so i have been doing a lot of reading on the ignition in my truck and was wondering what was the best path to take when upgrading. do i keep the IDI and add one of these

Mallory 6856M Mallory Hyfire 6EZ/6EZL Digital CD Ignition Systems

or do i start with a MSD 6A box and then add a dizzy later?

do i want to swith to an HEI setup?

any help on where to start would be much appreciated. i know when i had my mustang, i noticed a huge difference when i added a MSD 6A and better coil. so i know a good ignition system makes a big difference.

thanks
ryan

 

I went with a HEI on my '88 F250 carbed 460 and it runs great.I've got a high lift cam,more compression,headers,etc...I chose the HEI for its one wire hook up and was also able to use my factory tach.The junk off shore units($30 to $50 EBAY specials) are giving the HEI a bad reputation.I also used a HEI on a 351w without any issues.A quality unit with a good module and pickup will last a long time.

 

what unit did you go with. i was looking at a dui from summit. i was wondering how you got the custom map for your setup if you ordered it from summit.

 

Not trying to be a jerk, but when you switched out the components on your Mustang, how do you know that the OEM ignition was working properly beforehand?

Personally, unless you are racing, I'd stay with the stock system and spend your money on a good set of wires, cap/rotor, and plugs. The stock ignition systems on these vehicles put out plenty of spark.

To improve your reliability, if your TFI module is still on the base of the distributor, move it onto the firewall or fenderwell, using an aluminum heatsink (and wiring harness) from a later-year truck.

 

my mustang was a 93 cobra and i added a procharger p600b. it would pull good to about 5400. i replaced the coil and added a msd 6al and it made a huge difference. pulled great to 6000 and the car just had better manners overall. i had just read some things about the duraspark that looked like it could be improved by adding a gm style hei ignition.

 

For high-RPM operation, this makes perfect sense. But for a truck that seldom sees anything north of 3K rpm, I don't see any benefit.

 

X2. No need for double tapping at 3K range.
On my 87', I went w/ keeping my stock distributor, but upgraded to a brass cap & rotor, a 60K volt/ .45 Ohm resistance Pertronex HV Coil, MSD Superconductor wires & Motorcraft Copper cores gapped up from stock .045 to .052. Higher voltage coil allowing a larger gap, therefore increasing the size of your spark kernel doesn't leave much if any unignited fuel for an ignition box to take advantage of. Bumped up my base time to 16BTDC w/ 87 octane. 89 octane on long hard road trips or heavy hauls. 16BTDC is not a must. Anything above 10BTDC will show improvement & no significant return above 16BTDC for an otherwise stock engine.

If you think you may want to go w/ an ingition box later, make sure the Ohm rating of the coil you choose is compatible. The Pertronex HV series @.45 Ohms syncs w/ their ignition box as well MSD's & Mallory.

Upgrading your ignition system, along w/ increasing your base timing is a relatively cheap date, that improved performance & MPG (If you can keep your foot out of it after the Mod) simultaneously.


See Link: http://www.f150forum.com/f10/about-i...ng-bump-53159/

 

ymeski56 - many thanks for posting this! I will save it in my upgrades-to-do file.

I'm currently running all stock, but I have bumped up my base timing to 10 deg. BTDC (once I unfroze the distributor that hadn't been moved in 22 years) so I will have to try a bit more advance and see what happens. Did you notice that you could advance the timing further with the hotter ignition or did you make all of the changes at the same time?

I'm currently gettin 10-11mpg in mixed driving which is better than my 1979 Chevy K20 single-cab got.

I'm with you on the all-brass contacts too, but they seem to be harder and harder to find as the years go on.

 

10BTDC is just "stock" base timing.




No. Not really. As mentioned in the link, upgrading ignition components & bumping the base timing, are two separate modifications that compliment each other.

The Ignition system upgrade is to allow the plug gap stretched to provide firings w/ consistent, adequate spark kernel size to more fully utilize the fuel being provided. A side benefit you will likely experience is a notably lower hydrocarbon reading when smog teated.

The timing bump moves/adjusts the moment of actual firing in the piston's cycle. Hard to explain, but although your actual compression ratio obviously does not change, your rate of compression is increased. A by-product of increasing the rate is will be a combustion chamber thermal increase (Copper Core plugs are far & away best suited for this). Add to that, a reduced wicking effect resulting from full use of fuel, you have a recipe for the possibility of ping, which can be addressed directly in multiple ways.

The Two most effective, is minor coolant system modification of a 180F thermostat &/or wick effect replacement by upping the octane level of your fuel. Neither of these are usually required at or below a 14BTDC base timing advance & increasing octane rating of your fuel should be the last resort. 15-16BTDC is usually where these two methods may need to be considered.

All this being said, the Ignition system upgrade/ Timing bump is the only Mod I'm aware of that will simultaneously increase performance & MPG's. Feel free to PM me w/ any questions during your progress, but I think my link should has a lot helpful info for you.

 

I'll definitely let you know if I need any more info, but right now I have a few more pressing issues to deal with before the winter: leaking windshield, leaking radiator, and a leaking RR wheel cylinder. The joys of driving a 23-year-old truck!