Fastback

Down here we have a New Plymouth !! Much better than the old ones ......... a nice place but not a lot to do unless you are involved with the energy sector. A bit far to drive from where you are and also unless your car is very water tight you will get quite wet. Fastback NZ

Hi Plymouthy/Don. Sorry I was not clear on this aspect (but did elude to it on post #7). On the HEI dizzy I took off the collar at the top of the shaft (the one with the spring pin through it) and chamfered the bottom edge and then shaved 1/2 a mm off the diameter. Reassembled it. Then with wiggling and jiggling and pointing the vacuum can downward it slides in and engages the tang into the oil pump. There is enough swing in this position to set timing and all is good.

For me I would say 90% of my driving is flat roads, some mild climbs and almost never any hard climbs. Given the chatter here (NZ) around these diffs straining the engine I just down change that bit earlier and let the rev's pull the car up the incline instead of letting it chug its way up. I am also still running 16 inch rims with tall radial tires. One of the mild climbs is close to home, with that I simply take a run up at it and then almost let the momentum carry me up. Cops haven't caught me ..... yet. If I lived where there was some real long steep climbs I not sure the would use the 3.23 diff. Fastback NZ PS apologies if I have the low V's high ratio around the wrong way Monday morning and no coffee yet !

In terms of my particular project, I was also highly suspicious that my "standard" dizzy was in need of a major overhaul and recalibration. For not a lot of extra $ I decided to move to the HEI. For me I enjoy mixing snippets of modern stuff to the car to make it work better for me and what I want from it. These items include, radial tires, widened rims, 12V electrics, electric wipers, Ford diff, modern driveshaft, indicators, remote brake fluid reservoir, volt meter, alternator, alternator warning light and now HEI dizzy. In terms of better performance the HEI gave me that, but I do also recognise that an overhauled/calibrated standard dizzy could/would also have provided the same improvement. I guess for the future I am banking on the electronics in the HEI being less on going maintenance and a more stable ignition platform than the old points/condenser system. I may be different from others in that I have a lot of other demands on my time and with my two old cars I am looking to use modern items to shave just a bit of time off my ongoing maintenance requirements. Fastback NZ

I have a 3.23 diff in my '38 (218) sitting behind the standard 3 speed box. The lower ratio works very well for what I need the car to do. It cruses well at 60mph. Locally there have been some who comment that this lower ratio overloads the engine resulting in engine failure. Of the 8 or so cars that I know of none have had (or admitted to) this problem. At 3.23 ratio generally the guys have pulled the O/d out as it becomes redundant. Fastback NZ

Finished this project off tonight, set up the advance went for a road test. Wow !!!. With the old dizzy it ran fine, started easy, idled smooth ran good. But with the HEI dizzy in it that engine pulls like a schoolboy! The flattie actually puts out horses like I never knew it could. And it still starts and idles as well as it did before. For me the HEI works, I am a happy camper. Again many thanks for your comments and suggestions. Fastback NZ

I don,t understand why you are blaming the block for the fitment problem. After all the original part fit correctly did it not? So then you get a piece from another corporation that has been modified in several ways, and wonder why it doesn't just drop in! My first suspect would be the foreign piece. Will you blame the engine if you can't get it timed or it doesn't run smoothly,there is a miss or it doesn't start right? Hi Greg. I can feel a ridge about 1/2 way down the channel, which seems odd. And yes I accept it is an aftermarket product made to different tolerances. However given I can find no other comments about the difficulty in sliding the dizzy into position I have assumed that this ridge is the issue. No I won't blame the engine if there is a miss or doesn't start right as these issues were not present prior to changing the dizzy therefore this would be an illogical and irrational assumption.

Hi All. In and running, a little rough but I just wanted it to run before I quit for the night. I will set the advance tomorrow and then road test. Apart from slight challenge getting the dizzy into the block (perhaps poor machining on my block) the rest of it is easy, and the unit seems to run quite nicely. Many thanks guys I appreciate your help. One final question, at the tang end of the dizzy shaft, Mr Langdon appears to have "glued" on a collar to thicken the end of the dizzy shaft immediately up from the tang ..... what's the deal with this ??. Fastback NZ

Thanks Papajohn I guess the vacuum can does hang down, looks odd when in that position. It would be interesting to know if that is where everyone else ended up with their HEI positioned in this way. Fastback NZ

Thanks for your info guys. No not a 25" long block, just your common garden variety 218 flattie. I have removed the round bush off the HEI (with the spring pin through it into the shaft) and given it a shave, and chamfered the leading edge, this seems to allow it to drop a little further into the block, so that at least the tang engages. The vacuum advance in the dizzy is still in the way, against the dipstick on the right and a copper drain tap on the left. I guess I will pull that drain tap which sits proud of the block by about 1 inch and put in a plug instead. I hope this works because the only other way this thing will sit is with the vacuum unit pointing at the road .... and that ain't so good.

Sorry for the delay in responding, no sooner posted this than I had to leave the office for the morning. Thanks for your posts. I can't locate the dizzy into position even without the pinch bolt set on it, it just won't slide in enough for the tang to engage. If anyone can post up a pic of their HEI in place that might help. I will have another try over the weekend, if not then take some photos and call Tom might be the best option. The fitting instructions talk of inserting the dizzy when 3 and 4 cylinders are at 1/2 stroke (or something similar) I don't quite understand why this is required.

Hi Guys. I haven't posted in ages, but have been watching from the sideline. Good to see you all still having fun. I got a Langdon dizzy (38-7283) and just can't get it into the block. I can feel a very slight lip inside the dizzy hole in the block and wonder if I have a poorly machined black. Could this be the issue, or is there a trick to getting the Langdon in? The original dizzy just slides right in. The other question is the vacuum chamber on the outside of the Landon dizzy sits way lower than on the original dizzy, and seems to either hit the block, or get tangled with the oil lines (external bypass oil filter) etc. Whats the deal here, do you have to point the vacuum side of the dizzy down toward the ground ? Welcome any comments as to what I am doing wrong here. Thanks Fastback New Zealand.