Hot Rods From Troubleshooting Wiring to Ignition Hell

Sorry, you've lost me....

 

Just as fast as I can! Straightening out this ignition issue is keeping me away from the 51-year-old goal of having a truck on the family farm. I'm getting so close I can smell it now. Or is that burning wiring I smell? Still got stuff to figure out, but I'm getting there - with all of your help..

 

Why don't you hunt down an old 351w points distributor and be done with it.
There is very little performance differences at idle to 5000 rpm [the only downside is points maintenance which isn't too bad with the dizzy up front]

This will get your project running now.
Later hunt down an old MSD 6 and trigger this with the points dizzy [the points only trigger the MSD so they will last forever]

A points dizzy will cost you less than fixing a fried duraspark ,and get you on the road now.

 

Thank you, sir. I will search for one.

Ben

 

And there's the rub. At 10K or 20K miles if it ran, it ran! Nobody could be bothered with doing maintenance on something that seemingly was still working.

 

Even as a 45 year electrician I look at all this and how I was so wrong connecting the 2 wires of a dreaded Pertronix ll 12 years ago. I pretty sure in the future in I’ll need to change the spark plugs and reset the timing but it may not be happen in my lifetime as I’m now 81.

 

Yeah, that extended time leaning over motor doing points gets increasingly difficult (particularly with a bad back) as you get older...

For a lot of us old geezers, low maintenance is a blessing. I know I factor that in anymore with any mods.

 

I prefer OEM over aftermarket but the Duraspark is a Lottery. I would rather have an OEM points dizzy over any of those Chinesium "ProForm" dizzys.
The only headache I've had with points is finding decent quality condensers [I had 3 faulty condensers in a row, so I rescued my OEM from the trash]

But luckily most OEM condensers are reliable and generally don't need changing [we just swap them out as a habit]

This is quality time with your "loved one" [your car]
I need any excuse to go out into the garage before Mimi traps me into helping do house cleaning

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I like points triggered electronic ignition [MSD6, HEI or TFI] these reduce the current across the points and are reliable.
The purpose of these ^^^^ is more energy .

And you can connect them up using a DPDT switch [6 pole] so if the module fails you can simply flick a switch and you're on your way.

Here's how to connect a HEI module to points using a 2N2222 transistor to keep the phasing of the Module consistent with points [so re-timing isn't needed]

 

I've been trying to digest as much information as I can and so appreciate all of your help. Here's the irony: I decided to stay with the Duraspark II when I first picked up the 351W because I thought - at the time (late '70s) that it was the state of the art in breakerless ignition. I also had a couple of bad episodes with conventional breaker/condenser ignitions. I kinda enjoy setting points but real tired of sorting through bad condensers until I find one that works.
Thanks to Saltflats, I hope to be testing the old unit soon and already have a replacement coming from RockAuto, but if that doesn't sort out the problem I'm going old school and putting in a conventional points distributor.
Hey, on a positive front, I tracked down why my parking lights weren't working, even when the taillights worked just fine. It was a lack of good ground inside the headlight bucket. I added good grounding wires and - hot damn! - the parking lights work! The last two wiring problems to resolve are the hazard light switch blows a fuse when I turn it on, and the rheostat to brighten, dim or turn off the dash lights isn't doing anything. Cory at Rebel Wire has helped me tremendously.
Once the ignition and wiring are working, it's time to start up the engine, break it in, then set up the AOD pressure.

 

One thing that should be noted is the various Duraspark boxes don't all wire the same and/or use the same coil.

 

I'm all for cheap hotrodding [if expectations are realistic]
Now I've never had an OEM condenser fail, I was taught to replace them with the points religously!

But I had a bad run of new "chinesium" condensers that were faulty out of the box [3 in a row] so I rescued the old one from the trash and it has been in my toy since 2019.
If you have a nice blue spark leave it alone.

A condenser is just a capacitor! [the capacitor discharges .... sound familiar?]
If you know what you're doing ,you can buy the correct capacitor from an electronics store [and mount it externally]
You can also "UP" the energy with different capactors

So if you buy a used points dizzy, don't throw out the old condenser. Just replace the points.
I personally would hunt down an old "unloved" MSD 5 [or MSD 6] box and do away with the condenser

I've picked up Ford Dizzys for $50 [the last one was $20 from a 302 that the owner "swapped" with a Proform]
Note: 302 and 351w have different oil pump drives

And an unloved MSD 5 is usually under $100.
This gives you simplicity , reliability, and you can also play with advance curve springs/weights [all for approx $150]


Also clean your rheostat with Isopropyl Alcohol [I've saved a few doing that]

 

I believe @tubman ? produces reliable condensers.