Electronic ignition for M38?

[wesk]

5 deg's is the basic timing and 10-12 deg's is the governor advance plate timing during acceleration. The 5 is what you use to set the static basic timing. The 10--12 total centrifugal (governor) advance is controlled by the distributor's RPM and the governor plate weights and springs.

Setting initial basic static timing at more than 5 deg's is not healthy for this engine. The engine gets more of a kick back tendency, it can start overheating and cranking becomes more difficult.