Hiya guys, i have an 84 z28 with a 305 engine, my dad decided to suprise me and intall an H.O distributor,new plugs and wires to go along with my new flow master exhaust i paid for.the car is amazing at low speeds and rpg but the second i stab it, i smell burning and the engine pings reaaaaaaaly bad........what the heck is going on?

 

If you had a factory distributor, and your dad swapped in a vacuum advanced distributor, that's your issue. The factory distributor is computer controlled, and works in sync with the carb - you can't swap a non-computer dist into a computer car without also swapping carbs and disabling the computer.

Does the new distributor have a vacuum line to it?

 

Yea it has a vacum advance, my mechanic told me to justush it about an eight of an inch tward the firewall and ittl be fine....however if i need a new carb and need to disable the computer what route do you suggest i take , like the carb i should use and how to disable it

 

It won't be fine - you cannot "adjust" a vac dist to run with a computer carb - it just won't work.

The computer takes input from knock sensor, TPS, IAC, O2, and others, and adjusts the carb as well as retards/advances the timing. There's no way to make a vac advanced dist to work with a factory carb. If you leave it like it is and continue to drive it, you could have bad enough lean condition or detonation that you mess up a piston! That is what the really bad pinging is! Stop driving this car until you get it corrected back!

AND - there is no other better carb setup available for performance or mileage! Aftermarket carb is also illegal in most states.

To keep that distributor, your going to have to get a new carb and a new carb intake. Then, if you have an automatic, you'll need new cable brackets, and a TV cable geometry corrector for the new carb. THEN, you'll need to drop the pan on the transmission and install a torque converter lockup kit so you can still lock the torque converter (since the computer locks it and you won't have a functioning computer without a computer carb and a computer distributor). You're looking at about $700 minimum ADDITIONAL CASH SPENT to keep that $125 distributor. And in the end, you'll have a worse performing less gas mileage car. Not worth it!

I understand you dad was trying to do you a favor with a new present, but you are truly going in the wrong direction here. You need to go back to the computer controlled distributor, explain why to him (let him read this), get a refund, and spend the money elsewhere (like headers).

You truly do not want to stray from the computer controlled setup if you don't have to.

And next time, research what your doing a bit here, or ask, before you do it - save yourself alot of hassle.

And stay away from "mechanics" - back in the day they couldn't work on these cars, and they still can't. These are the first generation of computer controlled cars, they didn't understand them back then, and they still don't today. Get a Haynes manual, read/learn here, and do all your own work. Because your "mechanic" friend obviously doesn't understand a computer controlled carburator.

 

Thanks much man,my pops is pissed and thinks im full of **** but the original distributor is goin back on, like you said before i need to make sure this stuff is researched and pray my babyy hasnt been damaged, i only took it to work today and didnt really push it hard so heres hoping this didnt cost anhything outta my pocket ...cheers