i got a 77 ford f100 400 in it i got a procomp distributor for little to nothing an i have had nothing but problems. i know the duraspark would be my cheapest route but i also would have to get a wiring harness since i had a hood fire i just used the one wire hook up hei procomp distributor to rememdy that. So has anyone used a summit street strip hei dist? or any distributors that are one wire hei hook up for round 200 or less? i plan on hooking my streetfire ign. box to it an my buddy said durasparks are good with ign. boxes i dunno. i just know that procomp sucks. i got what i paid for. on another note i took of my 650 double pumper an traded for a vac 2nd 670 street avenger and i love the street avenger so much better.

 

I used a Pertronixs and so far so good. Also it's made in the USA.

PerTronix D7132700 - PerTronix Flame-Thrower Plug and Play Billet Distributors with Ignitor III® Module - Overview - SummitRacing.com

 

i am looking at using the mallory 85 series (855670) Mallory Ignition 8556701C - Mallory 85 Series HEI Distributors - Overview - SummitRacing.com has anyone ever used this distributor? surely its alot better then the procomp i have. but pertronix is good i had a pertronix i think it was flame thrower kit put in an old duraspark an it was great.

 

Mallory. YUCK! Only if you are a Chevy guy! HEIs have interferance issues with the coil pack sitting on the distributor. There is a reason GM when away from that design. You are better off with a Duraspark.

 

one thing for sure throw that procomp thing as far into the hottest deepest volcano/lake/ forest fire that you can. Do not ever touch that stuff with an excrent covered stick.

 

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Mallory...even for a FORD guy. And the HEI is a GREAT unit.Does not require a resistor to the coil,runs FULL 12v,one wire hook up...cleans up engine compartment. And I know the Mallory HEI in my AMC is made in the USA.
And I am curious what this "interference issue"is?

 

The good thing about the duraspark is you can get one in the junk yard for cheep. It is a very simple megnetic pickup but does require some sort of an ignition box, either the factory ford one or any msd type box like you said you were going to run. If you do run that setup then you don't need the resistor for the coil either. I think that would give you your best ignition for the $.

check this sight out for a how-to on recurving a duraspark

Duraspark recurve

O and you can get the duraspark from any 351 c/m or w motor or 429/460, just replace the cam gear on a 351w distributor with the cam gear you have now.

 

"The biggest draw back to the GM HEI is the coil in the cap, and the module in the cap design.
Coil in the cap means that all of the Radio Frequency Interference, and Electro-Magnetic Interference that the coil produces (and believe me, they are REALLY cranking out the 'noise'!!) is directed at the module and the pick up trigger coil...
(Ford fixed this by moving the module and coil to different locations.)

And if that weren't enough, the high voltage from the secondary side of the ignition passes within 1 1/2 inch of the module!!
One ground fire to the module, and you walk!
When the high voltage escapes to ground inside the distributor,
(That's when, not if...) you are guaranteed a false firing of the Hall Effect trigger.
(Ford fixed this by using a much taller rotor, and shielding the Hall Effect trigger.)

The center electrode (Button) is normally a soft, relatively high resistance graphite.
This graphite comes off when the voltage is passed through it, and when the electrode comes into contact with the moving rotor, and small amounts of CONDUCTIVE graphite are distributed all over the inside of the cap and on the rotor, causing the high voltage to follow it, instead of going to the spark plug terminal like it's supposed to.
If you see black dust in the cap, or on your rotor, you have the problem.
(Ford uses a much harder, and lower resistance center electrode to correct this problem.)

With the short rotor barely covering the internal centrifugal advance mechanism, you are guaranteed to get lots of firings to ground, both around, and through the rotor.
(Look for 'Red Dust' inside your cap and rotor. That is the residue of extreme heat 'welding' the advance weights to the pivot pins from ground firing.)
(Ford Solved this problem by using a much taller rotor, physically putting distance between the distributor internals and the high voltage.)

The HEI distributor cap is non-vented, so the high energy discharges build up ionized air, called Ozone. This ozone promotes ground fires, cross fires and chain fires inside the cap, further adding to the confusion...
(Ford fixed this by venting the distributor housings, and in some cases, the caps themselves. Also, Ford uses vanes in the cap to stir up the air and keep the ozone from collecting in the top of the cap.)

There is a lot more, but it all gets VERY technical from here, and we will start to loose people at this point...."


GM HEI vs. Motorcraft/Duraspark ignitions (very long) - International Full Size Jeep Association

Is that enough info for ya? Im sure the Mallory is a much improved unit, but still, that huge ugly distributor in the front of your "Ford" engine = YUCK!!!

 

The simplest and best is a duraspark dist, a GM HEI module, and a Ford TFI module.
Its all explained at gofastforless.com it has a hotter spark than a duraspark and it hooks up with 4 wires dist to module is 2 module to coil is the other 2.

 

I fully understand all that info. I too use to own a G.Wagoneer and am a member @ IFSJA. I have NEVER had any problems with any HEI in the 25yrs I have been driving though.(yeah I know still a pup) I did not say the DS II is a 'BAD' unit,it just uses alot of wires(clutter) to operate.
Now the GM module to DS II dizzy W/ TFI coil, I really like.,but then again it's still cluttered up.

 

The Pertronix that I linked too has been great so far, it's a 2 wire hookup to the coil, has a built in adjustable rev limiter, has a low profile, is not cluttered at all, and it's cheap.

Now the only potential issue that I can see is the module is located under the cap, I'll take my chances with that one. The low 12volt issue can be fixed with a relay simple enough.

 

im running a duraspark distributor hooked up to a streetfire ignition box an a accel super stock coil. its night an day from the procomp. i changed that an went from a 650 double pumper with mech. 2nds to a 670 street avenger with vaccum 2nds an truck is night an day. its a great setup now. the duraspark cost me a total of 50 bucks with new cap rotor etc. so i had bout 80 bucks in everything.