All I got to say about this is this...If you want to see if the advance is coming in too early, get a timing light, 2 stock (stiff) springs, and a screwdriver. Check the timing at idle...just look at it to see where it is, make note of it. Remove the presently installed dist springs and replace with the stiff ones, make this THE ONLY CHANGE. Reinstall rotor and cap, and light it back off, recheck the initial timing and if it changed... guess what? Your dist ain't right, or you got it idled too high for the way it was set up. Either way what ever total you THOUGHT you had is now the same number of degrees LESS what the timing just changed if any.
Initial is not supposed to change when set up properly with just the addition of stiffer springs. At least if everything is still o.k., it's not. Lots of variables here, so don't cast any stones unnecessarily. Timing should be steady period. Test Don't Guess.
Loose timing chain, loose clearances in the oil pump, defective pickup coil(HEI), worn dist gear, excessive endplay(I mean alot), worn advance mechanism, worn reluctor to shaft clearance, etc...all contribute to the timing mark appearing to jump all over.
Larry Rowe.... I understand the man works a good distributor. Have never met him and only spoken with him on 1 occasion...nice guy, real gentleman on the phone for the period I conversed with him. Give the dist guy benifit of the doubt...it may be a simple problem not related to the dist completely.
Anything else and I'd have to look at it myself, which I will be glad to do if you want a second opinion.
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