I'm working on an old mallory comp 9000 YS magnetic pickup distributor. The car needs 20 degrees to idle properly. To acheive 37 degrees total I need to limit the advance curve. To do this there is a metal tang on the plate that you bend as needed to set the throw of the advance. Anyway that metal tang is fatigued and when we did full pulls on the chassis dyno the tang would bend alowing too much advance. I called mallory and the metal tang is not a service part so I'll make a new one. OR
Would it be better to just lock the distributor and invest in a MSD start retard control? Is there any pro's or con's associated w/ locking out a distributor in a drag only car??

i had the comp 9000. the tang was broken off. i sent the used dist to mallory, where they overhauled it like new replacing the plate. later i switched to a MSD with locked timing. i have a 20* start retard and with the locked timing i can here the starter having to grunt a little harder. Dave

If you lock it, you might consider separating the ignition wiring from the starter wiring. Crank the engine over with the starter then turn on the ignition. That's what the big boys do.