Swap to electronic ignition in a /6

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HemiPar

HemiPar

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I am wanting to swap to electronic ignition in my 71 Swinger 225. Does any one who has a kit or do I just need to start collecting parts?
What year did they change to electronic ignition? That way a can look at local yards and see if I can find one there. What all would i need to get out of a donor car? Thanks for all the help.
 
Jeff
They changed in 73 so 73 up. You can get the EI harness a number of places Evans wiring has them reasonable. If your not a purest go HEI it work better and is cheaper over all.
Frank
 
There's three common budget ignitions:

1. Mopar electric distributor, ignition box, and voltage regulator. Sometimes sold as a kit with a harness, or can be yanked from a junkyard.
2. Pertronix Ignitor. A bolt in kit that drops into a points distributor.
3. Mopar electric distributor with a GM HEI module. No kits but pretty cheap to piece together.
 
HemiPar said:
I am wanting to swap to electronic ignition in my 71 Swinger 225. Does any one who has a kit or do I just need to start collecting parts?
What year did they change to electronic ignition? That way a can look at local yards and see if I can find one there. What all would i need to get out of a donor car? Thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...

This is an easy swap. locate a donor, get the distributor, ECU box, Ballast resistor. Make sure you get the wiring harness plug off the donor car to the ECU. The wiring harness diagram is easy to find, just Google it.
 
MadScientistMat, you say that I need the voltage regulator?

I am hoping that the wiring on my 74 parts car is still usable, most of the other wires are burnt. I just ordered the Distributor and ballast resistor form parts store, they had the ECU on hand. Everything cost me a whole $85. new. I just wanna say thanks to all you for helping me with the shopping list.
 
HemiPar said:
MadScientistMat, you say that I need the voltage regulator?
Click to expand...

I've seen that recommended occasionally, and honestly it seemed a bit weird to me too. Now that I've looked into it, this probably isn't the case. I've used a points type regulator with HEI before and had no problem.
 
FWIW at this stage, the change to standard electronic ignition on the /6 was made on the 73 models.
 
Just a quick note...

Now I have all the pieces. I took the wiring off a 74 swinger parts car I have. it was not hurt from the electrial fire it had at one time. Now just need to wait for my car to get home.
 
Slightly off topic, but still very much related. How do you guys feel about electronic ignition using a GM HEI module. I've heard they're more stable than any of the Mopar boxes, and produce very good results.
 
pharmboy said:
Slightly off topic, but still very much related. How do you guys feel about electronic ignition using a GM HEI module. I've heard they're more stable than any of the Mopar boxes, and produce very good results.
Click to expand...

I've run one on my Dart. It worked OK, and it needs no ballast resistor. Supposedly hotter than an orange box if combined with an appropriate coil.
 
Exactly...you can run a hotter coil, no ballast resistor, and open your plug gap a bit for a cleaner burn and better cold starting, just need to make sure you've got a good power supply and proper heatsinking for your module...any other ideas?
 
Im running HEI on a couple of my slants. I love it. Ill be going to the junk yard soon to get 6 more sets. I would say the spark is at least 2 times better than a standard ECM, Maybe more.
Frank
 
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