Which electronic ignition

[RJRENTON]

This is why I’ve converted back to points. Nothing could be more simple, and I’ve never been walking with points. Three times stuck with electronic ignition.

yes they need a little maintenance, but keeping lube on the cam and adjusting dwell every 5,000 miles is not too difficult.

SIMPLY AN OUTSTANDING SUGGESTION. For a street driven, occaisional use vehicle and for appearance sake, if that's any consideration, the origional distributor for a 440 installation was a Prestolite dual point distributor. A low HP 440 would use a Mopar single point distributor. Maintenance on either distributors is nominal....maybe every other year.
Suggest you contact @Hallifaxhops on this site....he will be able to supply everything you need and can recurve the unit for a little extra performance. Just my opinion of course.
BOB RENTON

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

SIMPLY AN OUTSTANDING SUGGESTION. For a street driven, occaisional use vehicle and for appearance sake, if that's any consideration, the origional distributor for a 440 installation was a Prestolite dual point distributor. A low HP 440 would use a Mopar single point distributor. Maintenance on either distributors is nominal....maybe every other year.
Suggest you contact @Hallifaxhops on this site....he will be able to supply everything you need and can recurve the unit for a little extra performance. Just my opinion of course.
BOB RENTON

I did ask for opinions and all are welcomed. No offense to anyone, my car isn’t a yard ornament, a trailer Queen, or a garage queen. My car is a driver, for a while before I decided to change things, I was taking it out once a week, 100 degrees, 20 degrees it didn’t matter

 

[451Mopar]

I would just get a new or rebuilt factory electronic ignition distributor (magnetic pickup). I think I seen the new ones for around $100, and rebuilt units around $60-$70?
Then I would re-curve the distributor advance.
If you don't know how to recurve the distributor, I suggest the FBO limiter plate and spring kit, and for a few bucks more, the
J685SK Full Kit- Disc, Spring kit and Tuning Guide for $72:
How to limit mechanical advance in a mopar distributor, tuning for street, strip or all out racing, cure that rich stinky idle, win races

I prefer the CD ignition type boxes, and E-core ignition coils, but they cost more than a factory type ECU.
The Pertronix 510 ignition box for $218 seems like a good deal? I haven't used it, but had alot of features and good reviews.
PerTronix 510 PerTronix Digital HP Ignition Boxes | Summit Racing
PerTronix 60100 PerTronix Flame-Thrower Ignition Coils | Summit Racing

I am still running a 30+ year old MSD6AL (not digital) cd box with a Crane PS91 ignition coil in the Charger, and a 20 year old Crane HI6 (used it with a MSD canister ignition coil for a time in the stock location and it worked fine, later changed to the the Crane PS91 coil when I installed the EFI intake manifold) in the convertible.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Hello everyone, I’m looking to change my ignition setup on my 68 GTX, with a low performance 440. I was running a Mallory unilite, but it has crapped out, and I’m considering changing it to factory style electronic, kinda tired of messing with 50 year old worn out stuff. Ive kinda narrowed down to 2 options, but I have questions about quality, and parts available, and maybe there’s something I haven’t considered.

First one I’m looking at is mopars conversation kit. Is it just offshore crap, or is it a quality piece? If I need to replace anything are parts available. And if it needs recurved is the parts available and easy to do?
Electronic Distributor Conversion Kit

The second one is Mancinis “hipo” unit. Same questions, is it a quality Mancini built piece, or is it rebranded Ching Chong? And what makes it “hipo”?
Electronic Ignition Conversion Kit, Hi-Po ECU

Any suggestions and help is appreciated!

OH hitting this one. Personally run from the new conversion kits offered they are "Mopar authorize: Not Mopar. Most of the ECU's are not real Mopar, the dist is ok but has a really fast curve great for the strip not so much for the street. Getting a decent ECU now is getting harder to find say real Mopar or older NORS. The Mancini kit I have no real experience witth not sure if it is a new MP kit or not hard to tell by the picture. Prob be easier to piece together a setup with the RIGHT CURVE for the motor which it is all about for the stock performance anyhow. Why not a points setup like it came with? They almost never leave you stranded and have been around forever. Quality points and condesers nos/NORS are still around run from the parts stores ones low spring tension and high fail rate of the capacitors. JMO. Really want to stay electronic? Put a Petronix I in a points distributor, with the right curve. Easy swap.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

OH hitting this one. Personally run from the new conversion kits offered they are "Mopar authorize: Not Mopar. Most of the ECU's are not real Mopar, the dist is ok but has a really fast curve great for the strip not so much for the street. Getting a decent ECU now is getting harder to find say real Mopar or older NORS. The Mancini kit I have no real experience witth not sure if it is a new MP kit or not hard to tell by the picture. Prob be easier to piece together a setup with the RIGHT CURVE for the motor which it is all about for the stock performance anyhow. Why not a points setup like it came with? They almost never leave you stranded and have been around forever. Quality points and condesers nos/NORS are still around run from the parts stores ones low spring tension and high fail rate of the capacitors. JMO. Really want to stay electronic? Put a Petronix I in a points distributor, with the right curve. Easy swap.

Thanks! So it doesn’t matter if it’s an authentic mopar, eBay, rockauto, or whatever distributor, all of them can be recurved with the same plate and spring?

 

[Frank Mopar]

HEI gives the best bang for the buck. Simple conversion too.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Thanks! So it doesn’t matter if it’s an authentic mopar, eBay, rockauto, or whatever distributor, all of them can be recurved with the same plate and spring?

Has to be a mopar oem style case. Have to watch RA they make the distributor to cover a long strech of applications they work yes but is the curve right? That plate limits the total advance it will not add any at all so say the one you buy has a advance cam of 13 (26 at the crank) and you need 30 you have to find a advance cam. the early MP ones were a mallory style if you can find one and they are pretty much fully adjustable.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

HEI gives the best bang for the buck. Simple conversion too.
View attachment 1303472

Yes anotther option if you have a electronic distributor. Add a e coil for the best performance.

 

[451Mopar]

When I put the FiTech EFI on the Charger, I just used a factory Lean Burn Distributor, it was around $60-$70.
Way cheaper than the $300 - $400 MSD that you lockout anyway.
The old MP conversion kits from the 1970s-1980s were good, but the newer ones are way overpriced, and lower quality.
On a budget, the 4-pin HEI module on a heat sink works as mentioned above.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

Well it seems a 3rd option has come up. A couple of people have mentioned 4 pin hei, I’m confused on the blasphemy of a cheby part, but intrigued by the cost and the functionality


So I use a mopar distributor, with the vacuum advance, and wire in an hei module, and it’s cheap to do?

 

[RJRENTON]

HEI gives the best bang for the buck. Simple conversion too.
View attachment 1303472

On the FABO, site, there is a person that sells an aluminum HEI module mounting plate, to mount the HEI module UPSIDE DOWN under the distributor, where it's almost invisible. There are recommendations for which coil to use and how to eliminate the need for a ballast resistor. The mounting plate comes pre-drilled and tapped to mount the module. You must tap two existing distributor drain holes (located on bottom side of the distributor housing....aka the "dizzie") and use liberal amounts of a heat transfer paste, as the module gets VERY hot and will fail if not buttered up liberally with heat transfer paste. The price for the mounting plate is approximately $20.00; the price for the HEI module is about $30.00......
BOB RENTON

 

[RJRENTON]

HERE IS THE LINK AND WRITE UP re the GM module to a Mopar electronic distributor (aka dizzy....for those that do not know how to spell distributor).

Www.designed2drive@gmail.com The site is detailed with contact info etc.
BOB RENTON

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

I started doing research on the hei module, seems like a good option. I was looking on the a body page. Someone gutted the Chrysler ECU, and hid it in there. That would make roadside maintenance a little more difficult, but it would be kinda cool

 

[Geoff 2]

The HEI advice in post #26 is excellent, but veeeeeeeeeeeery important info is missing.
The diagram shown ONLY works with a a coil that does not use a ballast resistor. A Chr points dist uses a coil that requires a ballast resistor. Connecting one of these coils as shown in 26 & will overheat the coil & probably burn it out. A ballast res of 0.5 ohm must be used; this complicates the circuitry because, the module requires the full 12v & the coil requires less than 12v running..

To hook up the much simpler set up in 26, you will need a coil that does not require a bal res.
The MSD 8207 coil works great, is cheap & is an E core design that gives more spark energy.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

The HEI advice in post #26 is excellent, but veeeeeeeeeeeery important info is missing.
The diagram shown ONLY works with a a coil that does not use a ballast resistor. A Chr points dist uses a coil that requires a ballast resistor. Connecting one of these coils as shown in 26 & will overheat the coil & probably burn it out. A ballast res of 0.5 ohm must be used; this complicates the circuitry because, the module requires the full 12v & the coil requires less than 12v running..

To hook up the much simpler set up in 26, you will need a coil that does not require a bal res.
The MSD 8207 coil works great, is cheap & is an E core design that gives more spark energy.

Yes, I’ve been doing my research and see you can hook it up with certain coils with a ballast resistor, but why when you can eliminate it, and have 1 less fail point.

Thanks for the recommendation on a coil!

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

The HEI advice in post #26 is excellent, but veeeeeeeeeeeery important info is missing.
The diagram shown ONLY works with a a coil that does not use a ballast resistor. A Chr points dist uses a coil that requires a ballast resistor. Connecting one of these coils as shown in 26 & will overheat the coil & probably burn it out. A ballast res of 0.5 ohm must be used; this complicates the circuitry because, the module requires the full 12v & the coil requires less than 12v running..

To hook up the much simpler set up in 26, you will need a coil that does not require a bal res.
The MSD 8207 coil works great, is cheap & is an E core design that gives more spark energy.

One more thing, do you have experience on the Mallory named one? Could it be the same as the msd, I kinda like the Mallory name, more of a nostalgic look, plus my car says mighty Mallory equipped

 

[Geoff 2]

Just to add to post #34. Chr elec ign coils [ as well as points coils ] also require a bal res, so the cct as shown in post #26 will not work.

Cheap,

If the coil is designed to use a bal res, it must be used or you risk burning out the coil.
Not sure if Mallory make a suitable coil. They do make E core coils & one that is compatible with HEI will work ok, wired up as in 26. HEI/Chr ign is inductive ign. The coil must be suitable for ind ign. I think the old Mallory square coils, which are just fancy [ $$$ ] canister coils, require a bal res, so then post 34 applies.

MSD 'boxes' & their cousins are CD igns & a CD coil CANNOT be used with ind ign; hope that explains it.

 

[Cheapsunglasses]

I think it’s making sense, thanks!

I looked at the msd coil you suggested, then below it was Mallory, it’s called the same and looks the same, so I didn’t know if they were the same.

MSD 8207 MSD Ignition Coil - Blaster SS - Red

Mallory 30480 Mallory Promaster S/S Ignition Coil

 

[RJRENTON]

Just to add to post #34. Chr elec ign coils [ as well as points coils ] also require a bal res, so the cct as shown in post #26 will not work.

Cheap,

If the coil is designed to use a bal res, it must be used or you risk burning out the coil.
Not sure if Mallory make a suitable coil. They do make E core coils & one that is compatible with HEI will work ok, wired up as in 26. HEI/Chr ign is inductive ign. The coil must be suitable for ind ign. I think the old Mallory square coils, which are just fancy [ $$$ ] canister coils, require a bal res, so then post 34 applies.

MSD 'boxes' & their cousins are CD igns & a CD coil CANNOT be used with ind ign; hope that explains it.

FYI.....Any ignition system that uses a coil to generate the spark voltage is INDUCTIVE, in that the the secondary voltage is induced or magnetically from the primary winding to the secondary winding. CAPACITIVE DISCHARGE IGNATION SYSTEMS discharge the capacitor into a coil, whose primary winding voltage, albeit at a significantly higher voltage due to the stored energy in the capcitor, but it is INDUCTIVELY coupled to the coil's secondary windings, to the spark plugs. Capacitors fo not discharge directly to the spark plugs, which the name implies. The coil is the device that produces the spark energy. The capacitor furnishes the coil a higher primary voltage, which in turn, is raised by induction, to the higher secondary voltage by multiplying by the primary to secondary turns ratio of the coil.
BOB RENTON

 

[Geoff 2]

Bob,

I am well aware of how ign systems work & probably knew before you did....

If you are actually following this thread, it is pretty obvious that the OP has little knowledge of ign systems, |so I just used generic industry terms to get the message across, rather than a long winded explanation that gets him no further advanced in his quest for a reliable ign system. I built my first crystal set when I was about twelve.