Help Choosing

7

76hutch

New member
"one of the big "urban myths" which go around regarding ihc-produced vehicles is that "all sv distributors interchange". While it's true that the distributor lower body/drive design does allow any IH-app distributor to be installed in any sv engine, the rest of that statement is bogus." -mayben

so I'm trying to get my 76 running well enough to call itself a dependable daily driver. The distributor I have in it now is not original, I believe it is a points dizzy but haven't verified the specific model. I was curious as to what distributor would be best(budget, performance, and reliability) fit for my application. It has a 345 with a 0-7448 carb, tf727 living around 3000 ft. And where it can get both very cold and very hot. I've heard that the points dizzys aren't exactly the best to say the least.

I'm looking for help in choosing a better distributor or if I should just go through my current one. It does like to stumble around idle/acceleration when the engine hasn't warmed up entirely but after warming up, runs very well. The carb has around 500 miles on it since I bought it new from Jeff.

I am going to be buying a service manual(also from Jeff), would that have the procedure for adjusting points and dwell and such a distributor or no?
 
Beginning your post with a mayben quote is always a nice touch.:gringrin: your original setup would have been a Holley electronic ignition with remote control module, better know as the Holley gold box. I think the first thing you ought to do is make proper identification of your current distributor. There are quite a few pictures in the various threads under ignition tech that could help you, or it might be faster to supply a couple well lit, well focused pics of the thing with both the cap on and off.

Breaker points have been a reliable and satisfactory means of ignition control for many moons, but they do require periodic adjustment for utmost reliability and performance. Electronic ignition systems are much more of a set it and forget it Scenario. Breaker points require precise mechanical operation to maintain proper engine tune. A points distributor that has too much end play from worn bushings will have more difficulty maintaining consistent spark timing than the same worn distributor that has been converted to an aftermarket electronic ignition module, such as a pertronix ignitor.

Your description of poor cold performance which disappears once operational temperature has been met is generally symptomatic of an engine that has been placed under load before it has warmed sufficiently. The easy cure, in maybenese...warm the damn thang up a little afore ya go full tilt boogy, dude!
 
Eh, sounds like mine.
I really liked the "maybenese...warm the damn thang up a little afore ya go full tilt boogy, dude!"
 
Thanks scoutboy, heres those pics you were talking about.
 

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If your current distributor is in good shape….

I have had good luck with converting them to the pertronix.
Its an easy conversion, and a 2 wire hook up.
The pertronix has never let me down, it starts at -15 in the winter and at 95 in the summer.
I went from gold box Holley to the pertronix, there wasn’t any power gain, however there was a reliability gain, the gold box Holley left me sitting a few times. Worst was 4 wheeling in utah in July in 100 degree heat, the Scout would randomly shut off, the gold box was so hot on the fire wall you could touch it. I would remove it with a rag and put the gold box in the cooler for 30 min and then re install and the Scout would run another hour or so. I suspect it was the heat, but I don’t know, could have been a bad ground , could have been a lot of stuff, but removing the gold box and cooling it and putting it back on always got the Scout running again. Maybe the r&r of the gold box got the bad ground in to a position it would ground again till it vibrated out again?

What ever way you go with your ignition I think something other then the gold box will be more reliable for you.
 
What's would I want to check on the distributor to see if it is in good shape? And what is all involved in converting to the pertronix?
 
Buy the unit, replace points and condenser with it, replace single wire from the points to the coil with the 2 attached to the pertronics unit. Then remove the resistor from the circuit. You May or May not need to adjust the timing.
 
That's a Holley curved points distributor. There is also a straight points version that was used in IH engines as well.

The conversion to the ignitor module is very simple as previously mentioned. Ihon sells them on the online store. My advice if you decide to go that route is to pony up the extra cabbage ($12) and get the ignitor II for Holley w/curved points version. The original ignitor I module is prone to overheating and failure from accidentally leaving the key switch in on position without the engine running, which is a major bummer, especially if you're deep in the outback when it happens. Actually, leaving the key on without the engine running for more than a few seconds at a time is bad juju regardless of ignition system, but sometimes accidents happen. The ignitor II version has improved circuitry protection to prevent this malady. Still, its a good idea to carry a decent point/condenser set in the glove box so that you can go old skule in a matter of minutes should the need arise.
 
As scoutboy74 stated it is simple, really just takes common sense, if you end up getting the igniter, once you see it you will understand why we are saying it is simple. I don’t remember step by step, I did remove my distributor put it in a vice to hold it, pop the cap, pop off the rotor, next removed the Holley electronic stuff, seems like there was a few c clips that keep it in place, then put in the igniter, it mounts where the old stuff went, clamped it down, there is a magnetic that goes on right below the old rotor and that was it.

Re install distributor, there are 2 wires red and green red goes to a power source that has power only with the key on and the green wire to the negative side of the coil. Everything locked down and secure and distributor lined up the way it was removed and start er up

the whole thing took about 30-45 min….
 
There really isn't any need to remove the distributor in order to do this conversion. That's a choice, but its basically several extra and unnecessary steps, unless verifying the condition of the distributor is critical. Most of these Holley units are going to have some slop in them from normal use. Again, this is more of a concern when running breaker points than it is with the electronic module. Not knowing your budget constraints, I think my approach would be to buy and install the ignitor II. Then examine my spark plugs and wires to see if they need improving. Adjust the timing for optimum performance and see if the timing is steady while running at idle. If it holds steady, there is no need to pull the distributor. If the timing seems to jump around and won't hold a steady time, then you can look into your options for getting the distributor rebuilt.
 
In the meanwhile, consider cleaning the rust off the dist cam gear and applying the 'lube' that 'should have been included' with the points set. That rust is like grinding compound and the rubbing block of the points will wear rapidly. Check the dwell again to read between 28 to 32 deg. With the points dist, the coil should see about 8.5ish volts while the engine is running.
 
Ok thank you all for the help! I think I'm just gonna install the ignitor II and check for steady timing before pulling the distributor.
 
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