Distributor and Ignition Info Thread

[turtle5353]

If you want your stock tach to work with a msd dizzy and box you need to buy a tach adapter... http://www.summitracing.com/parts/msd-8920

Or you can send your stock tach out to rocketman RCR innovations and have it converted to work with the msd.

As far as power I think I tied into the pink and green wire but cant remember ????

 

[sicndhed]

Keep in mind that Ford "two wire" tachs are current triggered units not voltage triggered like a three wire tach.

 

[Omie01]

I bought the 8350 ready to run from MSD.

 

[turtle5353]

If you want your stock tach to work with the ready to run dizzy, you will have to buy the 8920 adapter. The gray tach out put from the dizzy will go to the 8920 adapter white wire. Then the adapter red wire will run to the tach. The violet wire from the adapter will not be used. One wire on the original tach will be hot with key if I remember right, and the other came from the + of the coil. You want to hook up the adapter red wire to the wire of the tach that was originally fed to the + of the coil. that should do it. or you can send out the tach to rcc and have it converted and just run the gray output wire directly to the new tach.

 

[jbojo]

omie01.

I have a new adapter that you can have if you want it. I converted my Tach from RCCI so I don't need it, let me know.

 

[jbojo]

I know that there has been a lot of comments about how tall and wide the MSD distributors are and therefore have clearance issues with the Air Cleaner fitment. In my case I am using the MSD 8580 and had to modify the air base in order for it to fit. The 8580 is 9" tall and 5 3/8" wide. What I found out is that if you use a 8578 which is a comparable one for my application but for a 351W the dimensions are reduced to 7 7/8" tall and 4 3/4" wide. The shaft diameter is .531" for both distributors but with different teeth.

So if you have a MSD dizzy already but want to make it smaller you can take the gear off your old one out and put it onto the 351w one and it will work. If you buy the 351w dizzy you can also buy the correct gear and just swap them out and you will be good to go.

Bronze gear is PN #8581

Steel gear PN# 85812

Black Cap PN #84313 (If you want to keep the stock look)

71mach1Lady, If that spacer doesn't work for you then you could go this route and should give you the necessary clearance that you'll need. I forgot what dizzy you were using but if I remember correctly it's just shy of 9". It should give you about an extra inch clearance so you wouldn't have to do any more tweaks on your air cleaner.

 

[71mach1lady]

71mach1Lady, If that spacer doesn't work for you then you could go this route and should give you the necessary clearance that you'll need. I forgot what dizzy you were using but if I remember correctly it's just shy of 9". It should give you about an extra inch clearance so you wouldn't have to do any more tweaks on your air cleaner.

Thanks, great information and may be worth the cost to be done with clearance issues

 

[barnett468]

you should use a hardened roll pin if you drive it hard or have a high volume pump.

 

[Sharky]

I've been looking at all sorts of different setups over the last two months. My car has misfired since I got it, and I want to start over to a degree on the electrical/ignition side and then tune the carb for our high elevation and thin air.

But is this a good place to start or a waste of money? If there is something better let me know! I'm also excited to fix the horribly dim interior and exterior lighting this month.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=200987066182

 

[Don C]

An ignition upgrade is a good starting place. The most common cause of misfire is spark plugs, so change them at the same time.

 

[Don65Stang]

I'm quite happy with the popular Duraspark units. Cheap and is a Ford products swap. There have been a few posts about this on here. Good luck.

 

[RacerX]

Either Duraspark conversion or a Pertronix drop in.

Personally the huge gm distributor is out of place on any Ford and there are better, factory appearing systems available.

Edit: checked your link and their "hei" is a small cap unit.

Easy to do this if your distributor is worn out. If yours is fine and you want to keep the stock appearance, do the pertronix.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

That is one hard to read ad!

I have a traditional GM style HEI that was built by Performance Distributors. The extra size is problematic, but it works well.

I'd have to question the ebay seller as to whether the module is the same as GM HEI modules and interchangeable, and even then I'd wonder how he could sell me something CNC machined and warranted for three years so cheaply.

You don't always get everything you pay for, but you very rarely get more than you pay for.

 

[Thin Lizzy]

Had a few problems with mine recently too, so I'm fitting a Pertronix 1281 to mine.

 

[naa10104]

HI,

I have a 73 351 C which had the original coil and points. I went with the Pertronix breakerless ignition which is easy to install and goes into the stock distributor and cap so you can't tell it is there ... it works great. I also bought the 40K volt coil from Pertronix, it is black and looks stock. I used the same set up in a 74 Z28 I used to own and never had a problem with it.

 

[Mister 4x4]

I think it should be a mandatory first mod to get rid of the points (unless you're a purist and insist on keeping it stock... then it's your hassle as part of the game).

Pertronix, Duraspark, MSD, HEI, Mallory, et al., are all good solutions. Some of them fit into a stock replacement situation better than others... but everybody's had their good luck (as well as bad luck) with any and all of these different solutions. It just depends on what you want out of the deal.

 

[Don C]

That is one hard to read ad!

+1, I thought he must be a little shady, but he has a 100% rating.

.I'd have to question the ebay seller as to whether the module is the same as GM HEI modules and interchangeable, and even then I'd wonder how he could sell me something CNC machined and warranted for three years so cheaply.

You don't always get everything you pay for, but you very rarely get more than you pay for.

My thought, too. The cheapest distributors I could find are from Rock Auto, $48 from World Power Systems (??) or $64 for a Cardone reman. And, then, I don't think the HEI module will fit into a Ford distributor, let alone the magnet wheel. So, what is it? Maybe someone on the forum has tried one.

I agree with others, if the distributor is in good condition, put in a Pertronx.

 

[72HCODE]

if your ignition system is in good shape a HEI conversion is a complete waste of money

that said you are having problems, i would diagnose the problem because you can waste money on replacement parts only to cover up what the original problem was or is..

the car is misfiring.

so first inspect the ignition system for loose wires, or wires that have the insulation damaged. is everything tight for the distributor cap.

inspect the cap and rotor, pull the wires and pull the plugs have a look at them, is there a mechanical issue, improper gapping?

if you are using points inspect the switch and possibly replace the condenser as a possible problem source.

some people have really worn out distributors and they are using points. there is a cam on the distributor that can be worn out and cause the points to fire differently on each cylinder that can lead to misfire, an electronic conversion would not use the cam for timing and that can solve a problem, changing to HEI would solve it as well but at a much higher cost.

possibly replace the coil with another one to see what effect it has.

aftermarket ignition wires can cause all kinds of misfire/crossfire and interference problems, OEM wires are great and work well even in most racing applications.

you can do a ignition system tune up if you want to rule out existing parts as the problem, replace the plugs, wires, rotor, cap, points, coil with new and see if the problem is still there.(it might point to another issue)

check to make sure the ignition wires are neat for cross fire and the firing order is correct.

you might have another problem and spending money on a HEI will not fix it. a petronixs conversion works great and keeps the stock look and parts.

we are looking at this from a ignition problem. but you could have a valve problem or head gasket leak or a few other things.

 

[MotoArts]

I've been looking at all sorts of different setups over the last two months. My car has misfired since I got it...

...But is this a good place to start or a waste of money?

- What ignition is in it now? Points, Duraspark, or ?

- Have you positively identified the source of misfire? Bad plug(s), wires, cap/rotor, weak compression, burned valve, vacuum leak... lots to choose from...

If it's points equipped, it's probably a good idea to change to something more modern, but not really needed.

If your misfire is related to anything but distributor related, then yes it would be a waste, IMO. Especially for diagnosing a miss, just throwing a new dizzy at it might not solve anything but lighten the weight of your wallet.

It would kinda be like going to the doctor for a sore back, and he recommends getting a $225 haircut first. Ain't gonna fix yer problem, but you'll look better.

All IMO, of course.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I hope it wasn't your car that I peed in the gas tank last week-sorry if it was.