Answers to your questions grasshopper
I went to Lincoln Tech back in the day- probably before you were born. Most- if not all- instructors are by the book guys who have to tell the newbs and students not to deviate from factory specs. They are training you to be techs and repair cars,not hot rods. You may come across one that will be a gear head and not preach the Kool Aid.
Here's the deal- for most N/A cars- and Fox Bodies- the factory ignition system will support up to 500+ hp and there is no reason to change the distributor, coil, or add an aftermarket ingnition. If you are running a power adder- boost or nitrous, that is a different story and you should get some CD box to control spark and if no tune control timing retard
Timing- nearly every 5.0 in a fox will pick up low end by advancing the timing from 10 to anywhere from 12-16 BTDC. It's simple physics and math. The same as if you advanced the cam on install. Most cars were set from the factory with timing retarded on purpose for emissions- going back to the 50's You need to run premum fuel when advancing timing to offset any detonation.
As far us us being idiots- I can tell you that there are people on this site that know Mustangs as good or better than your instructor. I was an ASE certified wrench turner for Ford. There are many others that are/were ASE mechanics, parts specialists, engineers, fabricators, tuners,and car builders that your instructor couldn't compare to on his best day.
Remember, you are in school. When you get out into the real world, you will learn how the real world does things, not theory.
and that we are not suppose to advance our vehicles. This statement made me wanna throat punch his ass.but to be fair, is there any validity to either of these statements? My gt is at 14* BTDC
