Rick, your locating and testing the ignition resulting in you finding an issue and then solving that problem,
by replacing the defective component is a good example of the skills and learning process that keeps this hobby rather interesting.
it should be rather informative & interesting too see the results,of on-going testing.
that you or anyone else would see, under similar conditions,
I would certainly not be shocked to find the older previous ignition,
was holding your engines power curve back a good deal more than you might have imagined,
this of course is a very hard to diagnose issue unless you have lots of previous experience,
and are actually on-site to hear and feel the engine run,
I would suspect you, should reasonably expect too see,an improvement.
especially in the upper rpm ranges,
now that the ignition systems operating correctly.
if you re-tune the car now that the ignition is working correctly,
I'd strongly suspect you should easily see, a noticeable power increase in the 5000 rpm,
and up range.
most people don,t fully realize that just having the ignition advance curve,
a couple degrees off of the ideal, from the ideal, ignition advance curve,
the engine would best operate with,
could easily reduce the peak power you see by 40-70 hp or more.
(keep in mind theres several interdependent sub systems, and if any one of them is not optimum it effects all the sub systems potential, theres the fuel/air ratio,
the ignition advance curve,
( not just when the spark in relation too the crank and piston rotation,
but also the ignition voltage and amps, plug gaps and ignition wire resistance,)
the engine is going too be effected by, the cam timing, the valve train stability, the exhaust tune
(headers and low restriction exhaust behind the collectors)
GENERALLY your fuel/air ratio should be in these ranges
Idle- up too about 2500 rpm try for 14.7:1-15:1 f/a ratio,
too get max mileage and prevent spark plug fouling
from about 2500 rpm- too about 4500 rpm,
try to smoothly and predictably transition the fuel/air ratio mix richer to about 13.5:1
for good power and less chance of detonation
from about 4500 rpm- too about 6500 rpm and higher
,try to smoothly and predictably transition the fuel/air ratio mix richer to about 12.5:1,
for good peak power and less chance of detonation.
this is only a well proven starting point on the tune,
but it generally gets you in the ball park ,
and tends to reduce the chances of the engine reaching detonation conditions.
the ignition advance curve needs to be checked, the chart below is a very good starting point to work from, and USE OF A RICHER FUEL/AIR MIX, WILL AT TIMES BE REQUIRED IN THE OFF IDLE TO 3500 rpm range, but the idea here is to keep the lower rpm and lower stress operations running at efficient fuel/air ratios to reduce plug fouling and improve mileage as youll generally spend 90% of the cars operational life on the street at under 4500 rpm.
set the plug gaps at about .045, make sure the valves are adjusted correctly, I,ve seen guys gain or loose a 10th of a second and 3 mph from simply changing the ignition advance curve and spark plug gap.
post your results and more questions
having the correct tools at hand and the experience to use them correctly always helps, and even with 50 plus years Of experience , you can,t accurately guess, you need too test and accurately record the results of each change you make and you can,t do that {BY EAR} you need to use precision tools
without testing you simply guessing
GET A FUEL PRESSURE GAUGE AND MEASURE DON,T GUESS
how can you possibly set up your fuel system unless you know the pressure and flow rates required and what currently exist's
this is the most consistently accurate I.R temp gun I've used for testing[/img]
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/e...1100200223789&utm_content=All Extech Products
INFRARED TEMP GUN
having accurately dialed in the cam (degreed) and having marked TDC on the tab and damper is mandatory.
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ying-your-real-advance-curve.4683/#post-12672