uuuhhhhhh... for what it's worth, isn't the slant six vacuum advance interchangeable with the small block mopar? i seem to remember buying a recurve kit from crane cams a few years back and the package said the advance canister and springs that were in the kit would work in either distributor. it seems to follow that one could find the canister they wanted by considering s/b stuff as well.

-james

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I thought the vac can was a mirror image on the small block distributors. I'll have to take another look to be sure. I know for a fact, that the armature from a 318 distributor will work on a slant six by just changing from the 8 point reluctor to the 6 point reluctor (this is electronic distributors only)

As for springs, you should be able to adjust the loop on the heavy spring with a pair of needle nose pliers. It is also possible to adjust the lobes or tabs that the springs mount to.
9 or 10 degrees of mechanical advance still isn't enough. The number stamped on the centrifugal armature (with the slots) should result in double that amount at the crankshaft. Even with 10 degrees of mechanical advance, you'd need an initial timing set to about 20 btdc, but I don't really think that's what you want.

Unless you've incorrectly stated the numbers (it happens) then you really need to get the -mechanical- advance worked out before trying to fine tune the vacuum pod.

You're getting some very good experience. I remember being a little afraid to pull the distributor out the first time, but now I've done it so many times that it's old hat. I've got a box of old distributors to rob parts from and try different spring, armature and vac can combinations. Try Ebay or your local mopar junkyard. Lots of times they have a PILE of slant sixes that they use as paperweights.
If your accelerator pump is adjusted wrong, you could actually be getting a lean problem when flooring it from half trottle. I made this happen by mistake on a friend's car not too long ago. After if coughs, it pulls hard again?

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

After it coughs I usually let up a little on the gas and it recovers.
It's a progressive weber, so I think maybe it's not jetted properly - or do they have an accelerator pump too?

Last night I re-installed the distributor for the zillionth time and drove down to a nearby lighted parking lot to check the mechanical advance.
Somehow the initial timing was advanced about 20 degrees from where it was when I pulled it. (This happened several times either way. I wonder the top part of the governor is not symmetrical and I'm re-assembling it 180 degrees off. When I put the distributor back on the rotor is slightly off one way or the other from the tape that I lined up when I removed it. Not enough to be off one tooth, because I try the next tooth and it over-corrects it.)

I still only had 7 degrees mechanical.
Then I drove up the hill back home and got pinging for the first time.
So, I was mistaken - I can hear the pinging just fine.
I thought the hesitation thing was a pinging symptom, but now I suspect jetting.

UPDATE:
I opened up the slots so they are now about 0.35 inches and readjusted the heavy spring. Now I have the about 15 degrees mech advance at 3000 rpm, with about 10 degrees by 2000.

Now I'm adding clockwise turns to the vacuum can until I get that rattling-pinging sound again.

I'm pretty sure the hesitation thing is the carburetor.

After opening up the slots a little more than I planned to,
I'm getting 16 degrees mechanical advance at 3000rpm.

I set initial advance at 15
Checked timing at 3000 rpm with vacuum advance disconnected = 31
Checked again at 3000 with vacuum advance included = 45

I get about 70 mph at 2800rpm with an A904, so I never go over 3000.

It's very driveable and I'm pretty burnt out on taking distributors apart, so I'm going to drive it like this for a while.

Thanks for the help. My HEI conversion on my 63 Signet is successful.

Great!

[quote] I found only 3 available choices at Advanced Auto Parts:
The late 70's aspen had an 11 can (stamped 11 on the arm) [/quote]


I'm taking dart270's advice and looking for the 11 can. Do you have the part number for the 11 can?

I looked in the database, but didn't find a recent entry.
An earlier entry says a Sorensen vcc535 is an 11 can, but I ordered it from a couple stores and it is an 8.5 can.

No idea on the part number. I know they used them a lot on the late 70s aspen/volare Slants.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

It seems like I'm spreading a lot of bad infomation. I will do my best to correct that now and in the future.

No, the small block distributor vacuum can is not a mirror image of the slant six. I can't verify that they interchange yet, but the part numbers are different. I think the 318 was happy with more advance than a slant six likes.

Searching Parts america, I find that the 1978 dodge aspen has two possible gp sorensen vacuum can part numbers vcc535 (which you've found to be an 8.5) and vcc537 (which I suspect is the 11). I don't know for sure, but all 3 of the distributors that I've pulled out of late 70's dodges have had the 11 vacuum can.

None of my distributors had any ID tags so I can only guess. The guys at the parts store really love me.

Looks like the Niehoff Ignition AL346 should be the same as the gp sorensen vcc535 for distributor id# 3874876
It follows that the NI AL348 should match the gps vcc537 for distributor id# 4091101

Anyone got a tagged distributor to verify?
Better to take a break and return later with a clear head and renewed interest. Sorry again that I gave incorrect info.

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1980 Aspen 225 super six

I found an online cross-reference for Niehoff
http://www.niehoff.com/catalogs/publicinterchange.asp