Wow...huge improvement!

[spidernut]

I noticed that my car seemed pretty sluggish in the last few months. This surprised me given I rebuilt the motor in December. I did some diagnostics and found the vacuum advance diaphragm was bad. I installed the replacement and went for the first test drive today. Dang...I forgot how smoothly this car accelerated! What a huge improvement!

[So Cal Mark]

vacuum advance doesn't work on acceleration, only light throttle conditions

[spidernut]

Mark...I'm not talking about hard acceleration. I'm referencing normal vehicle operation, normal acceleration and normal driving. I only have about 150 miles on the motor that I rebuilt so I'm still driving it easy.

There are two benefits to the vacuum advance working so far:

1. It works and has made a noticeable improvement
2. I no longer have a vacuum leak from a bad diaphragm.

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about 1/4 mile run times....just general operation of the car. My main hopes are for better fuel mileage...2 mpg more would make me really happy.

[bradartigue]

Mark...I'm not talking about hard acceleration. I'm referencing normal vehicle operation, normal acceleration and normal driving. I only have about 150 miles on the motor that I rebuilt so I'm still driving it easy.

There are two benefits to the vacuum advance working so far:

1. It works and has made a noticeable improvement
2. I no longer have a vacuum leak from a bad diaphragm.

Keep in mind, I'm not talking about 1/4 mile run times....just general operation of the car. My main hopes are for better fuel mileage...2 mpg more would make me really happy.

Mark and a lot of others will tell you it doesn't work on acceleration, etc., and I always disagree, and it starts all this controversy.... I'm 100% with you, it makes a tremendous difference in how the vehicle feels. It will turn a sluggish Spider into something very, very different. This is one of the key things that the IDF crowd doesn't get, you can't statically advance a vacuum distributor and get that nice curve. I think the guys who disconnect or over-advance the vacuum units convince themselves the operation is good, when really, it sucks by comparison.

Glad to hear it is working. Having parts that all work as they were designed results in a very satisfying sports car.