there are different modules? do you have any ideal which one is the "right" module? I want to try this.

gonna fire up my mini milling machine and make myself a finned heatsink for the module.



and I want to get rid of my ballast resistor, everytime i work on near it with the engine running i always get burned, its really really hot

Holun - you have been scarce around here for a while......still working on your turbo set-up?

This system relies on use of the control module of the early HEI system dating back to about 1975. It is popularly called the "four pin module" - may have been used until the mid eighties(?) If you are confronted with a parts counter guy that has to have a "make, model, year, da da da" - tell them you want the module for a 75 Camaro, 350 cid. All of the four pin modules I've seen have the same 4 code letters over the connection tabs.

In the performance catalogs and at the speed shop, there are four pin modules sold as high performance replacements. The Accel module in the photo is just one of many that have the "extended dwell' timing chip. MSD and others sell a new version that supposedly will make sparks clear up to 9000 rpm - and have a built-in, adjustable rev limiter - but they are also $80 and not many Y's spend time doing that sort of crank speed. 

I think its best to use one of the "E-core" style epoxy coils, the Ford TFI type is my favorite because its cheap (and has the neat clip-on connector) - even the perfornance versions are not too pricey due to the popularity of the 80's Mustang 302's. Pay attention to the grounding - the black wire on the module diagram usually goes clear back to the distributor in the Ford wiring scheme - and I add a jumper lead that positively grounds to the intake manifold.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Steve,



what's it look like under the cap? Do you have more pictures?




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1955 F-600/272/E4OD// Disclaimer: No animals were injured while test driving my F-600 except the ones I ran over intentionally!

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This post was created using OpenSuSE Linux x64 and Firefox

There are a couple of variants of the post '57 Y distributor - the last being pretty much like the small block Ford. Parts from the mid seventies and up Duraspark distributors will transplant directly into them. If you have this late version distributor, you basically buy a salvage distributor and swap pieces 'til you have the right stuff. When you are done it looks like this:

 

You retain the Y mainshaft and gear, the advance mechanism - and swap in the upper rotor shaft that is turned down to fit the reluctor (no point cam). Have to use the later style vacuum can with the dogleg. Look for an upper rotor shaft that has one of its slots labeled "13L" - and use it for the mechanical advance limit

There is an earlier Y distributor - but also post '57 - that uses a different style of upper rotor shaft and centrifugal advance mechanism. These have to visit a machinist to get the cam cut off and the proper fit turned on them for the reluctor. I have a print (PDF file) I can send you with the spec's for this older type unit if you send me a PM with an email address. Once you have this part everything else from the later donor distributor will work OK.

This one has had its slot altered to get a little less total mechanical advance (so you can run more initial advance without "over-advancing" at full travel).

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Steve, You do some pretty nifty stuff. Do the wire colors you posted correspond with the Duraspark wiring? Does the 4 wire one go to the reluctor and the two wire, with the red wire, for power? I like the custom look this would add.


Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie - Yes this is the Ford color code for systems built after 1975 and its the simple system with no computer control of the timing etc. Holun has a site that used to show the whole T-bird ignition wiring scheme I drew up to keep from getting lost. If someone has a system set up with the "blue grommet" style of Ford controller - the GM gadget I showed earlier in the thread will simply plug in and run it (you might take out the ballast resistor). This should still work.....

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/mshum/HoLun/WIRINGSCHEMATICT-BIRD1.jpg

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I believe I'll go with a Pertronix set up. Thanks, RGrove & all. I appreciate your input... /Duck

BOO- YA!!!

i been somewhat busy, got my ASE master last year, but they dont want to pay me much so i got to work my butt off.





turbo is on hold till i can sort out fueling system, I really hate carburetor, so I went to fuel injection, still working a few kinks out, will post about EFI when I got it to run the way i want.



also been working on my MR2 so meh.



but Its definitly going to be turbo'd

I got two of these at the junkyard today!

Steve, does the reluctor come off and go on easily once the roll pin is driven out?  It all seems to be stuck together as a unit until the reluctor is removed.  I had to destroy some advance springs at the junkyard in order to get one of them out of the distributor.  I managed to get the springs off of the other with a screwdriver through the hole in the plate.  It seems like it could be a bit of a chore to swap advance springs.

Lawrenceville, GA

Charlie - usually I can get the reluctors off by sraying a little WD40 on the joint with the upper shaft - then using a pair of screw drivers to lever them up. Seems like I've got a little puller around here that works too. The reluctor itself is a relatively cheap service part at NAPA - you could maybe just cut it off with a little grinding wheel. The "hard to get" part is the swiveling base for the stator coil.'

I've built four of these distributors now and had to polish the upper shafts a bit to get the parts to slide together with a snug fit. I put a new reluctor and roll pin in all four of them.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona