Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Also: If it truly is a truck,in my opinion,there is no need for a quick advance.
Leave the quicker advance for the lightweight cars.
Leave the quicker advance for the lightweight cars.
6000 plus pounds 4 wheel drive....its a truckAlso: If it truly is a truck,in my opinion,there is no need for a quick advance.
Leave the quicker advance for the lightweight cars.
Then buy an electronic ignition kit. I think you can still find them w/ e-distributor, gold box, ballast, connectors. Used to be >$200, but I recall seeing for ~$150 on ebay. Don't recall if a slant distributor. Your 1986 truck may have the factory "electronic spark computer" (also called "lean burn"?). Regardless, you will have to greatly mod. your engine harness. I expect much more than the "2 wires" Johnny Dart claimed. An HEI module uses no ballast, hence easier to wire. Many posts on both, judge for yourself.I always liked the Mopar stuff.
Regardless, you will have to greatly mod. your engine harness. I expect much more than the "2 wires" Johnny Dart claimed. An HEI module uses no ballast, hence easier to wire. Many posts on both, judge for yourself.
I doubt a 1986 Dodge truck would have a ballast resistor. My 82 Aries didn't (I recall) and it used essentially the same "spark computer" box.Greatly mod....?
Come on bill,you think I just make this stuff up ?
Black wire goes to the - side of the coil.
Blue wire goes to the "R" run side of the ballast.
2 wires...Easy Pezy.
Good memoryTo recap (as best as I recall):
Truck was a Lean Burn 225, all of that has been removed - including the wiring for it.
Truck now has a points IGN system as an expedient way to get it running.
1930 would now like to convert it to Electronic Ignition with only Mopar parts and with a dist. that is tuned to work best in a truck.
The EI part seems simple to me, buy one of the kits or scavange those parts from the junkyard.
The tuned dist. is the part that will take some iteration. Since it is a truck that presumably will be used as a truck the usual spring kit(s) may not be the best plan. Their advance curve could easily be too aggressive for the application. I'm reminded of Smokey Yunick's words of wisdom about ignition timing "two degrees too little doesn't matter, two degrees too much is a disaster."
I know it may be kinda tough to read my highlighted areas, first area says ..............big cams give poor cylinder filling at idle...........
I'll try to consolidate the outstanding questions, without adding to the confusion.
I don't think people know which part your refer to as "governor". The "9R" numbers sound like what is usually stamped on the vacuum pod arm, but you say "no marks" on yours.
he is referring to the piece that has slots in it that control the amount of added advance the weights can give.
The vacuum advance and mechanical advance add together, so isn't an either/or situation. The vacuum advance gives more spark advance at low vacuum (near idle), up to ~15 crank degrees. When you open the throttle vacuum drops and the vacuum advance contribution disappears. This helps avoid pinging.
slants came with a number of different governors and pods over the years
I never played with tuning the weights. People change springs, weights, file the slots, weld stops in the slots, etc. You could spend a lifetime fooling with that, especially on a factory distributor where getting at the weights is a bi** and removing the distributor on a slant is a messy bi**, especially if the spark plug "drool tubes" leak. I would rather type a number in the computer and be done with it, which is my longer-term goal.[/QUOTE]
no need to play with weights on these, if he would just put it together he could see how it runs, ive listed atleast twice a good starting curve for him.