1952-59 Ford 1954 Ford 302/c4 SWAP

Engine sound very sweet ! Exhaust sound good too . What cam size are you running ? How was the torque & pulling power from a stop ?

Jim

 

Jeff Kmj handled the return so far very well I'm sure I'm gonna have to swallow some sort of restocking charge... we will see? Jim I havent really got on it to hard I was having problems with my electronic ignition (only part on the engine "used") so I picked up a new pertronix this morning gonna strap it on in a few and test it out....I'll get the specs for you later on the cam

 

Glad to hear that it will be an easy fix .
Enjoy the drive for all the hard work you did !

Jim

 

Not so productive evening the pertronix is only hitting on 6 cylinders pulled it off put the points back on and it's running like a champ.....Now my carb is flooding out lol must have got some trash in it while I had it off the last six months! ****!

 

Would my freshly painted block have anything to do with my dizzy not being grounded?? Would it still work with the points not being grounded good?

 

Throw that Pertronix as far as you can! I had the one in my Buick take a **** in the middle of Friday afternoon traffic a month or so ago! No way to fix it, no way to work around it and nobody willing to push me out of traffic. Never, never again!

 

Ya I'm gonna leave the points on for now Autorama is in a few days I refuse to push my car in lol

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1uYwPbISxU

 

I still say the exhaust sound great . I think you have a mild cam upgrade . I can hear it a little better in the video .
Make sure you take lots of pictures at the show !

Jim

 

Is pertronix a **** shoot or what? I bought the set up a couple of years back on a recommendation of my buddies from my club. We're all running stock distributors and haven't had any issues. BTW, I am running a '69 302, one guy is running a 350, and the other guy is running a nailhead.

 

That's the problem. There's no warning. One minute it's running fine, then it feels like the car is running out of gas, then it's dead. El finito. Morte. Croaked.

The Pertronix is probably no more prone to failure than any other electronic ignition, but it's the lack of easy-to-get parts that is the problem.

Unless you've got a spare unit in your glove box, you're going to need a tow home. Parts stores do not usually stock Pertronix parts or even complete units.

Yes, you can put points back in it...if you'e got all the parts you took out when you put the Pertronix in, or you can pop a conventional dizzy in place of your converted one. But you'll still have to modify your wiring and time it by the side of the road. Not impossible, but not a walk in the park, either.

Going back to points is the most obvious solution. Even if they burn or close up, they are easily fixed without having to do any dis***embly or parts.

I went with an HEI setup, and carry a spare module and condenser in the glove box. (My motor is a Chevy) I have run HEI's in many, many cars and never had a failure, but even if I do I've got the parts to fix it. A couple of common screwdrivers are all the tools needed.

So... This is not a flame on Pertronix, but only a heads-up that they do fail, and usually at the worst possible moment. Plan ahead and you'll be fine.

 

I am running an HEI in my 302 Ford some people give you **** about that,but who cares!! HEI parts are EZ to come by and reduced the under the hood clutter and it has a good performance curve that works well with my setup.Bought my HEI from KMJ for $49.95 on sale too so it was wallet friendly.

 

I pulled my headers off the other night so I can start the fabricating process, just something to keep an eye on, I noticed my p***enger side header has a nice gouge in on of the small tubes. I havent looked closer yet to see what its hitting, a arm or motor mount or what.. Will get a pic, was shocked at the indention. Of course with the stroker motor and cam I have, that baby does some rockin in there, may not be a prob on a stock'ish 302

 

Jeff I'm seriously thinking of going that route.....I saved every dime I could to do this motor trans build buying the best brand new parts I could only to find so many were defective from the factory it's crazy!! Wheres the QC when you need it!

 

I personally love the pertronics on mine, but yes if it does go the way of the ghost, there arent spare parts around. what I would do is if you get it, wire it in a way with quick connect electrical connectors, and keep your points set up in the glove box. that way you can swap it out in jsut a few minutes. FWIW I have had the same pertronics set up on mine for 3 years no prob, and the shop that I worked at we installed several, and never once had a comeback.

 

Well I have a choice for my 302 I am building . I have a Pertronix in a distributor already , an GM style HEI new distributor , a MSD and another no name . I got them all in different trades except one I actually paid for . The GM HEI distributor even has a blue cap that I like , but depending on what intake you use , you will have a problem with the vacuum advance hitting the intake and then you can't get too much movement for timing , plus they are big but are very reliable ! I guess it all depends on what you want to use . They all work great until they break ! You just need to find the one that works best for your application !

Jim

 

I like the Duraspark box with an '84 Mustang HO distributor. The '84 has a better advance curve. It's really easy to hook up and you can get parts anywhere.

 

well i have to say what ever your preference is. the o.e. style dist. seem to be more reliable. ive seen several petronix units fail from cars to harleys. i prefer something i can walk into any parts store and get what i need. wether it be dura spark or gm hei. i think the hei unit is just bulkier looking. so i use the dura spark. but thats me .

 

Speaking of "wallet friendly"...as Jeff would say...a stock distributor (not to include '49 - '53 Ford all-vacuum dizzys) can be made to perform just as well as a high-buck electronic ignition by doing the following:

Replace the stock advance springs with one step lighter than stock (Spring kits can be found at auto swap meets for real cheap! Auto parts stores can order them.). Do not replace the weights. This recurves the distributor for slightly faster advance;

Replace points/condenser with new ones;

Replace the stock coil with an aftermarket 50,000 volt high performance unit (these can be found at auto swap meets for $5 - $10 if you know what you're looking for.

Put the dizzy back in and give it a tad bit more (+2 to 4 degrees) advance than stock. This depends upon the gas quality in your area...they're all different. If it rattles on WOT in high gear, back it off until it doesn't rattle any more. Just right!

That's it. An hour's time and $15 max! Good to 5,000 to 6,000 rpm with a nice, hot spark all the way up. And, you can open the plug gap .005" to .010" over stock to enhance the spark even more.

Not high tech at all, but effective...and cheap!

You're welcome.

 

I am running the stock ford duraspark distributor on my stroked 302, runs like a top! Talk about cheap and easy replacement, every auto store has them. I run the 85 mustang duraspark because it has the steel gear for a roller cam already on it. I welded up the slot on it to adjust the curve just like I wanted and put new springs in it for $5. I am building a website/blog do***enting my car and what I do, I just started it (since noone else owned fordmainline.com I decided I would buy it ) but I posted great detail on recurving the duraspark, its a snap. I am running it up to 6500, no problems. Here is my article -> Duraspark Recurve

 

Alright I got the HEI on and running car still runs kind of so so.........I 've been using my old exhaust (dual 1"3/4) and it's not cutting it at all so before I start guessing why it's not running good I decided to change out the pipes to 2 1/2" tomorrow will be the test run! On a side note I got the tailights working!.....On another side note I used all new arp hardware and notice ALOT! of loose bolts...after tightening engine seemed to run better......and after exhaust tomorrow hopfully that will be it!! VID coming soon

 

does anybody know what motor mounts to run on ths swap? im new to fords in a way lol

 

When I rebuild engines I use Loc tight Blue on all my bolts so they don't vibrate loose . Use blue for bolts that you want to remove later one and red that will hold them tight and they are hard to brake loose too . Red is great for headers . Never had any problems with blue ! Also make sure you Torque the bolts too . That will make a huge difference also .
I also spend the extra money for ARP also . Well worth the added price for them . I use them on ALL main , rod , head , intake , flywheel bolts . Those are your main areas for the stress where the extra strength really does help ! NEVER had a problems !
On the exhaust 2.5 is the biggest you want to go on a street engine . 2" is great too . The smaller exhaust will help with the torque on low end . The larger like 3" or so is better for top end .

Jim