Electronic ignition upgrade
Hi Guys, Was wondering if there is one particular book that explains in "SIMPLE TERMS"for changing over points ignition to electronic ignition?
There are lots of ways to do this. Which one to pick depends on your priorities: cheap, easy, reliable, stock-looking, high performance, etc. You can spend a lot of money and wind up with an inferior system. You can spend a little money and wind up with a terrific system. As with just about everything else, there is a mountain of junk on the market, all hyped as Super Ultra Premium Upgrade Number One.
Me, I like the
HEI upgrade for its very high performance and reliability with very low cost. Second preference is probably the Pertronix kit. The Mopar-type electronic ignition is not very high on the list, for reasons described in detail in the links off the HEI page.
The Mopar Performance kit, when it was available, was even further down on the list: it has all the relative drawbacks of the Mopar system, plus a late-production (poor-quality) control module, plus a distributor with a centrifugal advance curve totally unsuitable for street use: just about all the advance dumped in just off idle, because it comes with two very lightweight springs. Off-brand ("ProForm", etc) kits, with or without a "Mopar License" that may or may not be legitimate, sweetens the deal with cheap Chinese components, yum-yum.
I have to disagree with RustyRatRod : a good electronic ignition system is a
large improvement over points! A points-condenser ignition system does an inferior job of lighting every cylinder/every time, and begins deteriorating the instant you hit the starter after putting in a new set of points. That is why the auto industry began working to abandon points as soon as there were better options available. Transistorized aftermarket systems began appearing in the early-mid '60s, and Chrysler offered their first such system as an option to fleet buyers in '66…over half a century ago. So "Aw, hell, points have been around for a century!" is true, but…well, go read and watch
this.
DusterIdiot over on slantsix.org is the man to see about custom-recurve work on Slant-6 distributors.