How -To Rebuild Autolite/Motorcraft Distributors

Your Mustang's distributor performs one heck of a job. It has to deliver a timed spark to each spark plug at precisely the right moment in sync with piston travel and crankshaft, camshaft, and valve timing events. And it has to do it quickly and under extreme conditions. Because your Mustang's distributor has such an overwhelming task, it's important to understand how to rebuild and properly tune it for optimum performance.

Spark timing is everything to performance and engine life. We're not talking just for trailblazing, dragstrip performance; it's also required for normal driving where you count on precise distributor function. You need pep to get onto the freeway. You need a smooth idle and an engine that will not stall at the traffic light. And you need just the right amount of spark advance as rpm increases. Poor performance happens when there isn't enough spark advance (retarded timing). It also happens when there is too much (advanced timing). Engine damage can occur when there's too much spark advance.

As antiquated as old Ford distributors may seem, you can fine-tune them if you think of them as precision components. Vacuum advance and centrifugal advance must work hand in hand for a seamless transition from idle to power. You can fine-tune a distributor with a distributor machine, but they are in short supply these days because distributor curving has become a lost art. You can also tune your distributor in a running engine using a timing light and dwell meter.

The vacuum advance unit is a small chamber that attaches to the distributor with two machine screws. Inside you'll find a rubber diaphragm and a linkage connected to the breaker plate inside the distributor. The vacuum advance unit moves the breaker plate to advance spark timing as we come off the carburetor's idle circuit and begin accelerating. The centrifugal (mechanical) advance is tied to the distributor shaft beneath the breaker plate and is there to advance or retard rotor position. As the shaft spins faster, it throws the flyweights outward (centrifugal force) to advance spark timing. Spring tension against the flyweights is what limits spark advance. The more spring tension, the higher the rpm as the mechanical advance is being applied. The less spring tension, the lower the rpm range when mechanical spark advance comes into play. It all depends on spring thickness and how much tension we place on the spring during curving. This is where a distributor machine comes in handy.

An important footnote to this article is the distributor we've chosen. Our C4AF distributor, as found in early '64½ Mustangs, is fundamentally the same as C5AF (1965) and later distributors. However, the mechanical advance unit is different with smaller flyweights and a different approach to adjustment.

Precision Tuning
Ignition tuning isn't black magic. It's the simple physics of spark timing as it relates to piston position during the compression/ignition stroke. You want to set initial spark timing around 6-12 degrees BTDC at idle (650-750 rpm) with the vacuum advance disconnected and the vacuum hose plugged to get your baseline ignition timing.

Make sure the vacuum hose is getting metering vacuum, not constant intake manifold vacuum. Metered vacuum is above the throttle plates where vacuum occurs only when the throttle is opened. There should be little or no vacuum at idle.

The objective is to have vacuum and mechanical spark advance that is seamless. When you lean on the throttle, vacuum advance goes to work right away, handing off to mechanical advance as rpm and vehicle speed increases. To get there, vacuum and mechanical advance needs to come into play at appropriate times, rpm-wise.