guys heres a post i left at another board i was hoping to get some of your guys opinions on this as well:

slowly getting this motor to where i want it,who woulda thought tuning a 327 with a rowdy cam would be hard ......anyways i finally got it out today to do a few full throttle runs.well when i got back i decided put my correct timing tape on my balancer,and even put white out where 36' total is using a method the was recommended earlier(tape and mark matched up BTW)
anyways so w/ vacuum advance unplugged i decided to set my timing starting with total at 36'...i then noticed that at idle(900-1100)timing was staying at around 22-26!!i went from one end of the spectrum to the other with the rotor springs(heaviest to lightest)and it only changed when it advanced.i do have the weights and middle plate from the kit in the distributor,what the hell can cause it to only advance 10'?this is a GM HEI..

ok ive been doing some reading and supposedly the HEI is only good for 11 degrees advance...how the heck are you guys getting 36 total and like 12-14 initial?what am i missing?


ANY help is appreciated...thanks in advance

I've only fooled with a couple of HEI units, but here's what I think.

I haven't seen any weights that fit well. The kit's lightest springs are so soft they barely return the weights, allowing them to hang up, the weights fit terrible are too light, and have long tips the part that levers against the center "cam" the light weight and long lever make it difficult to impossible to get a quick advance.

I had to clean out the "notch" the hook section of the weights to allow them to return fully in, shorten the lever that contacts the cam to get more leverage, then it started to work better. It really should be done on a distributor machine, but with enough effort, it can be done on the engine.

If someone makes a good weight kit for the HEI, please post it here.
David

If you are using aftermarket weights, they are thicker than the stock ones so you may need to grind the cross area down on the under side of the rotor. The rotor will basically sit on top of the weights and not allow them to move properly.

Try doing a search on home distributor recurve or on my user name and under ignition. (might br chevelle site) I went through a long disertation on my experience recurving my HEI. Dont give up it can be done. Mine works great. took some reshaping of the arm of the weights. I used the stock weights(liked them the best) My settings are 5-10* base 10* vac can and the rest certrifugal(mechanical). l get 25* mechanical in as soon as possible. If you cant locate it, email me and Ill help.

Good luck
Milan

My experience with aftermarket recurve kits for HEI has been the same as David's. The weights are too light and I haven't been able to get a quick enough curve and still have it fully return at idle.
I've had much better results by modifying stock weights and springs, and by mixing and matching advance cams.

the stock gm wieghts and cam im using with heavy stock springs give me a nice curve that starts at about 1200rpms and ends somewhere around 3000,about 16 initial and 34 total although i limited the total with a custom little stopper thingy i made so you could get a few more. ill pull the cap and check the numbers and post it for you later. aftermarket curve kits suck dont waste your time, you can however grind on stock wieghts and cams and try different springs to get a good curve but its time consuming and somewhat frustrating sometimes. I have found that you really only need a stock hei thats in good shape with a good curve and you dont need any fancy stuff at all, I have a nice aftermarket "high power" hei but my stock one does the same thing.