I currently have a 73 F100 with a 352 points DIstributor. I have on my shelf an Electronic one from a 76 390 I am going to replace it with. I have been around the web reading on this for a while, looks simple enough, and my only question is, Do I have to run the stock coil with this or can I use an off the shelf(my parts inventory) ignition coil off of an 89 460?(post type coil) Are there any advantages to this or are the coils the same? Say with the large cap addition also?...And if so what about the resistor I read is in the wiring for the control box? This is just a project truck of mine that will be in the street, daily driving, stages for the time being.
Thanks for the advice,
Olen

 

Olen,
I thinking of changing my 74 points to an electronic system, so I am interested in your progress.

I've been considering the one wire HEI unit.
My only concern with an HEI is the clearence on the Air Cleaner. I might have to use a aftermarket air cleaner.

Please come back and explain how you went about your wiring and items used.
Thanks, John

 

Just put a Pertronix unit in it, under a C note, and be done with it. Stock cap and everything fits. I've had one in my 428cj for over 10 years now and it's still running great.

 

You can run any coil you want with the Duraspark. Now if the coil in question needs a resistor then use one, if not then bypass your resistor to get 12v to the coil.

I don't know if the '89 coil used a resistor.

 

X2 on the Pertronix.

 

Olen, run the 89 coil, you should already have a resistor in the power supply to the + side of the coil that is bypassed by the starter solenoid, just keep that. The stock wire that goes to the + of the coil can remain the same.


John, you'll regret going HEI, the coil in the huge cap is a constant PITA in many ways, there are so many better options.

 

I never have any problems with HEI coil in the dizzy site. Been running a few yrs. now.

Some guys had troubles burning out the carbon Button in the cap. Ya can't put a high out put coil in with out the use a cap of a cap to handle the extra voltage.

GM had some troubles with the Module over heating since the dizzy was at the rear of the engine where it would end up getting extra hot from all hot air blowing across the engine block.

Plus if not enough heat transfer past the Module over heater also..

Orich

 

Orich, you may not have had any big problems but I'd wager you'd agree they are a pain and there's better options. Some things that come to mind.....

4 hold down twist locks are a pain, 2 clips are so much easier to deal with and in many ways more reliable. Often the HEI caps aren't so secure, in particular cheaper caps on cast housings. I've never spent so much time getting caps on and off as I have with HEIs(yeah some of that is the distributor location, but not all)

You mention the carbon button, constant reliability issue and makes it nearly impossible to run a powerful ignition. I haven't looked in a while but I doubt there's much out there in a coil over 45K volts.

Only with an HEI do you have to unplug the ignition when removing the cap. This makes some diagnostic and tuning tasks a pain and tends to lead to broken/worn connections.

The big cap with the coil on top makes plug wire routing a mess. With other caps, most of all the large DSII/MSD cap-a-dapt caps it's easy for the wires to cross over the cap between posts. With a HEI they have to go around in big loops. I see this on yours, you loom your wires well, and likely assembled those MSD wires, yet around the cap they're a mess.

IDK about this one but worth considering, even the DSII can be large with some manifolds on some engines. That manifold is on the small/short side and that's a Windsor not an FE.

In a world with so many options why choose to deal with all that hassle. FWIW though I'm a proponent of the GM style timing controls. To that point some aftermarket HEIs are a cheap way to get that. But you also get it in most aftermarket distributors that don't use the HEI coil in cap setup.


On a separate note, what's the spacer between the bowl and metering block on your carb? Most of all the adjuster on top of it?

 

The red carb spacer is one of the A JUST A JET. it adjust from .062 .092 jet size.
Great for dialing in the carb if you change climates or altitude.

I've got the jetting set at .062 now for best mileage. I can bump it up a few sizes or two if, I hear it run lean with in 5 minutes. So far have not needed to mess with.
I Love it.

I remove the oe main jet block an added the metering block that adjust by the lock nut single main jet on top center.
Orich

 

That there's a handy dingus.

 

Well I know this is majorly late, like one year, but here is the route I went on this project. I did some reading on a TFI module swap, since it will work with a breaker points style distributor and I had extra module and post coil laying around, I bypassed the 8v resistor wire from the ignition to feed the module and coil 12v and hooked the points up to the appropriate pin on the module. Fired right up! I also added some 8mm moroso wires and it runs fantastic! It almost seemed to gain a little power from this. It was super simple and basically all I invested was a little time running a couple wired and I didn't spend any $$ on the parts.( minus the cap and wires which I needed anyways) I guess time is the only true test here. I mounted the module on a heat sink on the radiator support away from heat sources which I read is what tends to kill the Distributor mounted modules. So I also wanted to keep mostly OEM parts I could get at the parts store in the case of failure there would be no specialty parts. I also wired a pigtail on the points - wire and also left the 8v wire intact for the provision of hooking the old system back up in an emergency situation. I often turn to this sight for ideas/solutions to my hair brain ideas! It is a wealth of information, whatever did we do before the internet!

 

Installed 1976 Duraspark ll on the 65 with the 302, and the 65 with the 390, and purchased majority of the items from local NAPA auto parts. Took the point dizzy in for the 'core charge' and swapped for the EI dizzy. Found there was no significant difference in cost between various EI; however, understand pertronix possibly the least labor intensive choice. Not that knowledgeable with regards to the other EI options so I went with a coil that was described for the Duraspark application. Installed 15 years ago with no problems. With regards to the 390, one of the better upgrades, no longer an issue of starting the beast on a cold winter mornings.

Mounted the box under the batt. tray.

 

awesome! I've heard nothing but great reports on this mod.

 

I'm still amazed at how well EI will start my truck in the winters compared to the old points set up.

 

It does seem to start better and I regapped the plugs to about .050 because the coil can handle it. But what I read now( which is what I knew being as it is from a computer controlled enviroment) is there will be no advance in the timing only what the base is set at. Which I read is fine with some race cars who operate WOT but for a street car over the broad range of normal operation can be sluggish and not full potential. Maybe someone can answer this then, my distributor is a breaker points style with vacuum adv, what controls the timing curve in this? The module has the dwell programmed into it but there are no counter weights or anything in my dist for advance.
But I havent driven it lots being as now the trans decided to take a much needed break after only who know how many years. lol
I really appreciate any info folks have on this to educate me.