Sounds like you have a Ford Duraspark distributor. First question. Are you changing from points to electronic? If so you also have to have a control module to make it work. If you already have a module and are just replacing the distributor we need to know which module (brand) you have. Basically the Black wire is just a ground. The Black/Purple and the Black/Orange go from the magnetic pickup to the module. The symptoms of having those two wires hooked up backwards is the engine will start but will not accelerate and may backfire through the carburetor. Just swap them and it will get happy. We can help you wire it up with a little more info. I personally use the Chrysler module, it makes a cleaner install than the Ford. Here is a link to made in the USA parts FBO Performance Ignition for all Makes, Muscle Cars, Street Rods, Race Engines. Specializing in Mopar Ignition Products, Distributors to Computer control ECU's. Home of the HRR688 this guy is very knowledgeable. But if you need to do it cheaper we can help with that also.

 

Not trying to hijack here but, I've been considering the duraspark/Ford module conversion. Interested in hearing any other thoughts you have on the Chrysler module since I've no experience with it at all. What's cleaner about it? Is performance the same? Since my plan is to scour the bone yards, what years should I look for?

 

I wouldn't advise using junk yard ignition modules. But the plugs are worth mining out of a junker. I will post something later. Right now I'm trying to clean up outside the shop before we start another week of rain/snow tomorrow.

 

Well I guess we've hijacked Jettboy's thread but he might want to know this too. I'll try to not write a book here. First for all the points guys out there it has been proven many times on dynos that a NEW points distributor will produce power equal to an electronic system. But the points system begins to degrade with every mile put on it, electronic systems do not. I personally have never had an electronic ignition fail but I have been on the side of the road with points problems many times.
Most factory ECU's will pull retard in as the rpm goes up, "not good". The Ford box will do this. The good aftermarket Mopar boxes don't do that. If you were to buy a complete system from Performance Distributors you would get a Mopar ECU with it.
Here are a couple of pics of my install. The ECU is inside the cab, No moisture, No heat and it is out of sight. Under the hood other than that Duraspark plug it appears stock.
I used the FBO box on this truck because it was made in the USA, came with a new coil with a built in resistor, has a good warranty and it has a built in rev limiter which I felt I needed on this Cleveland to keep it in one piece. But if you are looking for the cheapest way possible you can put together a good daily driver system with off the shelf parts. Here are a couple of parts numbers from Summit, the ECU is SUM-850018, the harness SUM-851010, you will also need a 40kv coil for an electronic ignition an a 1.25 ohm resistor. The Summit box comes with a wiring diagram.
The diagram is how performance distributors wired theirs.

 

Thanks Cropduster for all that. I like that you installed the box inside the cab. Since I want to keep things looking original, that seems like the perfect solution (one I hadn't thought about). I noticed that your distributor is the smaller one also. That would be similar to the Duraspark 1 I believe, and looks the same as original. I don't like that the Duraspark 2 is larger than the original. That seems to be what most people go with and I do know there are some benefits. I didn't know the ECU would retard timing at higher rpms. That and the fact that a new one is relatively inexpensive would be reason enough not to go with a salvage part. Part of my thinking behind that was that a lot of the aftermarket ones are not very reliable compared to an original. Leaves a lot to consider but it seems that if done right, I could still do it for under $100.

 

It is possible to put a system together for under $100 if you already have a good distributor. As far as the distributor cap goes the housings are the same so the small cap will go on in place of the big cap. You just swap the cap and rotor. One word of caution on distributors, new aftermarket ones are made in china, most new rebuilds are Mexico. If you get one check the gear location and the end play before you install it. I have looked at 2 new and 3 rebuilt that had the gear put on without enough end play to allow the gear to set down on the pad in the block. I personally have given up on using either one of those and just go to e-bay and look for a reasonably priced NOS Motorcraft and recurve it to what I need. I don't have a distributor machine so it's a PITA to do it on the engine but it works.

 

Thanks for clearing that up about the cap size. Part of my reasoning for pick & pull parts is that you can physically compare many different parts and to some extent, better understand things unsure about. While I like to think I would've figured out the cap difference, I'm glad I now learned that beforehand. Based on what you've said so far, I think my original plan wasn't too far off. Since my distributor is good, I'd swap the points/condensor with a Duraspark switch/trigger. Then wire it to the Chrysler type controller you mentioned. I believe (although admittedly not certain) that since I'm not changing the distributor, I won't have to do a re-curve. Even with the cost of a new coil it seems I could easily stay within budget.

 

In order to convert a points distributor to a magnetic pickup you would have to change all the parts shown from the housing up. It might be possible, I've never tried it.
At the very least you would have to modify the housing for the harness to pass through. I think you only have two real choices. Find a 1974 to 1976 F100 or F150 that has an FE with a Duraspark at the junk yard. Or the best choice for the money you want to spend is to get a new one from a local parts house and check the gear location and end play before you install it. Keep in mind that the sleeve and plate assy. is part of the centrifugal advance so you will have to set the advance curve.

 

Very possible, I've done it many times. There is 1 modification though. In the diagram shown above, there is a "U" slot for the wire strain relief to exit the distributor, on a points distributor, it is a hole(single wire exit). All you have to do is saw down to the hole to create the "U" and you are good to go, it is amazing, but it works out perfectly.

 

If I picked up a used distributor would I still have to re-curve it? I'd guess not. I've never done 1 so a bit hesitant in that sense. I guess I'll start poking around the bone yards and see what's around.

 

I would use a working junkyard OEM module over the crap chinese aftermarket stuff stores like NAPA sell, anyday.
I have done a couple of these conversions with the Duraspark II distributor, high energy EFI coil and GM module and was very pleased with the results. You have to mount the module on a heat sink with dielectric grease

 

That was part of my reasoning behind going the junk yard route. I think it makes sense to get the module CropDuster mentioned and I will most likely do that. I think while I'm at the pick & pull I'll also toss an extra controller and pickup in my tool box as well. Just to have on hand.

 

In general, re-curving any history unknown distributor is a good idea. At the very least, it would need to be checked.

For what it's worth, I've been using a Performance Distributors box (and distributor, coil, and wires) for about 9 years now, daily driven, all year long, in all weather conditions and it has been flawless.

I like the built in rev-limiter with the FBO Box

 

AZSCAWPION
I agree any used distributor you get needs to be looked at closely. Keep in mind that any junk yard distributor you get for an FE will be over 40 years old. Unfortunately no body ever looks inside one they just run them until they won't go anymore. This is a picture of the centrifugal advance out of a 351C that I tore down last week. This is a Motorcraft distributor that used nylon bushings on the advance weights. As you can see the retainer clip is missing on one weight and the pivot pin on the other one was loose in the plate. And both bushings are toast. No way this could have worked like it was supposed to.
I have had 3 Performance Distributors Duraspark kits over the years and they were all very good. But that was before they were part of Comp Cams.
Jettboy.. Are we being helpful here or just getting to far out in the weeds??