Question: Getting the most out of a stock looking ignition system.

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1968FormulaS340

1968FormulaS340

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Well, maybe not "the most", I should have said, solid and reliable.

This is what I am dealing with. I have the stock dual point distributor (68, 340) and want my coil mounted in the factory location.

Given this, what would you do? I was thinking something like a Pertronix conversion with compatible coil, but thought I would check here first.

What's installed in the car now is a Mallory Unilite Distributor, Mallory fender mount coil and MSD soft touch rev limiter.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
Do they have an HEI system that will make use of the original distributor body and give a stock look under the hood?
Click to expand...

I build HEI kits and have dealt with quite a few people on ignition systems.
If you want a stock look I would say you would be best going with the Pertronics conversion for the points distributor.
The HEI coils use an e-core design, so they don't look stock and so far I have never seen one that does so that may be a deal killer for you.

Pertronics is good, but the long term reliability is somewhat questionable from everything I have seen and you would have to order and wait for a new one if it died.

Have you considered putting the HEI coil under the dash, and running the pertronics unit inside the distributor?
It would still look stock except for the coil not being visible, and your coil wire passing through the firewall.

You HAVE to get away from the canister coil to have HEI, so you might want to just do what your original thought was and scrap the HEI idea, but use the Pertronics conversion for your factory distributor.

Even if the Pertronics unit dies and you have to get a new one, it's still better than having to mess with points.
 
I'm going to run a Pertronix distributor with an MSD box inside the car so it will look mostly factory except the fact that the distributor is billet. Just an idea.
 
There was a member here (and I've considered doing so) who took a 4 pin HEI and shoehorned it into a factory Mopar ECU box, empty box

Wiring a 4 pin ECU is simple, 4 wires and ground

My emergency system, an hei and a coil

hwlcfa.jpg


Ground, battery, coil wire, and plug into the Mopar distributor

Diagram. There's a plastic locator pin you must break off the bottom of the ECU or else drill a clearance hole. Mount the ECU to a good ground, flat, sheet metal or a heat sink with thermal grease, ground to one of the screws, and hook up as shown. Important to hook the distributor connector as shown. Even with a factory coil, this system gives a hotter spark than the old Mopar ECU

zu5qn8.jpg
 
1968FormulaS340, I intalled the Pertronix conversion kit in the stock distributor of my 383 Polara Convertible. I was wanting a reliability improvement over the points and I have been very pleased with the results over the last 3 years. The car is a just for fun drive and it is not raced even though the engine is the HP 383. OK, I do get on the throttle and make some high speed runs once in a while and the ignition system has performed without a problem.

I am considering purchasing Trailbeast's HEI system for my 340 Duster when I finally get the motor ready to go into the car next month.
 
His 1968 is a points car, so the "Mopar ECU to HEI module" conversion isn't an option. An "under distributor cap" type is the only option I know to keep the original look. Besides Pertronix, I recall a few others (Accel, some in J.C. Whitney catalog long ago). The Ignitor III is best, since multi-spark. The Ignitor II is also good. Avoid the original Ignitor since an older design that requires using your ballast resistor, i.e. equivalent to the old Mopar ECU.
 
You can use a points to trigger an HEI. You haven't to worry about dwell, only standard timing curve settings. There are articles on the web about wiring. Although you would need to hide the hei part.

Personally I like the Pertronix III idea and its 30 month warranty but the availability of parts during an emergency 100 - 1000 miles from home and the cost of replacement are issues for a driver that doesn't have a chase helicopter loaded with backup parts or what I mean is redundancy backup parts in the trunk.
 
BillGrissom said:
His 1968 is a points car, so the "Mopar ECU to HEI module" conversion isn't an option. An "under distributor cap" type is the only option I know to keep the original look. Besides Pertronix, I recall a few others (Accel, some in J.C. Whitney catalog long ago). The Ignitor III is best, since multi-spark. The Ignitor II is also good. Avoid the original Ignitor since an older design that requires using your ballast resistor, i.e. equivalent to the old Mopar ECU.
Click to expand...

Pertronics has a points to electronic conversion kit for the points distributors, so the OP could just use that with a standard coil and get away from points and still look stock.

For HEI he coud use the Pertronics conversion and then use an e-coil instead of the canister type but loose the totally stock look.

Hey Del,
I was one of the people that used the Mopar box with a 4 pin HEI module.
Here's one of mine, and the only visual difference is the length of the screws since they didn't hold the diod innards any longer.
 

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Rice Nuker said:
You can use a points to trigger an HEI. .
Click to expand...

Anything I've seen on this requires extra wiring and components. However, a Mopar ECU will DIRECTLY trigger off points. You use one of the pickup wires, you'd have to try each one
 
TrailBeast said:
Hey Del,
I was one of the people that used the Mopar box with a 4 pin HEI module.
Click to expand...

LOL I can't keep track of all you guys. I knew a couple at least had done so. This is a "rainy day" project for when I "run out of" other things

On the other hand, I'm hoping to go with multiport EFI one of these days, and the old 4 pin HEI would have to go, anyhow. (It's Holley HP TBI for now)
 
"Old school " G.M knowledge: 1 volt primary voltage = 5,000 secondary voltage. 2nd: Anything with a longer primary dwell stretch,,would make life happier with that combo. I love,where your going,68. Pertronix,has done me well. Tune accordingly.
 
Good point. Would be sweet, no more points adjustments or replacements for ever and still run easily on parts store parts. Just be sure to run correct ohms coil (and ballast if needed) based on your ECU type.

67Dart273 said:
Anything I've seen on this requires extra wiring and components. However, a Mopar ECU will DIRECTLY trigger off points. You use one of the pickup wires, you'd have to try each one
Click to expand...
 
I musta got a good Petronix I as mine is over 10 years old and has never skipped a beat. I didn't know that they were known to be un-reliable?
 
I think your best bet is a Petronix. Next would be use a Mopar electronic dist, and hide the box under the dash.
 
Pertronics is good, but the long term reliability is somewhat questionable from everything I have seen and you would have to order and wait for a new one if it died.
Click to expand...


i agree that if something went wrong with a pertronix unit you would have to wait for parts because its not an over the counter part and any store.

i've never heard anything bad about its long term reliability. jamies 69 dart had one in it the entire 8 or so years we owned it and who knows how long before that it was installed. never missed a beat. i installed one in a friends coronet probably 6-7 years ago now and he has never had an issue with it.
 
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