Dodge Plymouth Chrysler 440 426 413 R to Run Distributor

[LJ-TJ]

I've been thinking of doing this for a while and since it looks like I'll be spending some money on the old girl this year has anybody changed over to this system? What do you think. Thanks. Hm?

Description:
PRO SERIES FULLY ELECTRONIC IGNITION DISTRIBUTOR FITS, 440, 426, and 413 ENGINES READY TO RUN TYPE ELECTRONIC IGNITION DISTRIBUTOR. THIS UNIT IS CNC MACHINED. PART NUMBER PE-342-R LET US EXPLAIN WHAT THIS UNIT IS, AS WE HAVE HAD SO MANY PEOPLE ASK IF THIS UNIT WILL TAP INTO THEIR EXISTING FENDER WELL MOUNTED MODULE, (BRAIN BOX), AND IF THEY HAVE A POINT DISTRIBUTOR, THEY ARE WONDERING IF THEY NEED THE TYPICAL FENDER MOUNT MODULE TO GO WITH THIS AS CHRYSLER USED ON THEIR ELECTRONIC IGNITION. HERE IS WHAT THIS UNIT IS. IT'S A FULLY SELF CONTAINED HEI DISTRIBUTOR, WITH THE MODULE, ALSO CALL BRAIN BOX BUILT IN TO IT. YOU CAN GET RID OF EVERY BIT OF THAT DRIED UP WIRING, BRAIN BOXS, ETC, FROM YOUR OLD SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE BALLAST RESISTER, AND MODULE, (BRAIN BOX). ALL THIS UNIT NEEDS IS A FRESH 12 VOLT COIL, AND YOU SIMPLY HOOK UP THE TWO WIRES COMING FROM THIS DISTRIBUTOR TO THE COIL, AND THAT'S IT. NO OTHER WIRING NEEDED EXCEPT FOR THE POWER LEAD FROM THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE COIL TO POWERED SOURCE. YOU WILL THEN HAVE A TOTAL OF TWO WIRES TAPPED INTO THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THE COIL, AND OF COURSE YOUR NEGATIVE WIRE FROM THE DIST. TO THE NEG. SIDE OF THE COIL. THIS UNIT OPERATES THE SAME AS THE GM HEI, EXCEPT IT DOE'S NOT HAVE THE COIL BUILT IN TO IT. EVEN IF YOU ALREADY HAVE ELECTRONIC IGNITION, AS THE ONE DESIGNED BY CHRYSLER AROUND 1973 THIS IS FAR SUPERIOR. THE FACT THAT YOU CAN ELIMINATE THAT MESS OF DRIED OUT WIRING, BRAIN BOX, AND BALLAST RESISTOR SHOULD BE REASON ENOUGH, NOT TO MENTION YOUR WELL WORN DISTRIBUTOR. IF YOU ARE RUNNING A POINT STYLE DISTRIBUTOR, YOUR GOING TO BE AMAZED WHEN YOU SWITCH OVER, AT THE WAY YOUR CAR STARTS, WARMS UP, AND PERFORMS. YOU SHOULD TRY THE COIL MENTIONED BELOW, AND YOU WILL HAVE THE ULTIMATE IGNITION SYSTEM. MAKE NO MISTAKE THIS IS A FULLY SELF CONTAINED ELECTRONIC IGNITION SYSTEM, EXCEPT FOR THE COIL. CHRYSLER ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS ARE PRIMITIVE COMPARED TO THIS, AND POINT STYLE DISTRIBUTORS ARE SIMPLY INSANE TO RUN. UNLEAD FUEL IS POORLY IGNITED WITH POINT TYPE IGNITION. NOTICE THE CHROME BOX ON THE LOWER SIDE OF OUR DISTRIBUTOR, THAT'S WHERE THE GM STYLE MODULE IS LOCATED. THE MODULE IS NOT THE VERY SAME MODULE GM USES, BUT IT IS THE SAME DESIGN PRINCIPAL. YOU ALL VERY WELL KNOW GM HAD THAT DESIGN RIGHT OVER 30 YEARS AGO. NOW YOU CAN OPEN YOUR PLUG GAP TO AROUND 45-50 INSTEAD OF 32-35 AS WAS REQUIRED WITH POINT SYSTEMS. THE SPARK THIS UNIT PRODUCES IS MANY TIMES STRONGER COMPARED TO POINTS.

This has to be the best money you could ever spend on your point style or oem electronic ignition system. BRAND NEW IN THE BOX, Will fit big block mopar(RBmotors)413, 426,440(Willnotfit361,383, or 400) THIS UNIT IS IDENTICAL SIZE TO THE ORIGINAL POINT DISTRIBUTOR WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE MALE STYLE CAP. ALL MALE STYLE CAPS ARE ABOUT HALF AN INCH TALLER VS. THE FEMALE STYLE. ALL THAT'S NEEDED IS AN EXTERNAL 12 VOLT COIL. THIS UNIT IS SUPPLIED WITH A MALE STYLE CAP. IF YOUR WIRES ARE BELOW 8MM SIZE YOU MUST UPGRADE TO THE LARGER SIZE WIRES. POINT STYLE DISTRIBUTORS WERE NOT DEMANDING ON PLUG WIRE SIZE DUE TO THE FACT THE VOLTAGE WAS MUCH LOWER COMPARED TO HEI IGNITION. IF YOUR BUYING WIRES THEN DO PURCHASE THOSE THAT HAVE THE TERMINALS THAT WORK WITH A MALE STYLE CAP. THIS IS A MUCH BETTER SETUP COMPARED TO THE OEM FEMALE STYLE CAP. THE PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCE FROM POINT TO ELECTRONIC IGNITION IS DRAMATIC TO SAY THE LEAST, NOT TO MENTION MOST EARLY POINT STYLE DISTRIBUTORS ARE WORE OUT.

This distributor can be installed in less than 30 min to one hour. It's fair to say that this unit will work in most vehicles that were built prior to 1977, and much later in the pickup trucks. all the way back to the late 60's, using the engines listed above. We have had so many Dodge owners request this unit. Another nice thing, it has a somewhat oem appearance, except for the small chrome module housing at the lower base of the distributor. This unit has a vac. advance, and I'm sure has a bit more aggressive curve plot to it.

ONCE AGAIN, HERE IS THE LIST OF ENGINES THAT THIS UNIT WILL FIT 413,426,440 CID ENGINES. Some of the many benefits of electronic ignition over points are as listed below. Much better fuel mileage Far less pollution, as the fuel is burned much better Faster start ups, especially in cold weather Those with carbs. prone to flooding will notice a huge difference, as the spark on electronic ig. is many times stronger than point style ignition. Virtually no maintenance, compared to points Spark plug life is 3-5 times longer, as well as plug wires Much better performance, over points, mostly due to the better combustion of unleaded fuel, as this was the primary reason for the development of electronic ignition. Point dwell changes as points wear out, causing your timing to advance dramatically. This brings your engine much closer to detonation, not to mention hard starting, and poor performance. Over all engine life is much longer with electronic ignition over points. This is a fact. Most old distributors have wear in the shaft bushings, causing fluctuations in performance. It would be impossible for a distributor that's been ran for 15 or more years to not have excessive wear. Eliminate the early style brain box, and many wires on primitive electronic ignition systems that came out around 1972 They were also very unreliable.

[Rickf1985]

 MY EARS HURT FROM ALL THE SHOUTING LATELY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao


It sounds like one of the modified GM HEI distributors that are available for most vehicles. And yes, that is probably one of the best modifications you can make. That said you have to be careful where you buy it since ignition setup is very important. Places like Davis Unified Ignition, DUI, Will set up the advance curve for you based on the vehicle application you give them. Most companies will just sell you the distributor without even mentioning the timing curves. Having it done professionally done on a machine can make all the difference in the world in how it runs. It costs a little more but you get what you pay for. If you pair this with an injection unit some of the distributors and injection units will work together so that the computer for the injection unit can control the timing. So think the whole package out before making any purchases.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Hang onto your old points system though.  You know...in case of an EMP. 

:)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao

Kev

[Rickf1985]

Uh huh, so you are one of them huh? Well consider this, all fuel delivery systems (pumps) now are computerized so IF we have a nuclear event and have an EMP then your 6 MPG vehicle is only going to go as far as whatever gas you have in the tank. Unless you have one hell of a pump capable of drawing it up from the underground tanks in which case you will be swarmed by the thousands of others wanting the same thing. Preppers! D:oH! N:( N:( W%

[BamBam]

Hang onto your old points system though.  You know...in case of an EMP. 

STOP! LJ- If this is in a 75 Winne, you should already have electronic ignig installed. Mopar stopped using points around 71. Why do you want to change distributors, what's wrong with your current one??

[LJ-TJ]

She's 1974 and has the Dodge electronic system and it's been a pain in the batotty. Reading up on here seems a lot of the chaps have switched over to the more up dated Mallory System. Since I'm going to be climbing around in there I might as well change the Distributor and coil while I'm at it. How ever as always I'm open to all thoughts. I'm trying to get to old girl ready for  2,168 mile trip and a 2,168 mile trip back home. Want here to make it there and back. D:oH!   

[Rickf1985]

Those mid 70's electronic ignitions were prone to failure and they always failed at the worst time. Usually it was a hard to start or no start. You would have to tap the starter and hope it caught when you let off since that was the only time it sparked. Those systems were the worst electronic ignitions out there. Like I said, look into complete systems that include a capacitive discharge ignition system if you want to go that route. Mallory, MSD, Edelbrock. Summit sells their name brand which is just rebranded from one of the major brands. I always swore by MSD since they pretty much started the automotive CD ignition scene. DC ignition was around for a long time before that on race cars and aircraft.

[LJ-TJ]

So neighbor Rick, If you were going to put a MSD system on your 440-3, do you have a link to the system you'd use. I bow to Superior knowledge and wisdom. AND some times suck up works too.

[Froggy1936]

Hi, That mileage sounds like California ?  Like Rick said anyone of the name brands, You can go with price because they are all the same . Dont forget ck the tires .  Frank

[LJ-TJ]

Well I sent these boys a note telling them what I had and asked about a distributor and coil. See what they come up with. But hey anybody wants to throw in here just sound off. D:oH!

[Berlin-Tioga]

I kept the original distributor but bypassed all the old system. The distributor is now controlled by a MSD 6AL, MSD Blaster 2 Coil. Plus good wires with ceramic covers over the Sparkplugs.
Works fine for me


Greetings from Germany,


Ben

[Elandan2]

Personally, I have never had much problem with Chrysler ignitions and I have been driving Dodges since the '70's. In my experience, there are two scenarios that crop up. First, the "starts right up but dies when you release the key". That is the ballast resistor. Change it and be on your way. The second is the "cranks and cranks not seeming to want to start, but may run when you release the key". I have found that it is invariably, the "ignition 2" wire from the ignition switch. Two problem areas are a bad connection at the connector on the steering column (pink wire), and the jumper wire at the connector on the one side of the ballast resistor (again, should be a pink wire). The "ignition 2" circuit, provides full 12V power to the coil when cranking (via the jumper on the ballast resistor connector) and feeds the rest of the ignition through the one side of the ballast resistor. After you release the key, the coil is fed from the other side of the ballast resistor, reducing the voltage. Of course, that is my personal experience, there are probably other problems that may crop up and like they say, "your mileage may vary". 

[turbinebronze]

I also have found the Chrysler Ign system to work well. I carry a ballast resister and a electronic module with me, but have never needed it. (Murphy's law, if you have it with you, you won't need it.)
  The biggest problem I've seen with the Chrysler ign system is the mounting of the module. On the motorhomes they tend to be mounted low on the back of the engine where they bake the potting material right out of the housing.
  Chrysler did make a "Lean Burn" system that mounted to the side of the air cleaner on cars and it was a pile of sh*t. Told a customer to put ice on one to get the car to the shop!  You'll never see one on a motorhome.
  After re-reading the above spiel about the all-in-one unit, it says it is similar to the GM HEI system, but the module is there own unit. If you go this route pick up an extra one of those. I bet it will be hard finding one at the local parts store.
  At least with the Mopar unit you could tell them you need a module for a 80 dodge truck (don't care what motor) and bolt it in.
  Just my 2 cents,
       Craig 

[Rickf1985]

TJ, Just got home after a loooong day at the hospital with the wife for some knee surgery for her. Problems with blood pressure meant they kept bumping her back on the schedule while trying to get it down. So a 07:30 surgery was finally done at 2:00 in the afternoon! I will get in touch with you tomorrow. Unless I get her, the dog, the fire and everything else settled in tonight and I am still up to talking.

[Rickf1985]

OK, IF all you want to do is change the distributor then call these guys and tell them you are working on and they can set up the distributor to match it. As far as modules and coils........... GM hel ignition from any 70's-80's vehicle. Probably the most common ignition parts on the planet. Cap, rotor, module and coil. Stock or performance all for GM HEI.




https://performancedistributors.com/


https://performancedistributors.com/faqs/




https://performancedistributors.com/product/dodge-big-block-dui-distributor/


If you are interested in a capacitive discharge setup let me know and I will work that up.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

I kept the original distributor but bypassed all the old system. The distributor is now controlled by a MSD 6AL, MSD Blaster 2 Coil. Plus good wires with ceramic covers over the Sparkplugs.
Works fine for me

Greetings from Germany,


Ben

I also used a MSD 6AL with a high performance coil.  Worked fine for me.
Dave

[Rickf1985]

The MSD6AL is what I use on my Jeep with the big block in it but in TJ's case he would still be depending on the electronic unit in the distributor for the trigger for the MSD box.  If he had a points distributor this is the route I would recommend but it is the electronics in the distributor that I have seen a lot of problems with. And all electronics, once they get to be 40-50 years old will break down. Insulation dries out, potting material degrades and turns to goo or gets hard. He is asking for dependability and ease of parts access so that is what I am looking at.


A lot of this boils down to cost, How much do you want to spend? Are you staying with the carburetor or are you going with fuel injection?

[LJ-TJ]

Hey,Guys, Rick Just got this back from the chaps you suggested. Sounds pretty good. Any body got any thoughts.


Performance Distributors

If you have the clearance, we would recommend our DUI Distributor (Part# 70930). This is a one piece ignition system with the coil in the cap and the electronic module inside the distributor. It is based on the GM HEI design. We do tune the advance for the application by using engine size, compression ratio, cam duration and lift, vehicle weight, towing weight (if applicable), carburetor size and octane of fuel used. The price for this distributor is $395.00. Please visit our website at https://performancedistributors.com/product/dodge-big-block-dui-distributor/ for more information and dimensions on this distributor. If the size of the DUI is an issue, we offer the Tri-Power Distributor (Part# 71020) which is a smaller diameter unit and uses an external coil. It has an electronic ignition module mounted to the distributor housing so the traditional module on the fender well is not utilized. As with our DUI distributor, this unit will also be tuned with a proper advance to get the best performance out of your engine. The price for this distributor is $339.00. Our web page for the Tri-Power distributor is: https://performancedistributors.com/product/dodge-tri-power-distributors/   Thank you.Brian CaruthPerformance Distributors2699 Barris DriveMemphis, TN 38132901-396-5782

[BamBam]

The only thing I can say about aftermarket dist. is that you have to pay attention to the size of the body on them. Some are bigger then stock and will require grinding the corner of the head to make it fit. Good Luck

[Rickf1985]

Interesting, That Tripower still uses the GM ignition module but mounted outside.

[Sasquatch]

I have only one issue with the aftermarket distributors vs. stock, and that is availability for parts on the road.  If one fails on a muscle car on a saturday drive, it is an inconvenience.  But in the middle of nowhere in an RV, it can be a real pain in the butt.  With the OEM dist., caps, rotors, pickup coils, etc., are readily available at most auto parts stores.  GM HEI distributors are pretty solid, but what coil are these using?  What about a cracked dist. cap or rotor?  Can you get one in Ely Nevada on a Saturday?  With the OEM dist, you can (most likely).

I am running a recurved stock electronic distributor with an MSD 6A box and Accel coil on mine.  I know the MSD box is aftermarket, but they have a very known solid reliability rating, but yet are still available at many auto parts stores.  Worst case you can have one overnighted in almost anywhere.  Heck, worst case, I still have the OEM ignition box and ballast resistor I can put back in to get me home.


I do need a new distributor as my bushings are starting to get a little loose.  I tried to find a rebuild bushing kit, but unless one of you guys know of a source, they are gone now.  I will buy another OEM dist and swap in my modified weights and springs into the new one.

[Rickf1985]

The DUI HEI distributor is all the same parts as a stock GM vehicle. What they are using is a high performance coil but if it craps out a stock GM replacement fit just fine. They even tell you that in their fact sheet I believe. Cap, rotor and pickup are all factory GM.  The Tri-power set up I don't know about other than that is definitely a GM module mounted to the side. If I had to guess I would say it is a reworked factory Dodge distributor.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Uh huh, so you are one of them huh? Well consider this, all fuel delivery systems (pumps) now are computerized so IF we have a nuclear event and have an EMP then your 6 MPG vehicle is only going to go as far as whatever gas you have in the tank. Unless you have one hell of a pump capable of drawing it up from the underground tanks in which case you will be swarmed by the thousands of others wanting the same thing. Preppers! D:oH! N:( N:( W%

Silly non-prepper...lol!  Of COURSE you must also carry a hand crank pump and a long hose...to reach underground fuel tanks when the power goes out.  (And I get 10-12 MPG, thank you!).   :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao :)rotflmao

Kev