Hey there Ford-Truck world. I'd like to introduce you all to my 1975 F250 Dentside project.





I purchased it as a non-running mystery truck from the original owners daughter who didn't have a lot to say about it's current state or any past issues. So I have no idea what I'm starting with but far its got a new carb, replaced stuck lifters and bent push rods, almost all rubber parts are new, drained/flushed and refilled all fluids. I've had quite a few of those "ah thats everything moments" I even took it on a 10 minute drive. Thought I was finally at that point.......then this morning jump in too go and.... no spark. I've so far solved all my prior problems thanks to this database, but this one I have a few questions. First what I know.

-The truck is a Duraspark1 with a green (1975 only) ignition module that doesn't seem to have a very good reputation.
-It has 12v at the positive side of the coil with the key on
-When cranking I have nothing on the other side (no flashing with test light)
-Both wires from the ignition switch to ignition module have power (start/run), so thats working.
-Distributor pick-up is between between 400-800ohms when tested with a DMM. Black wire is grounding properly
-The problem seems to be the Ignition module and replacement is Echlin TP36 (but this has only 6 wires and results of it working correctly are mixed)

I have a lot more reading to do but my question is should swap out my ignition rather then trying to fix what came stock in a 1975? If I understand everything correctly to swap to a Duraspark II, use the much more reliable blue ignition module, cap rotor and adapter from a 460 (or few post said stick with stock dist.), change to ballast resister to 1.10ohms and have a better ignition system. It seems that 74/75 were the "nospark" years and it wasn't till 76 that things were figured out. I've tried to search but using "Duraspark" and "conversion" nets you mostly people swapping from points systems. It was hard to find information from people converting Duraspark 1 into 2, do I have it right?

Or is there a better system completely that I should convert too that I may not be aware of yet? Aftermarket performance ignitions or some other conversion? My goal is to build a reliable driver that works and can be trusted for frequent use so whatever is best, thats what I want.

Thanks everyone for your input.
Cheers
JP

 

One more thing I forgot to add, in the below picture shows 3 connectors. The two on the left go the the coil, distributor, pressure and temp senors, but the 3rd is just hanging there. Not sure what should be plugged in here? Any thoughts?

 

I suppose I'll update this so no one takes time to reply. My truck is running although I can't say for sure why, I've spent the last 2 days with a test light and mulitmeter trying everything I can find. In the process of unplugging and plugging things back in system is now working.

Still not sure if I should take the time to swap out ignitions to a better system but as long as things stay running I'll leave that bridge uncrossed.