Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg
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I'll keep an open mind, but I'm still trying to figure out how an electronic ignition can make the engine run like it has a counterweighted crankshaft.  Counterweights should help a little with making the engine smoother, but the main thing they do is help keep the crankshaft from wanting to bend away from the centerline, and this will greatly add to the babbit life, or bearings, if you have the inserts. But how does what triggers the coil have any effect on the crankshaft? In fact, if the points and plugs are good, I don't see how the electronic ignition is of any benefit to improve performance. |
I am pretty sure the FSI distributor being discussed has a centrifugal advance in it, like a B engine dist. You do not manually advance the timing, as in a stock A. It is that, more than the electronic trigger, that can make an engine run smoother. The advance is a function of RPM, like the B. Smoother may be because it is not advanced quite as much at any given RPM as you were doing manually. YMMV.
The next generation out of Detroit combined vacuum advance with centrifugal, so that when under load (vacuum drops) the advance falls back (less knock under load). Then it advances under light load (high vacuum).
Personally, I like to have the advance on the column on my A because I can retard a bit under heavy load and advance all I want under light load. I like the control that gives me. But, yes, it does result in me fiddling with the advance a bit in the mountains (not in flat as a pancake SE Texas). That's OK; it's part of the Model A driving experience.
We all restore and drive our Model A's for different reasons.
Viva la difference!
