Alright, here we go I am not a ford guy, and i need an q answered fast i am sure this is posted soemwhere here but i need a fast response so don't hang me.

I have a ski boat with a 1989 351w ford engine. it has a points distributor not electronic ignition like they actually would have in 1989. I need to kknow the points specs for an early 80's 351w. I am redoingt he points in my distributor and i can't find it anywhere.

Also I think may have screwed upt he wires whe i put the cap backtogether. i knwo this makes me sound like a complete idiot but i do knwo my way around the garage, this is not my first engine rebuild i jsut lost track when i was changingt he wires over.

I also realize it is a different application but Everyhting else has been working out to the be the same as early 80' fullsized trucks so the points should be the same.
any help?

 

Ford went to electronic ignition in 74, so the early 80's trucks had the duraspark not points. The 351 firing order is 13726548. Looking at the front of the engine, the left bank, front to back go's 1234. The right bank from front to back is 5678. If I were you, I would ditch the crappy points distributor, go to the JY and find a duraspark setup off of a mid 70's-mid 80's car or truck, youll be much happier and youll never have to mess with points again.

 

Point gap was .021 for the 70 351W and dwell is supposed to be 24-29 degrees. You need a dwell meter to accurately set points. Dwell is more important than the gap. My advice is to buy a Pertronix or Crane XR-1 unit and replace the points, points are the last thing you want in a marine application. Doesn't take but a slight bit of moisture to render them ineffective. The act of washing the engine back in the old days invited an ordeal with getting it started again.

 

Thanks guys!!

Racin:
Which point on the distributor would be number one or the starting point of the firing order??
Also what is involved in changing it over?? how many parts and how much does it cost? and where do i get parts?? i asked alot of parts placed up here and no one really had an answer for me other then like a $1000 msd system. Is it jsut a different distributor?

Bad:
thanks for the points specs that was what i was looking for and could not find, as far as changing if i knew more about it i would but i don't so i jsut got the new condenser and points. i am a benz and subaru guyt hat is wht i grew up with and fixed, and i never got into the turner stuff, jsut maintainance so i never got into anything like this stuff. I have a mechanic coming over who knows how to det it and has a dwell meter so i have that covered.
I would still be interested in the specifics for getting away form points, but i don't have alot of money.

thanks guys!!

 

The electronc conversion modules are really simple, if you can replace the points and condensor, you can install these two I listed, they directly replace the points, and use only a single screw where the points use two. Two wires to hook up, both to the coil. These are hardly what you'd call "tuner" parts. I dealt with points for twenty years in the 70's and 80's before these kits came along. I'll NEVER go back to points. Pertronix offers two modules, one sells for around $65, the other about $110. The Crane XR-1 sells for about the same. Summit Racing and Jegs carry both these and other similar kits.

 

thanks bad.

i didn't mean tuner stuf ina bad way i hav ejsut never dealt with points before, so those parts just replace the condenser and points sytem inteh distributor and that is it?? wow i may have to get that!!
Now what do i need to knwo to order those up?? i have a prestolite distributor, any part number that i would ask for directly or jsut ask for the above mentioned parts?

thanks again!

 

All the Ford single points distributors use the same points sets, so a single Pertronix unit will work for all. I've taken the Pertronix from a small block and used it on a big block. The XR-1 is the same.