Distributor and Ignition Info Thread

[Wolverine]

Has anyone successfully added both an HEI distributor and functioning ram air to a 71-73 mustang with a 351C4V?

If you search here, you will someone who just modified their ram air cleaner to fit an HEI.

HEI is one of my passions.

2 issues:

1. Most HEI's will bump up against your air cleaner. My wife and I went to a car show today, and when she saw how the guy had to trim his air cleaner because of the wide diameter air cleaner SHE was flabbergasted.

Solution: Purchase a SALVAGE(preferred)($40) or REBUILT 1974-1996 Duraspark Distributor. If you salvage, send it to DAVE RAY who will CORRECTLY rebuild it and calibrate it to your engine. People complain about Dave, but not his work. http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/

If you buy rebuilt, then you can wire in the HEI and tune the distributor vacuum and centrifugal advances yourself. Pretty straightforward. Google it.

Everyone else's solution IS NOT SPECIFIC TO OUR MOTORS- Caps to big, billet distributors to tall.

2. Tach. Our tachs are CURRENT DRIVEN 6 volt tachs. If you get ANY vendor who sells an HEI distributor to you and SWEARS ON A STACK OF FORD SERVICE MANUALS that your tach will work, I would sure like to know how.

You can have your factory tach raped to put in modern electronics to allow it to work, you can send an idiot light gage to a garage mechanic to add a tach(keeping the lights working), or you can wait 6 weeks or so for me to provide a solution.

I hope to have a complete wiki on this in about 2 months, when I have MY motor running and my sons. But, I recommend DAVE RAY(who will probably take 3-4 weeks).

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I have a Performance Distributor HEI and my factory tach runs just fine. Been in my car for two years. I'd hate to replace it as finding people that will actually set up the mechanical advance curve properly is difficult. I had considered welding an offset base to the air cleaner portion and extending the plenum with some fiberglass, but I don't think I have the hood clearance and while I have thrown money at solving a problem or two, I am not cutting up 500 worth of parts on a hunch.

http://www.rccinnovations.com/index.php is a Mercury focused instrument converter and does build plug and play headlight relay andwiper delay units etc for Mustangs and has 71-73 products available.

 

[Wolverine]

I have a Performance Distributor HEI

Do you have the coil in the cap, or the wide diameter body?

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I have a Performance Distributor HEI

Do you have the coil in the cap, or the wide diameter body?

coil in the cap


Here you can see the interior, the new tranny, the tunnel mounted hand brake, the subframe connector, x pipe, hooker headers

My engine compartment still needs some work, it is not bad, but it is not as sanitary as it could be.


more stuff I failed to list in my profile, gear reduction starter (for a early 90's Full sized Bronco 5 speed I believe was the part I had searched by) and my custom radiator cover cut from a junkyard lincoln late model I found at pull a part.

 

[Wolverine]

Sorry, in my first post I thought you were looking for an HEI to buy, not that you had an HEI and wondered what issues you would have with the RAM AIR.

Your pictures are great. Are those 18" wheels?

That coil in the cap is a RAM AIR killer. Not only is it wide, but I believe that is on a billet distributor also, so it sits high. They should not sell that as a fit for our application. Really irritates me.

Again, someone recently posted a photo where he trimmed his ram air, so if you search the site for TRIM RAM AIR I would expect you would get a hit. Surprised he hasn't posted here.

Also, how do you have your tach hooked up? People here have reported that tach going out after a couple of months. I know there is a TACH output on the HEI module, but that output isn't compatible with our tachs.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I have it hooked to the tach output through a ballast resistor It is no more inaccurate than it was before and it still moves smoothly.

I have it hooked to the tach output through a ballast resistor It is no more inaccurate than it was before and it still moves smoothly.

Wheels are 17's 8's up front 9's in back with 4.75 backspacing.

I do have a good front bumper, but it weighs so much I am waiting on aluminum mounts and a fiberglass shell from Crites http://critesperformanceparts.com/ though I have been warned it may take a LONG time to actually get them.

Thank you for the complement, I'm sure I could have taken better pictures if I wasn't too lazy to put on shoes tonight

 

[Wolverine]

I have it hooked to the tach output through a ballast resistor It is no more inaccurate than it was before and it still moves smoothly.

Did you find the post I mentioned regarding trimming the air cleaner?

I am building a circuit to get our tachs to run with HEI. Waiting on parts.

How much is your tach off? Does it vary with engine speed?

How is Nashville these days? I have a very good friend who will be spending some time down there over the summer.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Nashville is a great town. Been here 20 years and can't imagine living back in Memphis where I grew up.

Tach is pretty accurate on the low end, but by the time it reads 7000 rpm, my engine is at no more than 6250-I just use it as a general reference as I've always believed Ford Tachs to be decorative only. When mine fails I'll get Rocketman to convert it over if I don't do it beforehand. a 38 year old tach is bound to have some wear and be more prone to failure and as you clearly know, a failed tach will kill the ignition circuit if the circuit hasn't been rewired to bypass using the original wire to power up the ignition system.

Funny story . . . my car blew the fusible link shortly after I got it and before I did anything to it. I managed to get it to start by jumping it at the solenoid, but it would barely run I know realize the ignition circuit was running on whatever minor feedback it could get. I managed to limp across the street to an Auto Zone but my car backfired so badly I completely blew one of the mufflers apart at the seam and the rear half blew off. When I got a flashlight and poked around I pinched a soft spot in the wire and knew what had happened, easy fix, loud ride home.

 

[vamach1]

I gave up with the HEI and ram air idea and just put in the Crane module similar to the Pextronix. I see Pextronix now has stock size distributors so that could be the answer if you want an electronic ignition. I'd recommend upgrading the coil too if you go this route.

http://www.pertronix.com/prod/new/details.aspx?ID=144

It says Ford small block - can I assume this would work with a Cleveland?

 

[Don65Stang]

+1 on the duraspark.

 

[marks73]

I held on to the Duraspark set up out of Frankenstein just in case. Not at the point I really need to be worried about it yet. But I'm sure when I am , I'll have all the help I need to make it happen.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I think I am going to forget about a ram air set up, but may use a plenum and the flappers hooked to engine vacuum to cool the air in the engine compartment and for the exterior look. I know it could dump a lot of water in the engine compartment, so I may think of a way to run vacuum thru a switch that will cut it off when the wipers are activated. I don't drive in the rain on purpose anyway-that is a task for my Toyota.

 

[Wolverine]

I gave up with the HEI and ram air idea and just put in the Crane module similar to the Pextronix. I see Pextronix now has stock size distributors so that could be the answer if you want an electronic ignition. I'd recommend upgrading the coil too if you go this route.

http://www.pertronix.com/prod/new/details.aspx?ID=144

It says Ford small block - can I assume this would work with a Cleveland?

That distributor looks small, but it is taller than stock.

 

[gpierce]

That distributor looks small, but it is taller than stock.

Definitely is taller, and will not clear ram air.

Ask me how I know

Greg

 

[Mister 4x4]

There are lots of opinions on which distributor/ignition/coil combination to go with, but nobody really spells out what all is included in each set-up. So, with the following in mind, I need some help making a decision:

- 351 Cleveland 2V with functional Ram-Air

- Comp Cams 214/214 @.500" (284/284 @ .566") hydraulic roller cam

- Roller lifters & 1.73 roller rockers

- Hooker Competition headers

- 9.5:1 flat tops

- Holley Black electric fuel pump w/Mr. Gasket pressure regulator

- Factory Tachometer

- This car's going to be a 'daily driver' with an occasional burn-out or whatever... no racing.

I need to know what distributor set-up will work better with the factory Ram-Air: Pertronix Flame Thrower II or a Duraspark set-up with Ford 300 Super-Coil (TFI) and Duraspark 'Blue Grommet' spark box. I have a Duraspark/TFI/Blue Grommet set-up in my Jeep, and it works like a champ... really woke up the tired old AMC 258 I-6 w/.065" gaps, and cured the 'rich' condition along with an MC2100 2bbl carb.

What I need on top of which would work better, is also wiring instructions (with a diagram if possible) and list of parts required to make each set-up happen.

Sorry it seems like a tall order, but I'm really wanting the best bang for the buck (pun intended), as well as a comprehensive way forward on how to get it done without much guesswork involved. If I go Pertronix, I'll get a second module so I don't have to worry about downtime... so parts availability is not an issue.

If there's something better or I'm missing something on either set-up, please chime in. I'm not interested in an MSD, or any other kind of big-diameter cap HEI set-up, because it's all gotta fit under a factory Ram-Air air cleaner and work with the factory tach.

Have fun - can't wait to see what you guys come up with! There are no wrong answers (except if they involve something that requires cutting the air cleaner to fit).

I was also going to ask which headers - Hedman's Ceramic Coated or Hooker Competition Ceramic Coated, but after everybody's testimonies about how the Hookers fit better with less hassle, I decided to bite the bullet and just get them, even though they're $169 more than the Hedmans - I didn't want the painted headers because they tend to fade and go south after several years of daily use and I don't want to be replacing them anytime soon... especially since I plan on keeping the car forever.

 

[Don65Stang]

Eric, Go with a DS II like in your Jeep. The link below will get you pointed in the right direction...just ignore the 6cyl stuff. Lol

http://www.classicinlines.com/DSIIswap.asp#About

 

[marks73]

Eric, Go with a DS II like in your Jeep. The link below will get you pointed in the right direction...just ignore the 6cyl stuff. Lol

http://www.classicinlines.com/DSIIswap.asp#About

Don,

Are you sure it will clear the air cleaner on a functional air cleaner?

 

[Mister 4x4]

Eric, Go with a DS II like in your Jeep. The link below will get you pointed in the right direction...just ignore the 6cyl stuff. Lol

http://www.classicinlines.com/DSIIswap.asp#About

Don,

Are you sure it will clear the air cleaner on a functional air cleaner?

Yeah, I would think that's still a concern. I was thinking the DS-II dizzy had a smaller cap diameter like the Pertronix (or stock unit).

 

[Totalled]

you can run a big or small cap on a DS dist. They are functionally the same body as the original points unit.

Is it points, or duraspark? Sharp eyes will know.

 

[guys72Mach1]

Our engine specs are very similar, my cam is a little bigger and I am running a mechanical fuel pump and the hedman headers. I went with Hedman cuz they tuck up into the frame tighter then the Hookers and I'm lowered 3", so the clearance was important for me.

I am running the billet Flame Thrower D132701 with the vacuum/machanical advance from Summit and am really happy with it.

One thing to note though, it is really tall and I needed to put a 1" spacer under the air cleaner to get some clearance. It didn't touch, but I didn't like the way it looked with the air cleaner so close.

Functionality wise, it's great though, no complaints and really nice to have the mech/vacuum advance curve adjustments.