[AT] conventional or electronic ignition

Ken Knierim ken.knierim at gmail.com
Mon Jun 12 17:49:07 PDT 2006


I wasn't sure of which years had the odd and even-fire. Seems like
they worked with offsetting the throws on the crank to get them to be
even-fire. I remember seeing a picture of it but, well, CRS might be
fogging that... it could have been some racer doing something fancy
because he could. :)

Also, I thought there was more to it than just the cap... wasn't there
a difference in the magnetic pickup, since they had those "peaks" that
had to line up? Otherwise someone could just swap a cap and be on
their way, right? Or am I out in the weeds again. :)

And yeah, the 4.3 is a chopped down 350. They still have the 90 degree
block and I thought they had that as an odd-fire as a result... The
only one I saw (a while back) had a computer connection that might
make it tough to use as a retrofit, at least on that one.

Anyone ever adapt an HEI to a tractor engine? I've never looked for a
4-banger HEI; I assume they built them. Most of mine have mags but my
TD-14 is a bear to start sometimes. It's got a Delco distributor on
it, I've got a lathe.... :)

Ken in AZ

On 6/12/06, Steve W. <falcon at telenet.net> wrote:
> Buicks were odd fire until 75 then they became even fire. The difference
> is in the cap. If the cap has 6 evenly spaced terminals it is an Even
> fire unit. If it has an 8 cylinder cap OR two sets of three terminal
> with wider spaces between them it is odd fire. The 4.3 dizzy might also
> work but I think it might be long. The 4.3 is the same as a 350 with
> cylinders 4 and 5 missing.
>
> Steve Williams
> Near Cooperstown, New York
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ken Knierim" <ken.knierim at gmail.com>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 6:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] conventional or electronic ignition
>
>
> > Steve's got a great point; an HEI would be a better way to go. You can
> > get parts for them (like modules) and have some spares in the vehicle
> > (can you tell I like having spare parts?)
> >      You might want to be careful of the Buick one though, because
> > some or all were (I think!) odd-fire engines. And I think that also
> > applies to the 4.3 V-6 Chevy engine. I seem to recall that they had
> > slightly different spaces between the towers; that might help identify
> > the odd-fire from the even-fire ones.
> >
> > Hope this helps.
> >
> > Ken in  AZ
> >
> > On 6/12/06, Steve W. <falcon at telenet.net> wrote:
> > > I wouldn't bother with a conversion kit. Just hit a "salvage" yard
> and
> > > get an HEI unit from a 74/75 or up GM straight six. They work real
> nice
> > > and are a drop in. The only thing you will need to do is find the
> > > resistor in the circuit to the points and remove/bypass it so that
> full
> > > voltage goes to the HEI. I think the distributor is also the same as
> > > used in the Buick 231 V6 , IIRC. They are super reliable and the
> only
> > > part I ever had fail is the module IF you didn't put heat sink paste
> on
> > > it.  If you have a problem finding one just holler, I may have a
> couple
> > > still around here from my old race car (started with a 74 Nova with
> a
> > > 250 six and some Clifford parts)
> > >
> > > Steve Williams
> > > Near Cooperstown, New York
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Ralph Goff" <alfg at sasktel.net>
> > > To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
> > > <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> > > Sent: Monday, June 12, 2006 4:26 PM
> > > Subject: [AT] conventional or electronic ignition
> > >
> > >
> > > > Heres a question that may have been asked before but it has only
> > > become of interest to me lately.
> > > > I know some of you have converted your old tractors to electronic
> > > ignition and I'm considering the same on my daily driver 71 Chev
> pickup
> > > with the 250 six cylinder engine.
> > > > After paying close to $40 for a new set of points and condensor
> last
> > > week I'm wondering if the electronic conversion is a big saving long
> > > term. I can get a Crane conversion kit for about $80 (the price of 2
> > > sets of points and condensor). It just replaces the internal parts
> and
> > > uses the existing distributor housing, no external changes. I'm
> > > wondering how the lifespan and reliability of this type electronic
> > > ignition is.
> > > > What I do like about the old type points is it does give me some
> > > warning when it needs replacing and has never left me stranded
> whereas
> > > I've heard that when the newer electronic ignition fails it happens
> > > without warning and your left walking.
> > > > Any opinions... experiences?
> > > >
> > > > Ralph in Sask.
> > > > http://lgoff.sasktelwebsite.net/
> > > >
> > > > --Boundary_(ID_3LnKFiW652Y4Ot0kK3p7AA)
> > > > Content-type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
> > > > Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
> > > >
> > > > <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> > > > <HTML><HEAD>
> > > > <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html;
> charset=iso-8859-1">
> > > > <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2873" name=GENERATOR>
> > > > <STYLE></STYLE>
> > > > </HEAD>
> > > > <BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Heres a question that may have been
> asked
> > > before
> > > > but it has only become of interest to me lately. </FONT></DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I know some of you have converted
> your
> > > old tractors
> > > > to electronic ignition and I'm considering the same on my daily
> driver
> > > 71 Chev
> > > > pickup with the 250 six cylinder engine. </FONT></DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>After paying close to $40 for a new
> set
> > > of points
> > > > and condensor last week I'm wondering if the electronic conversion
> is
> > > a big
> > > > saving long term. I can get a Crane conversion kit for about $80
> (the
> > > price of 2
> > > > sets of points and condensor). It just replaces the internal parts
> and
> > > uses the
> > > > existing distributor housing, no external changes. I'm wondering
> how
> > > the
> > > > lifespan and reliability of this type electronic ignition is.
> > > </FONT></DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What I do like about the old type
> points
> > > is it does
> > > > give me some warning when it needs replacing and has never left me
> > > stranded
> > > > whereas I've heard that when the newer electronic ignition fails
> it
> > > happens
> > > > without warning and your left walking. </FONT></DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any opinions...
> experiences?</FONT></DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
> > > > <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ralph in Sask.<BR><A
> > > >
> > >
> href="http://lgoff.sasktelwebsite.net/">http://lgoff.sasktelwebsite.net/
> > > </A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > AT mailing list
> > > > Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> > > > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > AT mailing list
> > > Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> > > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> > >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > AT mailing list
> > Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
> > http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
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