The Oldsmobile Connection

73Delta88 · Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 10:47 am Post subject: Electronic ignition

Hey Machismo.... I have points ignition as I'm sure you know, but people have been telling me to convert to Electronic ignition. I believe 73 was the LAST year Olds used points on all their engines, in 74 they started using a "pointless" (no pun intended, lol) ignition system on the 455.

anyway can you tell me some stuff about it like what is a good brand to use, about how much would this cost me, and what are the benefits (aside from less maintnence), ex. Will I actually be able to notice difference in how the engine runs between the electronic setup and a pair of clean, well adjusted points? Also what is involved with installing something like this?

it's not that I'm unhappy with my current setup... I just change the points once a year and that's about it.... sometimes if I feel ambitious I'll get out the dwell meter and fine tune them, but the whole process only takes a couple minutes anyway.

Just looking for some food for thought, thanks

Primer Death · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 102 Location: Maine

MSD has some nice HEI distribuators...probably from $150-$250
Or go to a scrape-yard and get one out of a early 80's GM

strokercutlass · Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 370 Location: Wis

heyyyyyyyyyyyyy vato...... 8) lmfao

ok, heres the deal..if you woulda mentioned this about a week ago, i had a COMPLETE HEI setup for an Olds V8, with an accel coil, new cap and rotor, and plug wires, for $65... :P but anyways, back to your question...

1. brand to use: there are several companies that make electronic ignition systems for Olds, from basic to extreme. Pertronix makes an electronic ignition conversion that uses the stock distributor, but replaces the points with an electronic trigger. I personally havent used it, but i've heard mixed opinions on it from people. Price..around $100 for the kit.You can also use a standard HEI distributor for about 74 up to to the time when GM started using computer control on Olds...probably the late 70's...the newer distributors have electronic advance on them rather than vacuum, and are hard to work with.Price...maybe $50 complete from a local salvage yard, maybe less. Mallory, Accel, and other companies make complete distributors that work in an Olds engine, ranging from a couple hundred dollars for a complete new HEI to over $500 for a more race oriented dist. Keep in mind this is a whole complete brand new distributor tho, with all needed parts included, for the most part.

benefits: no maintenance, quicker starting, higher RPM response, electronic ignition systems tend to be "snappier" than points setups, due to the fact that they're quicker and more stable than a points setup.

installation: switching from points to HEI, you'll need the following... complete HEI distributor, 8mm plug wires for HEI equipped Olds, 9/16" wrench, some wiring stuff..... the HEI is a direct swap for the points distributor, but theres a couple things that need changed...the power wire running to your coil either has a ballast resistor inline, or the wire itself is a ballast resistor wire...what this means is that its filtered down to 9 volts, rather than a full 12 volts, to not wear or burn out the points as fast. What will need to be done, is that you'll either A. have to run a 12 volt wire from the keyed side of the ignition as the new power wire to the HEI distributor, or B. test the current power wire, find the resistor wire, cut it out, and replace it with a standard piece of wire. It sounds difficult but is very easy. Also, you should plan on switching plug wires, as the 7mm points stype wires are a little light duty for an HEI, not to mention that the cap terminals are different. And then the matter of pulling the distributor, after marking the position of the rotor, and body...and dropping in the HEI, hooking it up...and VOILA!!!! electronic ignition!! Its really not a big job, maybe for you it wouldnt make as much sense to swap as someone with a more performance oriented car..my vista still has a points distributor, and runs great, but in the cutlass, i wanted something that will take the higher RPM's better, because points become less effective at that RPM range, due to point bouncing, instability, and etc...

73Delta88 · Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 2:26 pm Post subject:

strokercutlass wrote: if you woulda mentioned this about a week ago, i had a COMPLETE HEI setup for an Olds V8, with an accel coil, new cap and rotor, and plug wires, for $65
#-o

73Delta88 · Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 2:47 pm Post subject:

I just added the poll to see what you guys think.... go for it

(I picked the 4th option, lol)

Psyco Diver 69 · Joined: 21 Sep 2003 Posts: 207 Location: South NJ

This winter if I have the money I'm getting a MSD HEI distributor, maybe a MSD box and Blaster coil if buget permits. I'm going to over kill my ignition system because I heard from a lot of people it will improve gas mileage and power

73Delta88 · Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2003 11:26 pm Post subject:

strokercutlass wrote: Pertronix makes an electronic ignition conversion that uses the stock distributor, but replaces the points with an electronic trigger. I personally havent used it, but i've heard mixed opinions on it from people. Price..around $100 for the kit.

I checked that out and it sounds pretty cool... Pertronix Ignitor II would you care to elaborate on the "mixed opinions" you've heard?

Brando · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 3039 Location: Michigan, USA

Hey...Machismo (lol),
What is this all about?
http://www.qkits.com/serv/qkits/velleman/pages/K2543.asp

It's off of one of my favorite electronic kit places (you solder it together), just wondering, would it do anything for my car?

TOC Admin
Brando

strokercutlass · Joined: 09 Jun 2003 Posts: 370 Location: Wis

Brando..that is specified for a points type distributor, so it wont work for you...

73...check out these threads on the pertronix ignition system...

http://www.oldspower.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9565&highlight=pertronix

http://www.hotrodders.com/t11437.html

NOW...to the defense of this...keep in mind that there are over one MILLION pertronix units currently out there, and in 18 pages of search info on Google, i found only the second thread...i had remembered the one on oldspower from a while back...i would say for the price of it, if it were me and i wanted to convert, i'd spend the $$$, and keep the points and condenser in the glovebox, just as insurance. I was thinking about getting one for the Vista, but its not a priority as of yet...

Brando · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 3039 Location: Michigan, USA

strokercutlass wrote: Brando..that is specified for a points type distributor, so it wont work for you...

Ahh yes, I see that now, I should learn how to read :lol:

TOC Admin
Brando