I used several of those tricks on the HEI we were required to run on the "claimer" engines we ran on circle tracks in middle Tennessee. Aftermarket ignition such as Accell, Mallory, or MSD was illegal- - - -a "cost saving" concern for the "training wheels" division known as "street Stock". That class was also known as "Cheat all you want, but cover it up!" I would restrict the movement of the centrifufal advance weights by about 10 degrees, and add a orresponding amount to the initial timing setting. Then I'd grind off half the projections on the reluctor ring, which allowed the engine to rev to 7K+ RPM without spark scatter, even when using the OEM module. Since the pickup coil still had all 8 points, all the cylinders would fire. The final mod was to lock down the vacuum advance to prevent the pickup coil from vibrating and disrupting the high speed timing- - - -no need for vacuum advance on a race engine- - - -we really didn't care about gas mileage. With the above mods, my engines consistently got at least 1K RPM more than my competition, so we could gear the cars for better acceleration off the turns.
The tech inspectors were too dumb to catch those mods, as well aso some pretty extensive internal modifications that could only be found by disassembling the engine.
Jerry
