Electronic Ignition

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.