Engine Sputtering Suddenly, Magnet Broken In Dist?

[sharp2377]

I have a 93 with a carbed 351w. Mild build, basicly a 12 second street/strip car. The motor only has maybe 500 miles on a full rebuild. I was driving home and it was running great, then all of the sudden when i downshifted coming to a light (not hard) the motor backfired and stalled. I was able to get it running enough to get me home but I couldnt take my foot off the gas or it would stall. I have checked the fuel,
fuel seems to be spraying fine into carb and has a steady 5 psi., I changed plugs ( they looked good to begin with) I then went to the distributor. I have a summit(mallory) mechanical advance distributor and had a new pickup and cap laying around so decided to change those. When I remove the pickup the magnet under it was broke in half. would this be causing my issues or do i need to look elsewhere? would the magnet cause hard starting, low vacuum, and no power? Trying to get this ready in 2 days for mustang week MB

 

[jka]

Yes that would cause your problem. I have had a lot problems myself with so called performance ignition parts like distributors and TFI modules/i'm running EFI. Sometimes stock replacement parts are better and last longer and the warranty is a lot better too. It took me a while to fine this out but now i spend less money.