6 cylinder ingition question.

btalley · Post by **btalley** » February 10, 2008, 4:41 pm

Hello All,
I'm looking to replace a 66' 240 6 cylinder with an 86' 300. I believe the blocks are the same. The only difference is the 300 has the original electronic ignition distributor. My questions are should I;

A. Keep this distributor and replace it with a new ignition module and such. Any recommendations?

or

B. Just swap out the orginal distributor onto the newer engine. Will this work and how hard is it to swap out a distributor?

Thanks for any info or insight.

frank66 · Post by **frank66** » February 10, 2008, 10:41 pm

I used my old ignition in my new motor. The block is either 1982 or 1987, for some reason, I can never remember which one. everything will work fine, I've never had any problems with it.

I am kinda curious about upgrading to an electronic ignition though, since it's about the only thing that is still stock on my motor.

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » February 11, 2008, 2:37 pm

you could always use the early distributor and a pertronix ignition module that takes the place of the points but leaves the original style distributor.

oldtrucks · Post by **oldtrucks** » February 11, 2008, 6:12 pm

btalley

I would leave the 86 ignition on the engine as it has the correct advance curve and if you want it to look somewhat like the 66 you can swap a small cap on to the 300 distributer. You will need the control box to. If you don't want it to be seen mount it inside the cab. Just splice in longer wires to hook it up. I know this is very general info but if you decide to use the 86 ignition system search around the forum and you can find wiring diagrams to show you how to hook it up. It is not difficult at all.

cdherman · Post by **cdherman** » February 12, 2008, 6:21 pm

86 is fundamentally a hotter spark, with no points or condersor to mess with.

I am not well aquainted with the intricacies of TFI (thin film ignition) which is what I think a 86 would have, but can I can guess that there are reasons why many many 4.9/300 fans over at fordsix.com end up using Duraspark II

I wonder if the problem is with the feedback carb, and also possible interconnection with polution settings. You'll have a lot of trouble if that's the case.

I'd make a trip over to www.fordsix.com and check that out -- most of us with 240/300 engines hang out there when we have engine questions. Do some searches, ask a more informed question and you'll get a much better response than mine....

As for me -- I wanted the stock orginal look, so I have late points era dizzy with a Pertronix Ignitor II box in it. Works well and looks pretty stock.

Caveat Emptor: 65-67 240 I6 engines had single barrel Autolite 1101 carbs with Loadomatic distributors. These are set up to vary your spark advance via a vacuum advance only. They work OK, but the carb and dizzy must both be designed for the Loadomatic setup. Having one or the other is really not optimal -- either too little advance, too much, or at the wrong times.

When I retrieved my truck from the barn in 2002, it had a mismatched pair (non-loadomatic carb and loadomatic dizzy) and it was not running well, to say the least, even after rebuilding the heads and carb and tuning. Putting a dual advance (vacuum and centrifugal) distributor in it, plus the Pertronix, really livened the little old motor up.