Ok, I'm about ready to do the Dura Spark II swap on the Mav. I'm sick and tired of this slight missfire I got at idle and when I'm barely on the gas going down the road. I've never replaced the points, just cleaned them, and I really am ready to just get rid of them. Even if it dosen't get rid of the missfire, I feel like its just a good upgrade to do. I'm going to be going to a few Pull-A-Parts and junkyards in the next few days, both here and in NC. What cars am I looking for to get the Distributor and wireing harness from? I'm guessing I'm looking for about any late 70's to early 80's car that has a 250 and Dura Spark? I would buy a new Distributor but I don't have the $$$ so I'll just have to make do with what I can find for now. I know someone on here did this swap, but I can't remember who.
Why not just put pertronix, in your stock distributor? Only about $75 & only takes 10 minutes to install....Then you don't have to worry about points ever again....
I have read things on a few other random car sites that have made me not really sure about going that route. Like some guys haveing to send several of them back before they got a good one and all kinds of stuff. I been thinking about it though.
Any 6 cylinder Dura Spark system will work. Get the dist, coil, module and harness. The harness will plug the 3 components into each other so the only thing left will be the red & white wire on the module. Hook them both together and to a 12v source. A few years ago I got a rebuilt dist from the local parts store. Was less than $30.
jamie, i have ran the "pertronix" type in ..my v.w. (giha) and (bug), '70 ford truck, (4) harleys, chevy. van. and (3) mavs. over the last 23 years with no problems. "don't leave home without it". the dura spark you get from the junk yard could be the reason the car is there... . i did the dura spark swap in the orange mav. terry has, it lasted about a week...then put the pertronix in...JMO...frank...
The pertronix dizzy in my Grabber is running fine .... but keep in mind the DuraSpark really increases the spark and lets's you gap the plugs at .050 .... the pertronix uses basically stock gaps .... on the Grabber I gapped my plugs at .038 with the Pertronix and the 74 is at .050 with the Duraspark ...
I had it in the back of my mind that it was you that did that Dan, but I wasn't positive. Hmm... Looks like I have some pondering to do. Thanks.
dan, so what's the point... if he was running 400 hp there might be a diff... he is running a motor that he said a "wheelchair" might could out run ..frank...
Well ... I can say it starts and idles much better .... no put-put-put during idling which is common with points, low voltages and small gaps .... ... I had troubles with the original pertronix that I installed in my Grabber during restoration. Never did run right so I put the points back in. I was somewhat hesitant on the Pertronix Dizzy but the billet looked so pretty I had to give it a try and it's working fine.
The "put-put-put" is exactly what I am referring to as a miss fire. I am leaning towards the Dura Spark II. I would of course replace the module and box and test the wires in the harness to make sure nothing is shorted. Depends on what I can find in the junkyard I guess.
I too tried the Pertronix last year and got a bad one, it was an ignitor II and I found later that lots of people were having problems with them. I did the Duraspark upgrade and it instantly ran smoother, easy starts, quicker accelleration, it also did away with that gassy smell mine had. I also gapped my plugs at 0.50. I would maybe get the dizzy and harness from the junkyard and buy the module new, they are about 15.00 new.
I had bought the Ignitor II as well .. guess it was almost two years ago so maybe it was a bad batch or something. The Flame-Thrower Billet Distributor also contains an Ignitor II but is working fine ...
