electronic ignition

hotrodz&banjos · Post by **hotrodz&banjos** » April 27, 2010, 6:35 am

i'm gonna be putting a 1969 351 windsor motor in my 1966 f100 very soon, i wanna go with electronic ignition instead of the points, can someone explain to me what all i need to change and do for this change over. other then changing the distributor, i dont have a clue. thanx.

charliemccraney · Post by **charliemccraney** » April 27, 2010, 6:53 am

What you will need to do depends on the ignition you go with. Some are simply a drop in replacement for the points which may or may not require that you remove the ballast resistor. If you want to stay Ford, you can use Duraspark. That still doesn't require swapping the distributor but it is probably easiest to do so. You can trigger a box, such as an MSD 6 with virtually any pickup in the distributor, even the points.
I suggest you go to a site like Summit Racing to see whats out there, download the installation instructions and see if it's something you're comfortable with doing.

fmartin_gila · Post by **fmartin_gila** » April 27, 2010, 7:30 am

If you go with the Pertronix unit, it's about the same as changing a set of points.

Fred

montego69 · Post by **montego69** » April 27, 2010, 8:08 am

hotrodz&banjos,

I installed a Pertronix Igniter and their 40K volt coil in my 69 Merc's original distributor back about 10 years ago. One of the best things I ever did to that car... No more points adjustment, etc. Very easy swap. I learned about them from our forklift mechanics. They would fix up the old lifts with this brand of electronic ignition to replace the points.
My 351W is no longer in that car but I still have the Pertronix Ignitor. I plan on installing it in my 1962's 292 y-block when I get that far.
When I built my Merc's new engine, I dropped in one of MSD's stand-alone billet distributors. Found it on E--Y for a price I couldn't turn down. Works just as well as the Pertronix did. (The engines were different so I couldn't just swap distributors from old engine to new engine.)

Nick

hotrodz&banjos · Post by **hotrodz&banjos** » April 27, 2010, 10:01 am

thanx for the info guys, definitely goin electronic.

Gary Seymour · Post by **Gary Seymour** » April 27, 2010, 11:14 am

There's a place in Tennessee that is making Ford dizzy's with GM HEI internals and it's a one wire ignition. I got mine for $50 plus shipping. I

It's about half the $$ of a Pertronix and no external coil to buy either.

Send me a pm if interested, and I'll get the company specifics to ya.

ronk16 · Post by **ronk16** » April 27, 2010, 8:11 pm

i have one of the gm style dists. the only thing is its super large up front. it is cheaper to get though.

blackagatha · Post by **blackagatha** » April 28, 2010, 3:03 am

My money is on the Pertronix. It still looks stock, if you're remotely interested, except for one extra wire..... and works SLICK...

ABA · Post by **ABA** » April 28, 2010, 6:51 pm

Pertronix for me too.

Hmm, the unit for a 351 is a little more expensive than the one for our FE engines, good product all the same.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PNX-D ... cCID%7c351

If you go this route double check your application. There may be more than one version for the 351. Took me 3 tries to get the right one....you know that human error thingy.

hungrymonkey · Post by **hungrymonkey** » April 29, 2010, 1:21 am

You can plop in a dizzy and a box from a mid 80's truck with a 5.8L.

Its fairly easy to wire, and its on the cheaper side of upgrading from points.

You can source it from a junkyard.