Ozark, the date was a mistake, I corrected it. (I need a proof-reader)
I can't be 100% sure of the change over dates, I'm going by an interchange book, and they are often wrong. I do know for a fact the '78 to '84 distributors are all the same.
The parts you asked about are, Cap base, cap, and rotor, all from a '79 Ford F-150 Pickup with a V-8 anything. All V-8 engines in '79 used the same distributor top end.
You will need plug wires, and small block Ford just won't get it.
Try the plug wires from a '79 Ford F-350 with a 460 CID V-8. They fit our 360 just about right.
tlendt, you wrote,
*In what way does a duraspark outperform HEI? Module failures? Duraspark is an inferior system anyway you slice it. Output, reliability, and ease of repair when necessary are all in GM's favor, and many Fomoco line techs will tell you this.*
You are wrong.
I'm going to try to stay polite here.... and educate you...
The Ford DuraSpark has less trigger error firings because they don't put a huge magnetic field around it. No coil, on top of the pickup coil, no magnetic field.
The Motorcraft has NO problem with firing to ground inside the distributor because they:
1. Put the rotor up high enough it doesn't fire to the shaft,
And that means it doesn't try to weld the centrifugal advance weights to their pins,
(doesn't make red dust)
2. Vent the cap and housing to keep the presents of ionized air called ozone down.
High concentrations of ozone in the cap encourage cross firings.
3. Uses a cap sprayed with a coating to inhibit cross firings, and uses a 'webed' cap design that does the same thing.
4. Motorcraft high voltage ignition coils don't output as much sheer voltage as a GM HEI, but they do produce a more usable and desirable discharge, and don't leak voltage everywhere.
5. Motorcraft high voltage ignition coils and distributor caps use a longer high voltage tower so a longer, better sealing spark plug wire and distributor cap boots can be used.
6. Motorcraft ignitions are more modular, and easier to work on. IE, you don't need to gut the cap to check the ignition coil. Pickup coil can be tested out side of the distributor, with out any tear down of the distributor.
7. Failures are usually do to overheating of the module, or corroded wiring harnesses.
-All GM HEI distributors eat them selves alive with ground firings to the distributor shafts and advance weights. Way to high of firing voltages, accumulated ozone from inadequate vents, and an inadequate rotor thickness and rotor too close to a ground source are major factors.
-All GM HEI caps, that have high voltage coils in the caps, induce random firings in the pick-up coils and inductance firing in the internal wiring harness. Every single one of those random firings is detrimental to your engine.
This problem is just made worse if you get talked into an expensive 'MEGA SUPER LASER BLASTER URANIUM CORE COIL' or what ever silly-assed thing the 'Salesman' at Auto-Jerks talk you into.
(Remember, a Salesman's job is to sell, no matter if he knows what he's talking about or not, and no matter if you need it or not...)
-All GM HEI distributors CAN NOT be weather sealed because of the wiring arrangement in the caps an general cap design.
-All GM HEI ignition coils leak high voltage into everything. There is no way to seal the discharge port on a GM HEI, no matter what you do.
-All aftermarket GM HEI 'SUPER COILS' that I have tested, except for one, actually discharge OUTSIDE OF THE CAP! That's from the coil cover to the distributor base. That's how hard it is to seal the output of a GM HEI type coil.
-The worst thing you can do is let someone talk you into one of those $400 to $500 GM HEI aftermarket distributors. It's $20 for the drive gear, and $20 to the machine shop to turn the housing sleave, and they are the worst offenders when it comes to using those 'MEGA COILS'....
I can go on, but I don't see any point in it.
NO Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo, I noticed you didn't get that correct either) representatives is going to say that GM is superior, even if it were the cure to cancer.
Company employees don't degrade their products, while promoting the competition.
If you really want the numbers to Fords SVO group, or a copy of John Vermerish's assessments of ignitions, I will send them to you if you like.
Smokey Yunick, John Vermerish, George Lunati, Vic Edelbrock and MSD all agree, and they don't agree with you.
I have done bench testing, and racing experience that confirms what they all say.
If you have any factual data supporting your position, I'd be glad to hear it....
I'm always willing to learn.
(Did I do any better CJ Dave?)
When a fool and a wise man argue, Onlookers can't tell the difference...
