules. There is no mechanical or vaccum advance.
The stock dist is fine for performance apps as long as the bushings are not wore out. All you really need to do. Is replace the stock coil with a MSD blaster coil. The stock one tends to get saturated at high RPMs. MSD makes a direct replacement for the stock coil.

 

[mtrdrms]

MSD blaster coil (wouldnt happen to have the PN for that would ya?). Ill look into that. How do I know if the bushings are worn out on my distributor? Also how would I check to see if my ignition is advancing correctly?

Thanks

Andy

 

[Thunder]

MSD coil PN=8226
If there is a lot of side to side play in the dist shaft the bushings are worn.
Total advance for TBI is around 28-30 degrees. Should be fully advanced around 2800-3000 RPM
Without the timing bypass wire disconnected the timing at idle is usually around 20 +- 2 degrees.
With wire disconnected it should be 0.
You must set base timing to 0 with bypass wire disconnected as said above.

 

[dyeager535]

Just an example of a 1991 truck bin, timing with low load and decent engine RPM peaks out at 36.91*, and is pretty consistently above 30* over 1800RPM, again with a light engine load.