Electronic ignition kit for poly 318

[wiggilez]

Has anyone ever used this kit on their car?

Electronic Distributor Conversion Kit

I've been having ignition issues all spring and summer this year after having none last year. and if I can make those problems for 200$ its worth it to me,

thank you.

 

[CBODY67]

What kind of issues? Just curious.

All an electronic ignition will do is fire the plugs more accurately than a distributor points set-up can, without any maintenance for a long time.

The one observed issue, from my experience, is that the cam lobes on the distributor will wear, with not all of the peaks being the same height. That will affect point gap AND dwell, which fires the plugs. I came to realize this when I was trying to get the dual points set correctly on a Chrysler factory dual point distributor. That's when I got the old Direct Connection distributor kit and never looked back.

One OTHER observation is that, at that time in the 1980s, very few if any new point sets came with the little vial of "rubbing block grease", which IS necessary to get the normal 12K+ miles out of a quality point set. As soon as the rubbing block wears, there goes the point gap and dwell settings!

Something which tends to vanish with an electronic system is distributor shaft/bushing wear. With no side forces from the point set spring pushing the distributor shaft to the side, wear is greatly reduced.

AND . . . you'll also need an electronic (transistorized) voltage regulator (if you don't already have one). You'll also need a strong and reliable battery (if you don't have one already) as the electronic box will need a certain amount of voltage supplied to it to fire the plugs.

Have you checked continuity of the power feed to the ignition switch THROUGH bulkhead connector? Resistance, too?

Take care,
CBODY67

 

[Toolmanmike]

It fits a LA does it fit a Poly? Are the distributors interchangeable? Ask @halifaxhops. He has had issues with the new control boxes on those. You would be better off putting a Pertronix in your stock unit.

 

[Big_John]

It fits a LA does it fit a Poly? Are the distributors interchangeable?

Yes.

 

[Blusmbl]

I used that kit on my '68 300 in ~2005. From what I've heard, the ignition box quality is not as good as they used to be, but I was happy with the one I had.

I've also used Pertronix kits with success.

 

[Big_John]

Has anyone ever used this kit on their car?

http://[URL]https://www.manciniracing.com/eldicokit1.html

[/URL]

I've been having ignition issues all spring and summer this year after having none last year. and if I can make those problems for 200$ its worth it to me,

thank you.

If I were to do this, I would source a rebuilt electronic distributor from @halifaxhops. That gives you a much better quality distributor than the offshore built piece Mancini is selling. Then I would use a GM HEI electronic unit instead of the Mopar type ECU. A Ford type E coil would be best, but a stock looking coil with a low primary resistance would work too.

Here's some good reading on the subject: HEI Electronic Ignition Retrofit How-To - Slant Six Forum

This is the best of all worlds, the GM HEI is a good piece and they are available anywhere.... A spare in the glove box would be good too.

 

[57fury440]

My 72 Barracuda has the electronic set up that I ordered when I bought the car. It was still an option in 1972. I replaced the reluctor and pick up and the cap and rotor over the years. The electronic ignition box was changed once. I changed it because the goo in the back was leaking out but otherwise it still worked. I have never had a problem with any of the Mopar electronic set ups. We have one on the 74 Barracuda too with good results. I agree with Big_John about using an original Mopar distributor that was rebuilt over one of the import ones.

 

[wiggilez]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to any of the responses, I was out camping for the long weekend.

It fits a LA does it fit a Poly? Are the distributors interchangeable? Ask @halifaxhops. He has had issues with the new control boxes on those. You would be better off putting a Pertronix in your stock unit.

I've read that that is the case, but some websites listed it as LA only and not poly, where as others said both, always good to double check.

What kind of issues? Just curious.

All an electronic ignition will do is fire the plugs more accurately than a distributor points set-up can, without any maintenance for a long time.

The one observed issue, from my experience, is that the cam lobes on the distributor will wear, with not all of the peaks being the same height. That will affect point gap AND dwell, which fires the plugs. I came to realize this when I was trying to get the dual points set correctly on a Chrysler factory dual point distributor. That's when I got the old Direct Connection distributor kit and never looked back.

One OTHER observation is that, at that time in the 1980s, very few if any new point sets came with the little vial of "rubbing block grease", which IS necessary to get the normal 12K+ miles out of a quality point set. As soon as the rubbing block wears, there goes the point gap and dwell settings!

Something which tends to vanish with an electronic system is distributor shaft/bushing wear. With no side forces from the point set spring pushing the distributor shaft to the side, wear is greatly reduced.

AND . . . you'll also need an electronic (transistorized) voltage regulator (if you don't already have one). You'll also need a strong and reliable battery (if you don't have one already) as the electronic box will need a certain amount of voltage supplied to it to fire the plugs.

Have you checked continuity of the power feed to the ignition switch THROUGH bulkhead connector? Resistance, too?

Take care,
CBODY67

little or no spark.

I didn't check the actual voltages at the bulkhead, only for continuity which seemed to all check out based on a wiring diagram I found off this site (technically it was for a 66 c body plymouth, but close enough)

If I were to do this, I would source a rebuilt electronic distributor from @halifaxhops. That gives you a much better quality distributor than the offshore built piece Mancini is selling. Then I would use a GM HEI electronic unit instead of the Mopar type ECU. A Ford type E coil would be best, but a stock looking coil with a low primary resistance would work too.

Here's some good reading on the subject: HEI Electronic Ignition Retrofit How-To - Slant Six Forum

This is the best of all worlds, the GM HEI is a good piece and they are available anywhere.... A spare in the glove box would be good too.

I will have to take some time later this week to properly read that.

 

[Nigel68]

...I've also used Pertronix kits with success.

Me too; Pertronix installed on my 383 '66 Newport since 2014...still runs good!

 

[halifaxhops]

Poly points distributors take the same petronix as the LA do. Get the pet I they seem bullet proof.