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I know this gets frustrating, hell the engine is just 4 lawn mower engines tied together. You need to establish a solid base line or you'll run around in a circle.....I 've been down that road. Install 4 new plugs and go from there, switching wires, confirming the dizzy drive isn't 180 out, vac leaks etc.
What is the correct spark plug gap if I am using NGK 2120 plugs?
.028"
If you have a hotter coil (50,000+ volts) you can gap them at .032"
thank you Gordon
.024 for stock ignition you could open it up to maybe .028 since your using a pertonix
Here's a heads up on junk - fake spark plugs ~
Bobby did you get your car running right?
ARDEN
No. Still having issues. The last thing I tried was replaced all four plugs with new ones. Still missing no timing signal on #1 and #3. I did notice that if I I increased rpmthe signal would appear. Also is I retarded the timing it would show up at idle but the engine would stall. I had to leave for business trip and won`t be back until next Friday. I need to dial in the initial static timing. I was trying to do it by setting #1 at 10 degrees before TDC, watching for spark as I rotate rotor. It was very hard to get a consistent spark. I have seen people use a test light by connection to the negative wire of the distributor at the coil. When I get home I am going to try that.
This has been a real PITA.
Man that sucks! Hey did you replace your distributor cap? You could have a hairline crack in it.
Yes, i actually bought a whole new distributor, cap and coil. I was running the magna spark and switch over to the pertronix 3. That didn't solve the problem. It has been very frustrating. The fact that I can't get a good timing signal on 1 and 3 is very perplexing.
I’m at a loss ! It’s got to be a short somewhere hope you get it figured out. I’ll ask around to a couple guys I know and see if they have any ideas I’ll let you know.
Thanks ARDEN. My father in law who is a retired GM master mechanic said he would con down next weekend to help me.
Bobby, please refresh my memory - What carbs are you running? Dual throat or single throat? Are the heads single or dual port? I'm wondering if this is the old "single throat carb on a dual port head" malady I've heard about before causing #1 & #3 to not fire on idle. Engle 100 and 110 cams with single throat carbs (Empi, Solex, etc) idle on 2 cyls a lot. The only effective cure I know of is a 1/2" dia. vacuum balance tube between intake manifolds.
Also, have you tried running it without a gas cap? That would eliminate a clogged gas tank vent issue.
Gordon
Hpmx 44 duals, panchitos heads, Engle 120 cam with 1.25 rocker ratios 2276 engine size.
OK, one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread are the connectors at the ends of the plug wires.
When I switched from a Pertronix to a Magnaspark dizzy, I had to switch wires because the MS has different connectors at the dizzy.
But the CB wires that come with the MS have different connectors at the spark plugs, too. They have thick, rubber tubes that fit over the plugs. You often have to trim those tubes to get them to fit fully onto the plug (and make good contact) and also to clear the engine tins.
On one of my plugs (#1, as it happens), the wire actually kept popping off the plug until I trimmed it. This is a known issue with these wires.
Numbers one and three are most likely to have such problems because they're harder to reach and almost impossible to see while you're working on them.
Mitch
I will look into it when I get back next Friday. Thanks
Well, so much for my big idea. 
Hey Guys
Somehow I fixed the issues with the dropping cylinders. I am not sure what I did to get them working. I went back to scratch and reinstalled everything and it worked. I did discover a missing advance spring on the Magna Spark. It looked like it broke and fell down into the bottom of the upper housing.
on a crappy note, during my test drive I felt a serious clunking and the shifter pulling back and forth. After further investigation I found the front nose transmission mount was toast. Any recommendation on what to replace it with or upgrade to would be welcomed.
Thanks
Front nose cone mount, the right choice is the NOS OEM rubber / steel mount . Do not use the red urethane the crack / break and are junk, this goes for anything in the red urethane.
As Alan said, the red urethane stuff is crap (I have a torn red trans mount hanging on my garage wall as a reminder), and I second using a new OEM mount. If you're a sporty driver add a Berg mid-mount-
http://www.geneberg.com/produc...php?products_id=1064 and worrying about the front mount moving/breaking will be a thing of the past. Al
ALB posted:As Alan said, the red urethane stuff is crap (I have a torn red trans mount hanging on my garage wall as a reminder), and I second using a new OEM mount. If you're a sporty driver add a Berg mid-mount-
http://www.geneberg.com/produc...php?products_id=1064 and worrying about the front mount moving/breaking will be a thing of the past. Al
I second the mid-mount. I went with the system that was originally sold by Eyeball Engineering. A local guy to me bought all of the EE jigs and is now making the parts. Locks everything in place where it needs to be and stay on enthusiastic starts.
I third the mid-mount. I installed a Berg.
When I had my transaxle rebuilt I wanted to replace the front mount, too, so I asked Carey Hines what they use at Beck and he told me the Rhino Mount - That's what I did.
Thanks guys
Does the mid mount work on Beck Speedster?
Yes it does. I had to replace the mount in my Beck, and Carey sent me a Rhino mount.
Just a note- a mid-mount that is anchored down at the ends with the welded brackets on the frame horns (such as the Berg) will effectively control both up and down movement of the nose cone, while the cheaper style with red plastic on the ends that just bump up against the frame horns will limit the up/down movement somewhat but can still move enough to wear out, make shifting difficult and eventually break the front trans mount. The Berg mid-mount costs more but you get what you pay for. This is not an instance where you want to cheap out.
I think Mitch may have called it with the wires not making proper connection! If he’s right, you could switch wires and the problem wouldn’t follow the wire. I would love to know!
Regarding the spring, it clearly was “a” problem, but not “the” problem since you had the problem before you bought the distributor
Tyranny mount: I used an OEM rubber mount and added the mid mount. No more issues 5 yrs later.
Gordon'
did that rhino mount create any vibration?
Just a little bit more, but not much. It is a slightly stiffer material than stock rubber mounts. Besides, they install them in all the later Beck cars and no one notices any more noise.