351 W Questions
Roast em' if you got 'em
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,997
Likes: 9,885
From: Rio Rancho, NM
Dave,
Probably the cheapest and easiest thing you can do is to toss that variable venturi down the driveway (feel free to boost it along its path with several blasts from a shotgun....yea, it feels real good) and bolts on one of the old Motorcraft 2 barrels. They bolt right on, no muss, no fuss. If I remember right the dizzy is "controlled" somehow also. I don't remember too much about them but I know I ended up swapping mine out for the earlier Ford electronic ignition.
Keep in mind if you do the dizzy swap that there is a difference between the 289-302 dizzys and the 351W dizzy. The 289-302's have a 1/4" oil pump drive and the 351W uses a 5/16" drive. I think the dizzy itself is the same. Its easy enough to bang the pin out and replace the dizzy drive gear to make everything match.
On the 81 F-150 I had, after I swapped on the Motorcraft 2brl I never had any more trouble with it. The truck ran great, plenty of pep, decent mileage.
Bobby
Probably the cheapest and easiest thing you can do is to toss that variable venturi down the driveway (feel free to boost it along its path with several blasts from a shotgun....yea, it feels real good) and bolts on one of the old Motorcraft 2 barrels. They bolt right on, no muss, no fuss. If I remember right the dizzy is "controlled" somehow also. I don't remember too much about them but I know I ended up swapping mine out for the earlier Ford electronic ignition.
Keep in mind if you do the dizzy swap that there is a difference between the 289-302 dizzys and the 351W dizzy. The 289-302's have a 1/4" oil pump drive and the 351W uses a 5/16" drive. I think the dizzy itself is the same. Its easy enough to bang the pin out and replace the dizzy drive gear to make everything match.
On the 81 F-150 I had, after I swapped on the Motorcraft 2brl I never had any more trouble with it. The truck ran great, plenty of pep, decent mileage.
Bobby
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Marietta, Ohio
OK, You got me on this one...
Dave,
Probably the cheapest and easiest thing you can do is to toss that variable venturi down the driveway (feel free to boost it along its path with several blasts from a shotgun....yea, it feels real good) and bolts on one of the old Motorcraft 2 barrels. They bolt right on, no muss, no fuss. If I remember right the dizzy is "controlled" somehow also. I don't remember too much about them but I know I ended up swapping mine out for the earlier Ford electronic ignition.
Keep in mind if you do the dizzy swap that there is a difference between the 289-302 dizzys and the 351W dizzy. The 289-302's have a 1/4" oil pump drive and the 351W uses a 5/16" drive. I think the dizzy itself is the same. Its easy enough to bang the pin out and replace the dizzy drive gear to make everything match.
On the 81 F-150 I had, after I swapped on the Motorcraft 2brl I never had any more trouble with it. The truck ran great, plenty of pep, decent mileage.
Bobby
Probably the cheapest and easiest thing you can do is to toss that variable venturi down the driveway (feel free to boost it along its path with several blasts from a shotgun....yea, it feels real good) and bolts on one of the old Motorcraft 2 barrels. They bolt right on, no muss, no fuss. If I remember right the dizzy is "controlled" somehow also. I don't remember too much about them but I know I ended up swapping mine out for the earlier Ford electronic ignition.
Keep in mind if you do the dizzy swap that there is a difference between the 289-302 dizzys and the 351W dizzy. The 289-302's have a 1/4" oil pump drive and the 351W uses a 5/16" drive. I think the dizzy itself is the same. Its easy enough to bang the pin out and replace the dizzy drive gear to make everything match.
On the 81 F-150 I had, after I swapped on the Motorcraft 2brl I never had any more trouble with it. The truck ran great, plenty of pep, decent mileage.
Bobby
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and promptly saw it off behind me. I guessing a dizzy is a distributor. (Teeth grinding, preparing for the thud when I hit the ground...) Also, what is the advantage of switching the electronic ignition on the 83 to some eqarlier model?
you will have to forgive me here because there is a big blank area in my year to year eaperience. From about 75 on I haven't done any engine stuffup to the completely computer controlled EFI stuff. Withn that stuff you mainly just Plug and Pray, Either it works or it doesn't...
Roast em' if you got 'em
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,997
Likes: 9,885
From: Rio Rancho, NM
Dave,
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
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Posts: 2,415
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Dave,
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
Yeah they are tied together.... I did the swap on a Bronco II few years back, wow can't believe those brain cells survived this long
Need a dizzy,a carb and duraspark box and a few wires. Here's a link to a writeup on the swap same idea for a 351 as the 2.8 described.
http://therangerstation.com/tech_lib...Duraspark.html
Roast em' if you got 'em
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,997
Likes: 9,885
From: Rio Rancho, NM
Sparky,
Thanks. good article!
Back when I did it to my truck (83 F-150....I think I might have stated earlier that it was an 81.....dang fuzzy memory) I had a manual tranny so I didn't have to worry about that part of it. I changed the dizzy and the carb. I don't recall having to remove a bunch of the wire harness or anything. Like I said, I got rid of the truck 14 years ago and probably did the conversion 4 or 5 years before that
Bobby
Thanks. good article!
Back when I did it to my truck (83 F-150....I think I might have stated earlier that it was an 81.....dang fuzzy memory) I had a manual tranny so I didn't have to worry about that part of it. I changed the dizzy and the carb. I don't recall having to remove a bunch of the wire harness or anything. Like I said, I got rid of the truck 14 years ago and probably did the conversion 4 or 5 years before that
Bobby
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From: Marietta, Ohio
Dave,
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
LOL...yea the dizzy is the distributor. To be honest, I can't remember why I changed out the dizzy to the earlier electronic ignition. I got rid of that truck 14 years ago and those brain cells have been purged.
I think the variable venturi system must have controlled the timing in some way....again, I don't recall. Maybe the dizzy with the variable venturi system didn't have a vacuum advance or something......man my memories are fuzzy here
I do like electronic ignition and so I swapped in an electronic ignition dizzy from an earlier year.
Bobby
since I will be just using the basic engine with modifications I really don't want to cary over the igmition system or one from a newer yera. Here again, I tend to want to go retro . I don't mind some kind of electronic ignition but I'm sure there is something simpler. I'm thinking an older distributor with an electronic conversion. Back around 1980 when I did a 302 in a 74 van I bought an electronic conversion made by Mallory and ran it with a MSD module and an Accel super coil. As I remember, that thing had a monster spark. As a matter of fact I still have the MSD module. Of course times have changed so maybe that's a bad idea now.
Roast em' if you got 'em
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,997
Likes: 9,885
From: Rio Rancho, NM
Dave,
That sounds like a fine idea. I think Ford went to the factory electronic ignition in th mid to late 70's so you have alot of options there.
I'm running a Pertronix conversion in my little 170ci six in my wife's Falcon. They work alrightin converting points style dizzys to electronic. Their major drawback is that they take their signal from the original points cam lobe so you're probably not getting a nice consistant spark to all cylinders.
Good luck getting it all together and running
Bobby
That sounds like a fine idea. I think Ford went to the factory electronic ignition in th mid to late 70's so you have alot of options there.
I'm running a Pertronix conversion in my little 170ci six in my wife's Falcon. They work alrightin converting points style dizzys to electronic. Their major drawback is that they take their signal from the original points cam lobe so you're probably not getting a nice consistant spark to all cylinders.
Good luck getting it all together and running
Bobby
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Marietta, Ohio
Dave,
That sounds like a fine idea. I think Ford went to the factory electronic ignition in th mid to late 70's so you have alot of options there.
I'm running a Pertronix conversion in my little 170ci six in my wife's Falcon. They work alrightin converting points style dizzys to electronic. Their major drawback is that they take their signal from the original points cam lobe so you're probably not getting a nice consistant spark to all cylinders.
Good luck getting it all together and running
Bobby
That sounds like a fine idea. I think Ford went to the factory electronic ignition in th mid to late 70's so you have alot of options there.
I'm running a Pertronix conversion in my little 170ci six in my wife's Falcon. They work alrightin converting points style dizzys to electronic. Their major drawback is that they take their signal from the original points cam lobe so you're probably not getting a nice consistant spark to all cylinders.
Good luck getting it all together and running
Bobby
The Mallory conversion I had used a skirted rotor with slits in it and an LED and Photo-Diode to generate the signal. When the rotor turned the slits let the signal from the LED through to the Photo-Diode. There was one slit for each cylinder. It worked pretty slick. I think it was a lot more acurate than using the lobes on the points cam. In the conversion I had the points cam was still there but it served no purpose. I don't know if that sort of stuff is still available. I guess I better start doing some research. Oh well, there's plenty of time as I doubt I'll be getting a start before the first of August.
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Roast em' if you got 'em
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,997
Likes: 9,885
From: Rio Rancho, NM
I'd bet its still available. Look up JEG's or Summit Racing and order up a free catalog, on second thought, you better not....................there's way too many goodies in there to tempt ya
Bobby
Bobby
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From: Marietta, Ohio
it's way too late for that... I already have all those catalogs. They're right there on the shelf with all those machine tool catalogs and electronic catalogs. Way too many catalogs,,, way too little money... What can I say? BTW, Summit is where I got the Mallory. It was way back when they operated out of a little warehouse complex in East Akron.
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
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From: Marietta, Ohio
So, tell me more about this. Typically, what's it going to cost to buy it all new??? Is it available from Ford only?
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From: Comox Valley, Canada
Very neat, very simple system.