Which electronic ignition upgrade? (1 Viewer)

[HawkGunner]

My distributor has given up the ghost, as far as I'm concerned. The vacuum advance isn't working, and today a cracked cap has me stranded in the next town over.

In any case, I've decided to get a new distributor and to upgrade to electronic ignition while I'm at it. Non-operation after an EMP strike not withstanding (lol).... I can't really see a good reason to stick with points. They're kind of a huge PITA, compared to more modern technology.

So what are my best options, that include minimal fabrication and will easily offer replacement and backup parts?

HEI? Trollhole? What else?

I know someone will say FJ60, but that requires a different lifter cover and finding parts for it are also becoming a crapshoot. I'm looking for plug and play for the most part.

 

[deliverance]

City Racer LLC has a vac advance distributor as well. I’m pretty sure it comes with points, but you can add Pertronix to it.

 

[ryanwk628]

I will need to do the same thing as I am running a vac retard dizzy on mechanical advance only so Ive been giving this a lot of tought. Trollhole would be ideal but he seems to be non-responsive on the dizzy front. HEI looks like a good option considering parts availability, but it is big, some people have had complaints and it doesn't look close to Toyota. I dont know if I can justify buying a new Toyota unit just to rip the guts out. Perhaps if I could find a good second hand one.
@65swb45 seems to be the guy to talk to about Petronix kits so once I get my current wiring harness project done, I plan on giving him a call. Please post whatever you end up doing and your thoughts on it, thanks!

 

[David70FJ40]

Purchased my dist and electronic ignition from JTO. (I can drive to their shop in about 45 minutes) The dist is a non-USA unit and I am not sure what the electronics are. I had to do some alteration and had Mel's Ignition in Salisbury, NC set it up properly. Cranks easily and none of the points hassle.

 

[greenbeasty]

I have run Pertronix in two older Cruisers, and have had exelent service from both.
No experience with any other.
And I keep points and condenser in the glove box for emp day!

 

[dlzadl]

Pertronix is the way I went. Mark Algazy is a distributor and I still run the vac/retard dizzy

 

[HawkGunner]

Pertronix would be great if my vac advance still worked, or I could find a rebuild kit for it.

That doesn't seem to be the case though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[jvincig01]

I bought my Pertronix and Pertronix Flamethrower Coil from @65swb45 . Definitely the way to go. Just ping him and he will set you up right.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

For my '78, I went with 1978 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER Davis Unified Ignition Toyota Street/Strip D.U.I. Distributors 80820BL and their 1978 TOYOTA LAND CRUISER Davis Unified Ignition LiveWires

Edit: The link I included is the DUI with vac advance.

Eliminated the coil, igniter and the need for a ballast resister ('78 has the big, pink Yazaki resister wire in the harness).

If you decide to go this route, be sure you buy the Toyota version... For the correct gear.

 

[emac]

I went with the trolhole dizzy using the stock coil on my 77 and it has worked fine for about 4k miles.

You could buy two and put one in a faraday bag just in case

 

[HawkGunner]

... You could buy two and put one in a faraday bag just in case

I could keep a whole new distributor, but just the rotor button with the circuitry is sufficient. If the dizzy totally is burned out, so is everything else. As the intensity of the event was so severe it torched the wiring.

Whether ones vehicle works after an EMP strike is largely dependent on the frequency and intensity of the EMP, and your relative relation to it.

In other words, unless you're directly in the path of a high intensity blast, it's more likely than not that your vehicle will still work afterwords.

Sort of off topic though, I guess

 

[1911]

In other words, unless you're directly in the path of a high intensity blast, it's more likely than not that your vehicle will still work afterwords.

Reason #28, Why Not to Live In/Near a Large Metro Area.

 

[65swb45]

Reason #28, Why Not to Live In/Near a Large Metro Area.

Says the man who’s building the ultimate man-cave bunker!

 

[HawkGunner]

Says the man who’s building the ultimate man-cave bunker!

Reason #29: "can have private bunker"

 

[Trialsallday]

@65swb45 when running petronix ignition and flamethrower, what plugs should we run? I heard something about changing the gap once.
Thoughts?

 

[1MOA]

Go DUI
Set it up once and forget about it.

 

[Trialsallday]

Go DUI
Set it up once and forget about it.

Well I have petronix already and it runs good. Wanna Chang my plugs soon just as regular maintenance. I never changed them when I went to petronix but wondering if I should now

 

[1MOA]

Honestly . look at them and if they are clean just keep running them a pertronix or DUI fires so hot they can make up for a lot of gap issues.

 

[HawkGunner]

Well I have petronix already and it runs good. Wanna Chang my plugs soon just as regular maintenance. I never changed them when I went to petronix but wondering if I should now

The DUI allows for a .055 gap if I remember correctly. I would imagine that the pertronix allows for a similarly large gap.

Start them at .045 and see what that gets you.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Denso (3013) W14EXR-U are hot plugs. I use them and LiveWire (performance distributors) spark plug wires and gap the plugs at .050” for my DUI. Timing set at 12*BTDC.