Hey guys I upgraded my 1977 ignition to get rid of the points to a 1978 distributor and the coil/igniter shown in the pic. Since the cap for this has gone unobtanium, time to upgrade again to a large body distributor I have had sitting on the shelf. Will this igniter work with the FJ60 dizzy?
Igniter compatible with large body FJ60 distributor?
- Thread starter Dianna
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Do you have a resistor or resistor wire in your ignition circuit (between the switch and coil +?
My 79, with the small cap electronic distributor and matching igniter/coil were fed by 7v, dropped down from 12v via the resistor or resistor wire.
The big cap FJ60 distributor, igniter and coil are fed by full battery voltage (no resistor or resistor wire in the ignition circuit).
When I had problems with my 79 OEM distributor, I opted to go full upgrade to the FJ60 setup (distributor, igniter, coil, dented pushrod cover), and I eliminated the ignition resistor wire to give the setup the full 12v it needs.
In your case, you can probably just pop in the big cap distributor and dented pushrodcover (verify your harness and distributor wiring matches up correctly), keeping the rest of your setup in tact. But you might consider the full FJ60 ignition upgrade for long term performance and reliability.
My 79, with the small cap electronic distributor and matching igniter/coil were fed by 7v, dropped down from 12v via the resistor or resistor wire.
The big cap FJ60 distributor, igniter and coil are fed by full battery voltage (no resistor or resistor wire in the ignition circuit).
When I had problems with my 79 OEM distributor, I opted to go full upgrade to the FJ60 setup (distributor, igniter, coil, dented pushrod cover), and I eliminated the ignition resistor wire to give the setup the full 12v it needs.
In your case, you can probably just pop in the big cap distributor and dented pushrodcover (verify your harness and distributor wiring matches up correctly), keeping the rest of your setup in tact. But you might consider the full FJ60 ignition upgrade for long term performance and reliability.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #3
Coolerman for the win! I was looking for more information on my own and found his website with a ton of dizzy information on it
Thank you for the response CruiserinProgress, I found lots of information about the dizzy upgrade to the big cap, but not much on which igniters were compatible.
1911
chupacabra
FWIW, I put a big-cap 60 dizzy on my 12/79 build 40 and used the original ‘79 igniter and coil, and it works just fine. I can get a photo of the igniter if you want.
Those diagrams have become my bible as I chase down all my electrical gremlins... Do any of y'all know if he's still selling wire / connectors? I've reached out a few times via email but no answer (but we have enough vendors with the mentality of "if I can help you I will return your call/DM/email"
Coolerman for the win! I was looking for more information on my own and found his website with a ton of dizzy information on it
) so I have no idea either way...
Same here about Coolerman's wiring diagrams. Really handy when verifying or repairing cobbled wiring.
FYI, I reached Mark by email in April and bought some wire and connectors.
FYI, I reached Mark by email in April and bought some wire and connectors.
Good job sorting out and finding the correct stuff. I really like my $120 chineesium Delco from Amoron. The cap and wires I got from Man-a-fre back in the late 80 for the real delco plus the points/ condenser are in the unit. Working great for now anyway. I just like simple straight mechanical advance as determined by the rpm's - no vacuum advance/retard to complicate the works.
- Thread starter
- #8
Awesome
Awesome! Thank you! I was hoping someone that has actually done it would comment.
1911
chupacabra
Awesome
Awesome! Thank you! I was hoping someone that has actually done it would comment.
It was plug and play - even the wiring harness connector was the same.
