Parting out my 76 302 Granada and just wondering if the Duraspark ignition is any better (reliable) than my stock 69 dizzy with Pertronics. No longer want performance...dependability and mileage now motivate me.
Ford Duraspark ignition
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69gmachine
Member
Yep, the Duraspark is rock solid reliable. With a good coil like a blaster II it will provide great performance too.
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
The Pertronix will keep working fine, but the Duraspark is a little more deluxe and seems to be a more powerful system.
ratio411
Founding Member
You can take the harness back to the firewall.
Don't just unplug it at the firewall though, cut it behind the plugs hanging from the firewall, so you can wire those plugs into another vehicle in the future.
Most of the wires in the engine harness are wires that are on older cars too, so the whole thing can be a good addition. Temp, oil, ignition, etc... are all in that bundle.
The Duraspark was the inspiration for alot of aftermarket ignitions...
MSD models stuff on it, and some of it is outright copies.
What color is the wire grommet going into the box itself?
Red and yellow wire grommet boxes have special considerations.
Brown and blue are the most common boxes.
Edit:
If you ever use the distributor on something, you can swap the advance can for something more useful and adjustable.
It should have a retard/advance (dual function) can on it now.
If you go to Advance Auto (or similar), ask for an advance canister from a 68 Fairlane with 302 4v and AT.
That got me a $12 single function (advance only) canister that mounted right to the DS distributor.
The icing on the cake is that it is adjustable....
So with a small allen wrench, you can have total control over the vacuum advance.
You'll have to get the tip from someone else with details, but there is also a way to swap the weights within the dizzy itself to make a performance timing curve.
I think the idea is that the 'anti-curve' is in there now.
If you flip it opposite, it becomes a performance curve.
Don't just unplug it at the firewall though, cut it behind the plugs hanging from the firewall, so you can wire those plugs into another vehicle in the future.
Most of the wires in the engine harness are wires that are on older cars too, so the whole thing can be a good addition. Temp, oil, ignition, etc... are all in that bundle.
The Duraspark was the inspiration for alot of aftermarket ignitions...
MSD models stuff on it, and some of it is outright copies.
What color is the wire grommet going into the box itself?
Red and yellow wire grommet boxes have special considerations.
Brown and blue are the most common boxes.
Edit:
If you ever use the distributor on something, you can swap the advance can for something more useful and adjustable.
It should have a retard/advance (dual function) can on it now.
If you go to Advance Auto (or similar), ask for an advance canister from a 68 Fairlane with 302 4v and AT.
That got me a $12 single function (advance only) canister that mounted right to the DS distributor.
The icing on the cake is that it is adjustable....
So with a small allen wrench, you can have total control over the vacuum advance.
You'll have to get the tip from someone else with details, but there is also a way to swap the weights within the dizzy itself to make a performance timing curve.
I think the idea is that the 'anti-curve' is in there now.
If you flip it opposite, it becomes a performance curve.
I'm using a reman 85 Stang Duraspark distributor on the 331 in my 77 Comet now, and since I've switched to a Blaster 3 coil and better wires, it starts easier, runs smoother. Ain't got the chance to track test it though. This distributor also has a single advance vac pod. Ain't looked to see if it's adjustable though. It seems to be advancing quickly, based on how easy it is to light up the rear tires with just a blip of the throttle. (C-4 with a mild stall and 3.50's out back, tires are street radials 265/50/15's)
you can now get an adjustable vac. advance mechanism for the early points dizzy as well and the vac advance unit from the early points dizzy is a bolt on for the duraspark dizzy. check it out
http://www.cougarpartscatalog.com/adjf01.html
http://www.cougarpartscatalog.com/adjf01.html
65ShelbyClone
Founding Member
Thats the same distributor I have and also the same early-onset torque that I have observed....even with a single plane intake and aluminum flywheel.
69gmachine
Member
Here is the wiring for the blue strain relief only: Using the harnesses from the donor car, locate the plug with two wires (white and white w/ blue hashes) that goes into the module. Tie these two wires together and connect them to the red ignition lead from the firewall and to the red lead going to the positive side of the coil.
Next, locate the harness that has 4 wires going into the module. In the Granada, this harness attaches to another harness with 3 wires going to the dizzy. The 4th wire (green) goes to the negative side of the coil. You don't really need that much length, so you can cut and splice the two end plugs of the two harnesses together to make a shorter one piece harness to make the installation cleaner. The other wires maintain the same color code although in reality they can appear very different as the purple wire w/ blue hashes can vary wildly from very light purple to very dark purple. The other two are easier to identify: orange to yellow and black to black. You can also buy a ready made harness from NPD for $114.
69gmachine
Member
I went junk yard cruising today and found an '86 E350 with a 4 barrel 351W. The distributor harness goes straight from the distributor to the ignition module (and it's a blue strain relief). The other engine feed wires are also in this harness, but they can be separated out. I picked up the distributor, ignition wire harness, AC wire harness and ignition module all for $40. I took the distributor to Autozone as a core and got a rebuilt one for $51. I've just about convinced myself to switch back to Duraspark. I have the headers out at the moment being modified for more plug wire clearance, so I can't start it up. I'm suspicious that the Pertronix may not be firing it off like it should because it was still running too rich. I've ordered some new plug wires, and after I get the headers back on, I'll give it one more try. If it still idles too rich I'm going to yank it and go back to Duraspark. I also drilled holes in the butterflies as recommended by my Holley book as the corrective action for a rich idle on a large (over 400 cubes) engine with a single plane intake.
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