V8 to /6 vacuum advance

[ArizonaKid]

Alright, i need a bit of help on this. My darts six has been acting a little stumbly right off of idle and my dad suggested that a different vacuum advance could help.

Heres my question, will a vacuum advance from a V8 distributor work on a six cylinder distributor? The only one i have is in the car, so i don't want to take it out and mess with it to find out it doesn't work, and risk breaking something. (which seems to happen a lot)

Thanks for the help!

 

[mguner]

Looks like one from a small block should fit...
the stock replacement BDW numbers are V-342 or 345 but for the 318 they are V-345 and V345P. The arms may be bent for a different pin hole location in the contact plate and I don't know if the cap location tabs will be in the same place.

 

[mvh]

Depends on the distributor (yours and the V8 ). The canisters all look pretty much the same, but the arm that hooks onto the breaker plate can be different -- different curve, different bend (up and down), different end (some have a peg, some have a hole).

But I don't know about this whole approach -- the vacuum advance isn't going to kick in right off idle. Did you set the timing with the vacuum advance disconnected and the hose plugged?

 

[grumpuscreature]

Pull the distributor cap so you can see the arm coming out of the can. Suck on the vacuum hose and see if the arm moves. if it does the can is OK. Might just need some light oil (3in1 or Hoppes) on the advance mechanism. Might want to try adjusting the can if it's good and oiling things up doesn't fix it. Stick a 3/32" Allen wrench in the vacuum hose nipple and you can feel the adjuster screw. Clockwise for more advance, the other way for less. It's a process. Tweak and drive. Tweak and drive. Tweak and drive...

 

[ArizonaKid]

Whoops, never updated this post. The vacuum advance unit came from a 340, and it did work in the slant.