Hey everyone has anyone tried a FBO ecu unit on their sbm and what was your opinion. Was looking at one but wanted some input on the unit. Thanks in advance
Info on FBO ecu unit
- Thread starter Cuda 1964
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Some love 'em, and some don't. I have one on my 72 Challenger 360 and it runs just fine.
Thanks Ricks70Duster have you heard why they don't like it? Just trying to get as much info as I can I do have a knock off orange ecu and distributor on it right now
One fella commented that he tried several and they did not make the engine run as well as the OE style ECU. Not my experience at all though. Of course you'll need to change to coil to the flamethrower that the ECU is designed to fire. I just bypassed the ballast resistor and marched on.
Have a flamethrower on there now but if I changed I would get the new coil
You can use it if it is the same kind as is sold with the ECU as a kit. There are a couple of different kinds of flamethrower coils.
Thanks Ricksduster340
gzig5
Well-Known Member
I put one in my 340 and it perked it up a little over the stock ECU. No complaints. Good instructions.
They are good units here is a older version! Hope they change the guts. Would like to find a bad new one to take apart and see. No matter what box you run make sure the distributor is curved for your motor, that's the trick.
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That actually made me laugh out loud. lol
I was surprised when I opened it Rob.
It is all about the curve!
Dave999
Well-Known Member
quite amusing BUT
that top picture is of the guts of a jaguar I6 or V12 lucas igntion unit not an FBO . presume accidental attachment due to big HEI bit in middle of small icon of picture
Its a lucas AB14 unit with a radio interferance supressor (capacitor) and a zener diode in the top right to clamp back emf to 350 volts the white bit is just an insulated connection for all the wires held down with a plastic rivet. there aint nowt special in there
these used genuine GM and delco HEI modules which could only put up with 350V back emf off the primary hence the zener diode protection.
the lower picture is of an FBO unit.
there is no relationship between the two items. the FBO unit i dug all of the potting compound out off i think used descrete compontents and the usual big chunk of power transistor.
but never bothered to own one so don't know the full history, using HEI is a bit of a swizz if its true.
one is made from late 90s onwards by FBO
one made/assembled by lucas in the UK from the mid 70s to to mid 80s.
FBO uses magnetic pickup for timing only. the one i pulled apart in the 2000s was a robust version of the mopar set up designed for 12 volt use and no ballast with a low ohm primary coil other versions may exist.
AB14 and all HEI uses magnetic pickup for timing and magnetic pickup signal amplitude for dwell control. and a laminated iron core coil, 12 volt no ballast 0.5 or 0.6 ohm primary
a replacement AB14 is about $400 thats one expensive aluminium case.
i'm happy to repair burnt out AB14s for $250
just send em to me... i'll pay the postage back
Dave
that top picture is of the guts of a jaguar I6 or V12 lucas igntion unit not an FBO . presume accidental attachment due to big HEI bit in middle of small icon of picture
Its a lucas AB14 unit with a radio interferance supressor (capacitor) and a zener diode in the top right to clamp back emf to 350 volts the white bit is just an insulated connection for all the wires held down with a plastic rivet. there aint nowt special in there
these used genuine GM and delco HEI modules which could only put up with 350V back emf off the primary hence the zener diode protection.
the lower picture is of an FBO unit.
there is no relationship between the two items. the FBO unit i dug all of the potting compound out off i think used descrete compontents and the usual big chunk of power transistor.
but never bothered to own one so don't know the full history, using HEI is a bit of a swizz if its true.
one is made from late 90s onwards by FBO
one made/assembled by lucas in the UK from the mid 70s to to mid 80s.
FBO uses magnetic pickup for timing only. the one i pulled apart in the 2000s was a robust version of the mopar set up designed for 12 volt use and no ballast with a low ohm primary coil other versions may exist.
AB14 and all HEI uses magnetic pickup for timing and magnetic pickup signal amplitude for dwell control. and a laminated iron core coil, 12 volt no ballast 0.5 or 0.6 ohm primary
a replacement AB14 is about $400 thats one expensive aluminium case.
i'm happy to repair burnt out AB14s for $250
just send em to me... i'll pay the postage backDave
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The one I installed recently has the revv limiter built in. I like that feature!quite amusing BUT
that top picture is of the guts of a jaguar I6 or V12 lucas igntion unit not an FBO . presume accidental attachment due to big HEI bit in middle of small icon of picture
Its a lucas AB14 unit with a radio interferance supressor (capacitor) and a zener diode in the top right to clamp back emf to 350 volts the white bit is just an insulated connection for all the wires held down with a plastic rivet. there aint nowt special in there
these used genuine GM and delco HEI modules which could only put up with 350V back emf off the primary hence the zener diode protection.
the lower picture is of an FBO unit.
there is no relationship between the two items. the FBO unit i dug all of the potting compound out off i think used descrete compontents and the usual big chunk of power transistor.
but never bothered to own one so don't know the full history, using HEI is a bit of a swizz if its true.
one is made from late 90s onwards by FBO
one made/assembled by lucas in the UK from the mid 70s to to mid 80s.
FBO uses magnetic pickup for timing only. the one i pulled apart in the 2000s was a robust version of the mopar set up designed for 12 volt use and no ballast with a low ohm primary coil other versions may exist.
AB14 and all HEI uses magnetic pickup for timing and magnetic pickup signal amplitude for dwell control. and a laminated iron core coil, 12 volt no ballast 0.5 or 0.6 ohm primary
a replacement AB14 is about $400 thats one expensive aluminium case.
i'm happy to repair burnt out AB14s for $250
Dave
I will get better pics of that box opened today. Your right I got the pictures mixed up..
here
I'd say that's heading toward fraud, would you not?
I'm sorry, that's absolutely hilarious. If they did that at any time in the past....and obviously they did, there's no way in HADES they'd ever get any of my money. lol
Dave999
Well-Known Member
kinda wrong that... i have to agree.
its rife... lots of companies play on the fact nobody questions any advertising claim
but same sales model used by Hemi Performance in Australia. Their HPI V1 ignition was a rebuilt standard dizzy, with an HEI module from the US (not used in Oz) clamped to the side, in a fancy heat sink (2 anodised pices of ally) and stickered up. you were paying $450+ for one of them in 2003 and the modules were NAPA /ECHLIN or some such.
i spotted what it was, and made my own $25
HPI revison 2 on their website is now a generic chinese HEI distributor and HEI coil with blue leads for $399!! you could do the same with a bosch HEI module off a Holden and your standard kit.
presume the FBO cost more than $60 when new (or i should say more than the cost of a top of the range sticker on a generic HEI module, like we buy today) and they got found out.
Later FBO units or at least the broken one i opened up followed the orange box route . heat sink on the front etc...
sneaky sneaky sneaky
i didn't bother with one myself, I spoke with their UK sales agent, must be 15 years ago, and he had no clue how a coil worked, seemed to think if your stopped using 1000s of turns of copper wire in your coil and just used two fat chunks of copper, the coil would never burn out, which to give him some credit is true, but it would not function as a coil..or indeed anything else...
Lost a sale for a new black igntion box there, he did. I made my excuses and left his stall.
Dave
its rife... lots of companies play on the fact nobody questions any advertising claim
but same sales model used by Hemi Performance in Australia. Their HPI V1 ignition was a rebuilt standard dizzy, with an HEI module from the US (not used in Oz) clamped to the side, in a fancy heat sink (2 anodised pices of ally) and stickered up. you were paying $450+ for one of them in 2003 and the modules were NAPA /ECHLIN or some such.
i spotted what it was, and made my own $25
HPI revison 2 on their website is now a generic chinese HEI distributor and HEI coil with blue leads for $399!! you could do the same with a bosch HEI module off a Holden and your standard kit.
presume the FBO cost more than $60 when new (or i should say more than the cost of a top of the range sticker on a generic HEI module, like we buy today) and they got found out.
Later FBO units or at least the broken one i opened up followed the orange box route . heat sink on the front etc...
sneaky sneaky sneaky
i didn't bother with one myself, I spoke with their UK sales agent, must be 15 years ago, and he had no clue how a coil worked, seemed to think if your stopped using 1000s of turns of copper wire in your coil and just used two fat chunks of copper, the coil would never burn out, which to give him some credit is true, but it would not function as a coil..or indeed anything else...
Lost a sale for a new black igntion box there, he did. I made my excuses and left his stall.
Dave
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Yes, much like Davis Unified Ignition, and yet, people still flock to the BS hype and marketing. I give this as an example.
Dodge Slant 6 Tri-Power Distributor – Performance Distributors
performancedistributors.com
Dave999
Well-Known Member
yes....same rubbish isn't it potentially same factory that the Hemi performance one is made in is my guess
that same dizzy listed on Aliexpress is used for slant 6 hemi 6 and holden 6
which is odd becasue they all have a different depth to mesh with the gear.... 2, out of that 3 must be wrong
that same dizzy listed on Aliexpress is used for slant 6 hemi 6 and holden 6
which is odd becasue they all have a different depth to mesh with the gear.... 2, out of that 3 must be wrong
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I have done a few of these they do work great.
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