New CJ owner- timing question?

[Cheepjeep85]

unless of course it gets water in it then its garbage all over again there is a reason they don't use points anymore. the hei is for me everything it needs to run is right there on the distributor

 

[Old Dog]

Will it be a good module when you need it? A point-type distributor WILL BE GOOD, guaranteed, if it was good when ya tossed it in the toolbox & didn't drop a four-pound sledge on it.

I never count on a module being good until it's actually running.

I could say the same thing for the condenser.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

i dont know anybody that carries a spare distributor around with them. thats not a very common thing to go out. now points on the other hand are, and if had a points type dist. i would be changing it out as soon as i possibly could just because of the hassle with them, and because of the need to carry extra parts for them in the small space that i have in my jeep. face it points just aren't something that is worth keeping given all of the newer, more reliable technology out there

 

[Kruser]

OK im in the process of finding a dist off a 78 or 79 then I can go ahead and do the other upgrade. I wouldn't have to cahnge out the dist gear would I? A 78 distributer should just drop in right (with some wiring)?

 

[Cheepjeep85]

yes it will drop right in youll need the control mod. and coil. if you plan on using it before doing the tfi upgrade

 

[TDHofstetter]

i...just because of the hassle with them...

Hassle? No hassle. Swap 'em out twice a year while you're doing the oil change. Quck adjust while the motor's running. You're done. No hassle.

My point-type distributor will still function ten years from now, too... and twenty. And thirty... long's I keep good bushings in it.

 

[Kruser]

So I was thinking I would just go ahead and change out the distributer and later do the TFI. Im sure the motorcraft would be an imporvement by itself. Will I need to chage out the plug wires? change gap? And I can not use the coil I have? Sorry I have so many questions, never done anything like this before...

 

[IOPort51]

Motorcraft Distributor TFI Upgrade for the AMC 258

This is as good a site as I have found.
Read and understand everything and do it all at once. There is nothing wrong with what you have, it just isn’t as good as what you are going to get. There is no hurry, understand what you are going to do before you drop a cent on parts, they are not an endangered species and will be just as available for a long time to come. You may want to just save your coins until you can replace the module with an MSD or Summit capacitive discharge module, they are expensive but come with a life time repair warranty. and they are 100x better than the Motor craft.
Planning and managing a mod can be the biggest and most important part of the job. By degree of difficulty comparing the carb upgrade to the dizzy upgrade the dizzy is a stroll in the park, you don’t really even have to get dirty to do it and there is no heavy lifting. When you get to the part about how to rewire the module it is way past time to be asking questions, it’s time to know what wire goes where or it just isn’t as much fun anymore.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out.

 

[dslywalker]

I was reading in a article that the extra top load on the distributor that was operating on a angle wore out the gear prematurely.Anything to this.
Mike

 

[IOPort51]

I was reading in a article that the extra top load on the distributor that was operating on a angle wore out the gear prematurely.Anything to this.
Mike

I believe you will find that problem in the V8 but not the six. I had thought it was because of a difference of temper in the gear vs the cam gear.

We may be talking about two different things, expound on "extra top load" This is swapping one stock dizzy for another where would you pick up "extra"?

I would say the steeper the angle on the distributer the better the chance for the bushing to wear and in turn the gear. The V8 does have a noticable tilt to it.