Also this is a stupid question but what is the difference between a male and female distributor? I have never seen a male distributor and am confused as to what they would apply to.
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Just here to learn at the moment....Please be patient.
I put an MSD ignition in my 67 mustang with a 289. I basically bought a new but never installed MSD distributor Ready to Run model. Bought some cut to fit custom MSD wires, and new autolite plugs and dropped it all in.
It seems like your setup would work. I'd op for some wires and new plugs at the time of install though. You also cant go wrong with MSD ( its more expensive, but their Customer service is amazing )
__________________ 1967 Ford Mustang 289/c4
Mods:
Hooker Headers, 2.5" Magnaflow X pipe, Spintech 6000 Pro streets 2.5" Exhaust, Monte Carlo Bar, 600 CFM edelbrock Carb w/ Electronic Choke, Edelbrock RPM Air-gap Intake, early model 302 heads, MSD Super Conductor Custom Wires, MSD Pro-Billet Ready to Run Distributor.
Also this is a stupid question but what is the difference between a male and female distributor? I have never seen a male distributor and am confused as to what they would apply to.
No such thing.
A good tune-up on what you have will work as well as an expensive ignition upgrade. A Pertronix I electronic conversion module will save you from ever needing to adjust the points, that's about it.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
All I did was put a Pertronix 1, duraspark distributor cap, rotor, and wires on mine with an MSD coil. Very happy with the results, and cost me a 1/3 of what a performance distributor cost.
- Chris
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1967 Ford Mustang Coupe SS(Sports Sprint), 289 "C" Code, PA C4 Auto Trans, Fully Restored, Sauterne Gold w/ Black Vinyl Roof and Black Interior w/ Console, Edelbrock Performer 500 cfm carb, Pioneer radio,
Also this is a stupid question but what is the difference between a male and female distributor? I have never seen a male distributor and am confused as to what they would apply to.
The distributor cap can come with male or female connections for the plug wires. Male will have posts, where female will have holes for the plug wires. As 22GT posted, there is no male/female distributor.
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66 Coupe 200I6 (Rolling Restoration)
66 Bronco Half cab, 203ci I6, CI aluminum head/intake, Isky cam, Keith Black pistons, Holley 390cfm 4V, Clifford header 9.7:1 compression, DSII ignition
If your distributor has a lot of miles on it, which most do, you will likely notice an improvement with how your engine runs when you install a Pertronix unit. This is because the cam that moves the points tends to get worn out.
But 22GT is right. There's nothing wrong with a points ignition system. I personally don't like them simply because I don't like messing with points. But you can always make points work. If an electronic ignition fails, it's dead until you replace it.
But you can always make points work. If an electronic ignition fails, it's dead until you replace it.
I once had the cam follower on one set of points break off. Car died immediately, at 70 mph on the highway. Once I figured out what it was, I put a piece of cardboard from the side of the road between the bad points and drove home. No tools required. Try that with electronic.
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Amateur restorer. (Well, once in a while I have been paid for it)
fwiw i ran a P1 and MSD 6 for about 17 yrs. (EDIT: never had a prob with it.)
last spring i had my stock AL dizzy redone by tim, went back to points and ditched the MSD.
left the msd coil in place.
i can honeselty say that the cars runs just as good if not better with the stock set up over the HP set up
at least for the street
so I have to adjust points every few 1000 miles. in my case once every 4 yrs or so......big deal, to me thats the fun of having an old car.
points never left anyone stuck but a bad condensor will.
the irony of it is I did get stuck about 10 miles from home on the maiden voyage.
i was able to touble shoot it road side and all it was is that i ended up with a bad condensor. about 45 minutes later after I figuired that out I replaced it and the car start right up and ran great.
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1970 Mach 1 San Jose built Dec 23 1969. Marti says 1 of 7. Purchased in 1987. Original family owner of the powertrain 351C 2v FMX.
1993 GT 11,000 miles, Built 2-12-93 Auto, 3:27 Axle, cloth, sunroof. Untouched except for rubber and battery, Purchased new 8-3-93. still has the factory windshield fluid and new car smell.
Last edited by Blues Power; 01-23-2013 at 10:36 AM.
I'm not going to say there are no benfits to installing a e-based ignition system but...here are some things to consider especiially with the more Popular" brands....
Yes you can hear people state "It runs so much smoother/better than when it had points"........in each case that an individual said that in my presence, they had very little knowledge about points and the ones they were running were- old & tired or inexpensive aftermarket replacement units or the individual (including professional mechanic) was unfamiliar with not just setting the gap to OEM specs, but setting the dwell & initial timing to what the engine likes.
But let’s look at the OEM ignition system from the early 60’s….
Original Coil Voltage: 20,000; by the end of the 60’s 40,000 volt high performance coils were common…..by the 70’s 50,000 & 60,000 volt coils were easily available & is what we have today. Did we really gain all sorts of HP/TQ with all this extra voltage…….no, what we were able to gain was stronger support (if you will excuse my terms here) for higher RPM’s- specifically in the 6,000+ range…..enough to power NASCAR engines in the 8,000 rpm range at 200+ mph!
Points were used in NASCAR up through the late 1970's, running speeds of 200mph+.........Cale Yarborough did lose a race one time because the ignition points broke. In a street application, if you look at the data very closely that is provided by these more common e-box companies, in street applications (where max power-band RPM is around 6000), when the standard dyno deviation is removed (5% standard per every dyno mfg) there is less than 1% improvement in performance. Further testing by independent aftermarket DIS (direct ignition system) manufacturers verify this through their own testing- there is little gain over an ignition points system until you reach 4000 rpm…then you begin to see a slight sustainment of ignition delivery above what points can deliver but it doesn’t even begin to compare to what a “modern”, real e-based system can & does deliver in a real world street (and race) environment.
I am not promoting this product but their analysis is very demonstrative of actual performance results. link: http://www.compu-tronix.com/MightyMo...risonGraph.pdf
The other item is, in a street vehicle, if you wait to see improvement until 4000+ rpm, the race is over.
These e-box “conversion kits” have literally the same design limitations as the “conventional points”- because they are essentially using the same delivery system (rotor, cap, wires, etc.) and they are subject to the same inherent design impactors of which there are numerous….including ozone that is produced within the cap…..none of this has by miracle “disappeared” and in fact when compared in true recorded data-frame analysis, the benefit will be gone by 5800 rpm and the loss, although slightly less, parallels that of points. In racing conditions that could very well make a difference, but in a street application, you could literally change brand of fuel and see that level of improvement or degradation.
Very good quality ignition points/condensors are available and when set properly, are very reliable and provide excellent performance. There have been no less than 5 people who I personally knew were going to get e-boxes, then I had them get a good set of points/condenser, a high voltage (40k+) coil, and installed them showing them specifically how to do it......the engines ran smooth and strong. One person did end up buying an e-box, why, because he said he just got tired of not being "cool", after spending $500 for a distributor, etc (he went high end), a year later (when he asked me to help him fix something) he admitted, it was a waste of $...it didn't run any better than after we put the points in.
While many state the positives of e-boxes (and there are certainly many positive attributes), there are conditions which reduce an e-boxes effectiveness & reliability....to start with the circuitry and handling (container vessel shipping) of it from China (which is where 90% of the more common/popular e-box company's products originate). Any aspect including temperature control, static safeguards, moisture can & will cause both detectable and undetectable damage which may not show up until after you have subjected the installed component to real world vibrations, heat, cold, moisture & grease/oil. Yes, all of these damage e-components, but the systems (based upon a variety of factors) are suppose to be prepared to endure these exposures but that is based upon many, many assumptions. Including proper handling & q/a.......given all of the 3rd party involvement in the final product, it is unrealistic (IMHO) to believe that e-boxes have an increased reliability as compared to their mechanical-based counterpart. And in terms of “Dwell Control” I won’t even go into that in detail but I will say, what the “kits” provide is a joke…..you can actually get more control over the dwell by having an understanding of how to set timing versus dwell setting with points than the most popular e-box conversion kits can provide…..which makes for a very smooth running engine- this is not just IMHO, but well known among the "higher quality" aftermarket engineers whose systems reflect this ability to "tune"!
If you need to say I got rid of my points…ok, that’s fine, but if you are really serious about actually upgrading the ignition system then do so……although it has been scrapped by the OEM’s in favor of more advanced, effective systems, there are aftermarket DIS units (yes the same as Ford used in the 90’s & developed by Porsche in the 80’s) whose cost is within reach of most buyers and will actually perform as stated.
Hi,
"Also this is a stupid question but what is the difference between a male and female distributor? I have never seen a male distributor and am confused as to what they would apply to."
As was mentioned, there are no stupid questions.
"difference between a male and female" distributor? This makes reference to the cap style. caps can be purchased that have metal plug terminals that protrude from their position around the circumference of the cap, hence a "male" connection terminal. This is a popular style MSD sells for example. Older OEM Ford style caps, typically black, had connection terminals, that were recessed (female). That is, the metal connection point is recessed within the plug position around the circumference of the cap.
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Ken ..
64 1/2 Poppy Red too!, Cvt. Resto-Mod
333 Cu.in. T5z, 3:55, Dual 40 mm DCOE Webers
Performer RPM, CI cam, TFS/TWs, Tri-Ys, Discs w/Shelby Drums
Severna Park, MD
I just finished ripping the exact system you are looking at out of my car. Nothing but a big damn headache! I spent the better part of a year, and a lot of money, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with my car. I went through THREE distributors from them and every one of them went bad inside of a week. One of them didn't make it to the end of the street. I talked to probably 10 different techs up there, and nobody could explain why they kept failing. I'm back running my rusty old auto lite again, and that thing still runs like a champ.
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1969 Mach1 - Gulfstream Aqua - 351w 4v
1967 Coupe - Red 289 2v (sold in 1996)
1970 Mach I - Grabber blue, 351c 4v. (Sold in 1999)
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Upgrading my ignition system
