Upgrade to electronic ignition questions

The pertronix thing did not work out well for me and I am back to points and condensor. I have been driving the jeep around a little and there is less power on tap so I want to upgrade the ignition again. I am thinking of two different paths. THe first one is to get an MSD box and use the old ignition. THis is probably the easiest but most expensive path. My other path is to upgrade to the newer style Jeep/motorcraft ignition system and get used parts and coble together an upgrade. Advice, comments, suggestions appreciated.

Karl

 

If you go stock, you want the TFI/Duraspark parts. http://www.buildyour4x4.com/BY-Tech/TFI-01.html This site shows the schematic.

This setup is available at pick-your-part as the distributor and harness from a Wagoneer. I've read that the Ford 460s have the same distributor but I don't know if the distributor gears match. Check out the instructions; you can leave behind at the yard any of the parts listed on the writeup. I'd take the module along with as much of the wiring harness as possible. Then buy a new module. If the old module doesn't work, you can return it, since you want to have a good working spare anyway.

GM HEI is also a possibility (simpler and arguably more reliable), but you have to machine the distributor housing some and I don't know of any writeups.

 

Yea the pertronix didnt work out for me also!Going down the high way it would just shut off,I never really looked into it just switched out distruibters.I got a complete drop in HEI off of ebay for I think $210,no problems with it so far ,its been a year,I am pretty sure this is the guys site: http://www.zmjeeps.com/index.php
Dan

 

Karl,
What year is your Jeep? I just swapped out my BID ign for a junkyard HEI and I couldn't be happier. It was an easy swap, and this thing starts now the second you twist the key. There are a number of webpages discussing the swap. My '75 had the correct drive gear to slip right onto to the "new" distributor with a little grinding. One wire!, vacume advance. it doesn't get any easier.

 

Bobevans,

I have a '74 with a 304. If you could point me in the direction of the pages that used as a reference I would be grateful. Right now the Jeep is not running to well. I have the points in and I have not set the timing or dwell. I hate setting dwell. This is one of motivators for doing the upgrade.

Karl

 

I think bobevans has an I6. HEI is easy in an I6: http://www.geocities.com/jeeperaz/hei.htm

Possible on a V8 too, but the housing has to be machined, and maybe the gear. The HEI from ZM Jeeps is reasonably priced... probably no more than twice the cost of a junkyard TFI setup once you add the plug wires.

 

I continue to have ignition problems. Here are the symptoms: starts great, runs for 10-15 mins then starts intermittently bogging, bogging becomes more persistent and persists at all rpms, then it dies. If I let it cool down for about 3-4 hours it starts again.

Here is what I have done. Just before these epsiodes I replaced the points/condensor, but I had a pertronix in before that. I swapped out the coil. I set the timing to 5*btdc, set the dwell to 30*. Thought maybe it was bad gas so I added gasline antifreeze.

I am thinking of updating to a motorcraft ignition. I have all the parts and can easily do the wiring. Comments, suggestions?

Karl

 

Ok things just worse. My starter has failed. The battery is charged but no spinning. I pulled it and the actuator was froze up. Sprayed it with wd40 and everything freed up. I installed and no spinning. Geez, how much love and attention does this thing need? My wife asks less of me.

Karl

 

Don't know what your price range is, but Quadratech has the D.U.I. distributors for $359.95. I'm thinking about going this route for both my 258 and my 225 oddfire.

 

Wahooo! Houston we have ignition. Well I finally got time to fix everything that went wrong. Here is what I think happened. My voltage regulator stopped working correctly at Jeep Jamboree. The pertronix held up till after the trip but eventually failed due to voltage surges. I think the voltage regulator also burned out the condensor. I replaced the voltage regulator and found a number of bad grounds that I think were due to the Jeep being washed for the first time in a number of years (recall its only been fully assembled and running for about a year now and sat in pieces for about 15-20yrs). The Jeep only strarted running properly after I replaced the points and condensor. THe last little detail was the starter. It had a little bit of mud packed inside. Cleaned that up and all is well.

Whats next? I was shocked to learn how much a replacement alt. and reg. cost. I found a brand new 105amp chev alt for $20cdn ($12USD) at a local pick your part. It going in right after I install the motorcraft dist. and module I got for $25cdn ( I picked up a couple of modules actually).

Thanks for your advice guys. I have a little bit of free time and I am now working on putting the Jamboree pics on my site.

Karl

 

I am having problems with mine now after I washed the engine bay. Don't know what I was thinking. Jeeps are happier dirty. Mine takes a lot of throttle to stay running and is missing. Put in points and condensor and have a carb kit on the way.

 

Another upgrade. I upgraded to the duraspark ignition set from a '82 waggy plus the tfi(ish) upgrade this weekend. Wow what a difference. It starts on first crank, pulls hard throughout at all rpms (within reason) and idles great. It feels like there is more power too. No scientific procedures were followed to prove this, just used the assometer. I would highly recomend this set up. I read alot of tales about the ignition module crapping out, so I keep an extra in the jeep just in case. BTW, have any of you noticed that you can nearly tear down an entire jeep with a 1/2 and 9/16 combo wrench?

Karl

 

i was thinking going the same route, but that seems like a lot of $ for a distributor, does anyone have experiance with these and is it worth it?

 

I think the upgrade is worth it. How you go about doing the upgrade I think is a question of personal affordability. I can hardly afford to pay attention let alone spend 369USD on an electronic ignition. Thats why I went the path I did. As I recall the Duraspark was available on the 6cyl as well. It costs alot less to experiment with and can be easily upgraded to outperform (according to the web) better than GM HEI. It was really easy to do. Here is the link to the info I used: http://www.trailhed.com/duraspark upgrade.html. I got the parts from a pick-your-part for cheap, or you could get all reconditioned parts from Napa for a little more, but still less than a full blown GM HEI set up. You can visit the NAPA site (www.napaonline.com) to get an estimate on price. I think they offer an HEI upgrade too. Be cautious though. You need a dist cap. with lots of space between the terminals 'cause the spark will jump across terminals and borrow through the rotor or cap and short out some of the spark. I had this happen with my pertronix when I was using too hot of a coil. This explanation is merely a result of my overly creative mind though so take it with a grain of salt.

Karl

 

I've seen better prices than that on the DUI distribuitors. I think I've seen them for around $295.

 

i just checked quadratech's site for the 225 they are 295.00 plus shiping of course. i still wonder if the amount of $ is worth it as far as performance

 

Short answer: yes. Long answer: I would say that the improvements are not limited to performance. My Jeep idles better, accelerates better, and, although I have no proof yet, I expect there to be an improvement in mileage due to the hotter spark, more complete combustion, and more power on tap. This last point is a one that I used to motivate the modification with my wife, but the truth is we find ourselves stepping on it more often so mileage will probably suffer. I also think that the engine on a whole will last a little longer because less fuel is left over to wash down cylinder walls and dilute oil. The above is just heresay though as I am no auto engineer. Lastly, I am sure that if you do decide to do the upgrade and dont like it there is someone on this board or on ebay who would gladly buy it from you and help minimize your loss.

Karl

Karl