Electronic Points

[Wes Davis]

I am preparing to purchase a boat with a 1979 350 Ford/Chevy small/big block motor. LOL it is obvious I should look more into this before spending my thousands of dollars. The current owner told me the ignition is a points system. I have been reading online that most people convert it over to an electronics point system. Cost is supposed to be somewhere between 60 to 100 dollars for the kit. Is this something that a mechanical guy like myself can easily do. I install batteries, alternators and any other bolt on parts. Is this kit simple bolt on or does the engine have to be tuned with like timing lights, advancement and crap after install.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

If this is the kit that goes into your existing distributor, you can do it yourself. It will require some time and patience as you remove most of the top end guts of the other distributor and put these after market parts in. One issue to think about, if these parts fail in the future, you will need replacement ones, and this is NOT something you can get at the local auto parts store. I recommend you buy two of the or if you can buy the replacement parts separately do so.



If you NEVER need it then it is cheap insurance. However, if you do need them you will have them and it will be a pretty quick fix, hopefully with no tow. Without them, lots of money spent on the tow alone, let alone get parts to put you back together...

 

[Wes Davis]

Yes it is the kit that drops into the existing distributor from what I understand. You have confirmed as well what I was also told that these kits are great and maintenance free up until they fail, LOL. I guess they wear out or burn out or something on a pretty regular basis. This is for an ocean going boat and I would not like for this to fail offshore. Do I understand correctly in your opinion you just drop the kit in. I don't have to know anything about timing adjustment, mess with the spark advancement (this kit is supposed to replace the weighted advancement springs as well as the points) or any other fuel, spark issues?

 

[Kevin Palmer]

It is pretty straight forward, there will be a gap adjustment, but it is not like the points where it MUST be pretty exact. The system you are looking at acts more like a switch by the new parts opening and closing and or, there is a second style that reads a sensor that spins and it uses the gap you set as well. So wither way, there is some finessing but not so hard that the average person can not do it.



Mostly a pain in the but types stuff your working with small parts and are prone to drop a screw or something great like that.



I don't have it in front of me at this time, but they make a "Come home kit" which is a plastic box that basically contains an electronic ignition. So if your electronics fail within the distributor, you connect this box to it and it basically creates it's own spark and passes it directly to your rotor thru the top center post of your distributor, the rotor takes it to the various wires to run the engine. It costs about $100.00 and is worth every penny. I will do some digging and try to get the item and cost fro you.

 

[Wes Davis]

Thanks Coastie I appreciate your help and knowledge.

 

[Scott Tanner]

http://www.ignitor.com/

 

[Richard L]

Yes, the kits work, but the price is a bit too high.



My recommendation would be to convert over to a GM HEI distributor from a mid to late 1970's small block Chevy engine. That's the big cap with the square shaped coil built into the top of the cap.



I have upgraded several Chevy race cars to run the GM HEI distributors and even converted my old 1972 Monte Carlo over to an HEI distributor. They are a dime a dozen at the junkyards and repair parts are dirt cheap. Just be sure you get one that is complete, not worn out and be sure to get the wiring harness plug with about 6" of the wires and you can splice your existing ignition wires right onto the pigtails.



If you don't know now to wire it up, let me know and I can send you a terminal diagram that will tell you where to connect the wires.



...Rich

 

[Kevin Palmer]

What Rich is suggesting is EXACTLY what I would do if this was a car.



I did NOT suggest it to you as it is for a boat. The GM HEI, (High Energy Ignition) distributor for marine application is special in that it has components that are designed not to allow spark outside of itself. This is because the engine compartment inside a boat CAN be an explosive environment. Just like the starters and alternators are nothing more then a glorified version of the automotive application. But the glorification has to do with spark retention of the parts.



If you decide to go this route, make CERTAIN the blower works great as well as any scuppers that are installed provide excellent ventilation.



Personally, I would do it in a heartbeat as it WILL increase the power and performance of the boat. It will also be easy to get tune-up or replacement parts. I just didn't suggest it as there is some liability that comes with putting a non-marine distributor into a marine application.

 

[Wes Davis]

I took the info Rich gave and visited a website on how to do the HEI conversions. It seems a little more complicated then the electronic points kits that I found on Ebay for $48.00. What would be the benefit of the HEI over the kits? Does the HEI also eliminate points?

 

[Gavin Allan]

HEI is cheap, robust, and powerful.



Don't know about the fireball potential like Coastie says, but gotta believe there is merit in his points. Boats blow up all the time down here in the Ozarks, but we also have a lot of self-taught marine powerplant design engineers who also partake...

 

[Bill Ellis]

Also keep in mind that you are legally liable for all mods you make to the engine. Some years later, you sell boat. Boat catches fire due to use of automotive distributor. Who they gonna sue? Only use marine approved parts in a boat just as you demand that others only use approved parts in the planes in which you fly.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

HEI is a very good and reliable system. Basically, it is what GM used for something like a 20 year span or so. They still use a form of it today but no distributor, it is now a series of coil paks and what not.



In a vehicle, if you had points and removed the points distributor and installed an HEI you would notice an increase in the power as well as fuel economy. It is also easier to maintain the HEI distributor over the points distributor.



Like I said, even in a boat I would do it in a heart beat know what I know and knowing how to do it. But it would be wrong of me NOT to advise of the explosive potential by installing this into a boat. Many people have done it and NEVER had a single issue. But.... it only takes once to ruin your day, or, potentially your life.

 

[Hal S]

Nothing wrong with still running the points.

HP points were usually good to 6,000 rpm an most boats that I have been in don't get anywhere near that under load.

The cheapest reliable performance option is to do as RichadL suggested and drop in a complete HEI distributor. I was unaware of a specific marine HEI, but it makes sense that there are special concerns in a marine environment so it probably would be something to look into.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Being in the Coast Guard for 23 years, I have towed in my percentage of explosion boats...



And I only did SAR, (Search and Rescue) for 4 full time years and 4 part time years.



The rest of the time I was out of the country doing High Value Asset security. So in 6ish years I'll bet I hooked onto 15 boats that had gone up in smoke due to ignition issues..

 

[EddieS'04]

There is a points elimination kit by Petronix that you can look at on the JC Whitney site.

You might want to check it out. I have known a few people that put them on there older cars. They had no failures..

 

[Richard L]

Actually, your are far more likely to get a spark from a set of points than any other type of ignition. Sparks outside of the distributor would only be due to poor sparkplug wires, and the danger would not be any more or less regardless of the ignition.



The real danger is if there is a fuel leak and your engine compartment is filled with fumes, but any inboard engine compartment should have a ventilator fan that should be activated before attempting to start the engine. Once you are under way you can shut off the fan and allow the flowthrough ventilation clear the fumes from the engine compartment.



I suspect that any Marine distributors are designed to resist corrosion and prevent/eliminate malfunctions due to the moisture. Any inboard enigne compartment should have a power ventilator.



...Rich

 

[Mike Wilson]

Get the Marine Application H.E.I. Distributor with the "Pink" seal around the Cap-to-

Distributor Housing. The H.E.I. Module in the housing, itself, is already sealed in a silicon-

based epoxy, to prevent any unwanted spark-discharges from igniting any vapors in a

"Marine Environment"!