Electronic Ignition |
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baumanmt
Senior Member Joined: March-05-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 105 |
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Posted: August-19-2013 at 7:05pm |
Hi Everyone,
I have a 1984 2001 and want to switch to an electronic ignition. I want to upgrade from points. Any recommendations along this line, I have a 351? |
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gb842001
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anthonylizardi
Gold Member Joined: July-25-2007 Location: DFW, TX, USA Status: Offline Points: 836 |
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Most motor heads will discourage you from doing this since points are more reliable and the most common failure, when they get stuck, is fixable with a piece of sand paper. With that being said I bought 3 years ago a Mallory E-Spark conversion and I really like. No problems yet and love how everything is working. I believe I bought it at Summit Racing. I have an 87 SN 2001.
Good luck, Anthony |
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anthonylizardi
Gold Member Joined: July-25-2007 Location: DFW, TX, USA Status: Offline Points: 836 |
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I forgot to say,,
This is the cheap way and their is no HP gain. If you want to get the real deal get a DUI ignition. |
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boardersdad
Senior Member Joined: June-18-2013 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 409 |
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I have the Mallory on our 1984 SN2001 and a Pertronix Ignitor on our 1974 Mercruiser 140. Many on here hate the Pertronix units, but mine has ran for 12+ years without issue.
As Anthony said, many of the experts prefer points. The conversions have just been easier on maintenance in my case, but I suppose some day I'll get towed in from out on the lake because of them. If you decide to go electronic, my suggestion is to be *extremely anal* about following the manufacturer's wiring diagram, or you will be back on here posting about an engine that runs poorly. Pay close attention to what wire goes to the coil + post (probably after a total of 1.5 ohm resistance), what wire goes to the conversion unit feed (an ignition-switched 12V feed, not after a ballast resistor), what your coil internal resistance is (probably about 0.7 ohm or 1.5 ohm), whether or not you need a ballast resistor, and if so, what resistance (probably 0.75 to 1 ohm). If there is any confusion, ask on here. Also, just like with points, never leave your key in the Run position without the engine running--it can fry the coil and/or the electronic conversion unit. An epoxy-filled coil like the MSD Blaster High Vibration Ignition Coil p/n 8222 is preferable to an oil-filled coil (like I'm running...). Steve |
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baumanmt
Senior Member Joined: March-05-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 105 |
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Thank you guys for the reply. I'm not 100% sure it makes sense now. I will dig a bit deeper and decide if it is worth the $600 upgrade. Thanks again
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gb842001
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TRBenj
Grand Poobah Joined: June-29-2005 Location: NWCT Status: Offline Points: 21172 |
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Wait, what? $600 for what?
Im one of the ones who does not like the retrofit EI kits. I have found points to be extremely reliable, very decent performing on stock boats, and cheap. If they fail, you'll also be able to limp back to the dock or ramp. Electronic modules on the other hand, usually fail catastrophically- no spark = no limping back home. Theyre usually priced at $75-100, so theyre not cheap. They also cannot offer a performance benefit over properly adjusted points. They are, after all, just a trigger signal for the coil to fire- and it does nothing to address bushing slop or the advance curve of your distributor. We have heard many instances of improperly adjusted EI pick ups causing running issues- so theyre not as "worry free" as some would have you believe. I have a dead module of every flavor in my basement- Prestolite (PCM), Mallory and Pertronix. If you want to gain performance, then going with a new distributor with tight bushings and a dialed in advance curve is the way to go. Ones that offer the ability for hotter spark (DUI, etc) are nice as well. I would probably not recommend this route unless 1)youre doing this upgrade in concert with other modifications- heads/cam/intake, etc, or 2)your old distributor has become unreliable and needs to be replaced anyways. |
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phatsat67
Grand Poobah Joined: March-13-2006 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 6157 |
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What Tim said.
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baumanmt
Senior Member Joined: March-05-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 105 |
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Thanks again guys for all the great advice. I am not a mechanic and this is was just an idea. What I was looking at was at nautiqueparts.com and it is an electronic conversion kit for left hand Ford PCM, not even sure thats what I have? It is $545.00. I have a missing action happening and thought instead of doing new points, rotor, plug wires and coil, I should just go electronic. This is why I am on here asking to Boyz that know. Any more advice would be helpful, thanks again. I just want my baby to run perfect.
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gb842001
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TRBenj
Grand Poobah Joined: June-29-2005 Location: NWCT Status: Offline Points: 21172 |
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No, no, no- what youre describing is the Protec retrofit kit. Assuming we're talking about the 2001 you have in your profile, your boat does not have that. An electronic ignition conversion like the one Nautiqueparts sells is much more reasonably priced- but my advice from above still holds.
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baumanmt
Senior Member Joined: March-05-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 105 |
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So glad this site is available. I think I will just do a solid tune up and see if that fixes the problem. Thank You TRBenj
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gb842001
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74Wind
Grand Poobah Joined: August-02-2011 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 2101 |
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Sounds like you've got your plan, but for what it's worth:
Many debunk the Pertronix, but I've had it in my old Century 5+ years with not a bit of trouble. Can't recall what it cost, but nowhere near $600. |
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1974 Southwind 18
1975 Century Mark II |
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gun-driver
Grand Poobah Joined: July-18-2008 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Status: Offline Points: 4127 |
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Or you could go with one of these switch the gear with yours and solve all the problems for 1/2 the cost of the DUI.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-ylm554cv/overview/make/ford |
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SNobsessed
Grand Poobah Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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That one needs an external coil, not same as DUI.
Nice dizzy for the money though. |
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin |
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baumanmt
Senior Member Joined: March-05-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 105 |
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Thanks again everyone. Gun-Driver, do I need a different coil also or is this all I need to make the change. What you show is what I had in mind.
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gb842001
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gun-driver
Grand Poobah Joined: July-18-2008 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Status: Offline Points: 4127 |
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Read the overview information
They're designed fo OE or aftermarket coils |
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Gary S
Grand Poobah Joined: November-30-2006 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 14096 |
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not quite 100 difference, not sure about the gear on either the Mallory or the D.U.I. 50 if you include a new coil for the Mallory.
Some of these distributor upgrades require 8mm wires too. If you don't need this for performance I don't see the gain,I am on my second set of points since I got the boat in '87 |
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Nauti87
Senior Member Joined: June-05-2012 Location: Central Florida Status: Offline Points: 114 |
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I just went to the Mallory E-spark, I have had great luck with Mallory over the years so that's why I went with it.
I got mine from Summit on e-bay. It was $112. with free shipping. Ebasic marine had it cheaper but without shipping and no returns. I'm happy so far. But like they said above, when an EI goes there you are. So don't throw the points away, keep them so maybe you could throw them on to get you in. I was kinda lucky, the EI I replaced was a very old unit that worked intermittently, so I have it on the boat for a possible back up. |
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1987 SN 2001 Barn Find aka "Nauti" (sold sadly)
1988 MC Anniversary Prostar 190 |
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malibud
Gold Member Joined: July-08-2009 Location: north carolina Status: Offline Points: 613 |
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I replaced my whole Auto dizzy (PO) with a mallory from Skidim about 500$ works great kept the old one in the boat for just in case. not hard to put in just get the timming set . But your not going to feel a HP gain over points
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gun-driver
Grand Poobah Joined: July-18-2008 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Status: Offline Points: 4127 |
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Gary I remember researching the DUI's for my motor and I believe it was another $100 or so to get one set up for reverse rotation. Can't find that information right now Tim would know better. The Mallory I posted all we did is swap gears. Stock coil worked fine but I did end up installing the Mallory coil they recommended for that distributor but really didn't have too. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/maa-29219/overview/ |
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Gary S
Grand Poobah Joined: November-30-2006 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 14096 |
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Your right Paul,I think I remember 75 or so for the gear. I had looked into and had in my hand a mallory e spark for mine but after seeing what needed to be done I returned it. The cam had to come out and needed a special puller to remove it.Then it would need new wires because it's not compatable with the solid cores I have,which I believe holds true for thr DUI also. It just didn't seem worth it.
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Mader85
Groupie Joined: June-12-2012 Location: Tn Status: Offline Points: 46 |
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Converted to the Mallory electronic ignition 3 years ago and have not had any issues so far on my 85 SN. I went with the Mallory stuff including distributor and coil. Got it from summit was a little cheaper than ski dum but a word of caution try to get the correct part numbers for your rotation engine before ordering from them these are car people not boat people.even after explaining to them what I needed including my engine rotation still got the wrong gear for the dizzy and had to wait another week for it to show up. I would use skidum if had it to do over that way you are talking to boat people.
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