right now i have stock everything. i'm not looking for an expensive setup, just something to help with economy, and a little power. i was considering pertronix for the coil. will that work, or be "ok" to use? the coil thats on there now is rusty looking and i'm thinking the plugs are close to being 20 years old. the truck inspection ran out in 05. the "newer" motor was put in at 140,xxx it now has 155,xxx on it. so i'm assuming around 15,xxx on the engine. its just that everything is so old and rusty and corroded from sitting for the last 3-4 years. anyway. pertronix, msd, stock....any recommendations of these, pro's...vs cons? thanks in advance.

 

Anything more than a stock ignition system is not worth it on an otherwise stock engine. Just go back with quality stock ignition parts and you'll be in good shape.

 

the reason i'm asking is because i can go to autozone and pay 20 bucks for a stock one. get a pertronix online for 25 bucks shipped. i was just wondering if i DO go get the aftermarket, will i notice a difference? or will i need more "mods" to notice or even need the extra spark.

 

I can understand wanting to refresh a vehicle with some new parts if it has been sitting a while, for piece of mind. However, I'd consider just a few things before you spend any money. If your coil is working, then why replace it? Just because it's rusty on the outside doesn't mean anything is wrong with it. If your plugs are 20 years old, then change them.

As for your coil, don't fix it if it's not broken. Just because it's old doesn't necessarily mean it will give out soon. Coils can easily last 30 years. Coils are extremely simple. They are simply two different spools of mag-wire wound around a magnetic core, surrounded in oil. As long as the oil does not escape from the coil housing, it is very unlikely that it will fail. The number one indicator of coil performance is the ratio of turns of the primary winding to the secondary winding inside the coil, and that can't really change. As long as the windings themselves do not deteriorate, there is very little chance for failure. A quick and easy way to check the integrity of a coil is to measure the reistance of the primary and secondary windings, and then check them against a specification (this depends on what year your truck is - I notice you didn't say what year hence why I am leaving these numbers out). If you find you measure a resistance that is marginally out of spec, then you have a reason to replace the coil. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason to.

Sorry for the long post - but I feel that ignition coils are often blamed for problems and needlessly replaced just because their ease of removal makes them a tempting part to replace. But if you look at what a coil really does, there isn't a reason to unless you have resistance numbers to back it up. Since a coil is only 20 bucks then it's not a huge waste of money, but I'm a numbers guy and like to check and measure things before I decide if they're good or not. Anyway, if you do go with a high performance coil, you may need to open your plug gap some to accomodate the higher spark voltage and prevent the plug tips from burning prematurely. If you want to buy a high performance coil just because you want better performance, a coil alone isn't enough to see anything. There are really advanced setups with ignition boxes that double-spark each cylinder and give you more precise timing control, but that's if you're really serious about it and I'd rather dump money on something else. A stock Duraspark setup is plenty and one of the best ignition setups ever made IMO.

 

thanks for the insight. i'm just trying to figure out these carburated things. the closest thing to a carburator is an 84 trans am when i was 17 and it was a swapped motor with throttle body injection. as far as igniton i run an msd sci on both of my honda's, and i can tell, but only because i'm pushing far more hp than a stock 300 6 and it is needed. i noticed when i go up a hill in 3rd gear it kinda loads up on me so i down shift into 2nd and it sputters for a second and then takes off. i was under the impression that this was due to a spark issue, or lack there of. but when i replaced my wires, plugs, cap and rotor today it still did it. btw its an 85. is it possible that the carburator just needs rebuilt? i'm not sure what i would be getting into with that, but i'm sure i can figure that out. i thought about just replacing the stock one with a 1bl holley. i saw them at advanced auto for 79 bucks after a 20 dollar core charge, which didn't sound bad to me. its even got the plug for the climatic choke (which i am also assuming i have). if necessary i can take pictures of the engine bay and components to help along here. its just that i am trying to make this as "new" and reliable as i can. eventually i plan on "fixing" it up a bit and making a decent daily driver out of it. thanks for all your help!

 

The uphill thing is probably a carb issue; you should check your timing as well. If you have no service records on the vehicle then you might want to go through the carb sooner or later. I usually rebuild the carburetor anytime I pick up a vehicle. It's amazing what little issues will disappear when you do a complete tuneup including a carb rebuild.

A Carter 1 barrel is a pretty simple setup and would be good to learn on. I'd stay away from carbs bought "new" from parts stores. You can rebuild a Carter YF\YFA for about 50 bucks - figure 20 to 25 for a rebuild kit, 20 for a gallon of chem-dip, and a few bucks here and there for carb spray, fuel filter, base and spacer plate gaskets, etc. If you played with Legos or built model cars when you were little then carb rebuilding is for you.