TFI with a carb requirements

[Aimwell]

i am attempting to do the duraspark conversion on my 84 ranger 2.8l and i cant find the correct distributor. i was wondering if anyone has ever used a tfi distributor and had any information to help. Also if there were any additional things i might need that the normal conversion didnt. Thanks

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Duraspark does more less what TFI does.

So if you kept the TFI distributor and just bolted on a regular non feedback carb i doubt it would even run. Or if it did not very good.

The dursspark distributors for 2.8's are pretty much extinct based on what ive read around here.

 

[Aimwell]

Any ideas to get me reliable spark and keep my 2.8L?

 

[Shran]

I posted this in another thread and maybe there is some promise...? I can't tell. Some V8 guys are using TFI distributors with a carb and an MSD ignition box. Same concept for the 2.8 I would think?

Here's how to wire TFI disTRIBUTOR to MSD for...

www.corral.net

 

[Aimwell]

Man I am totally overwhelmed. Would you happen to know if there was a wiring diagram with the setup or could give me some direction on wiring

 

[19Walt93]

Other than an 82-3 Escort, I don't think anything with TFI had centrifugal or vacuum advance. If you wire up your TFI distributor it will run with a carb but with no advance it won't run well.

 

[Aimwell]

10-4. Thank you all for the help. I found a company "Performance Distributors" that will build what I need, but with a $320 price tag and 10-12 week wait time

 

[Shran]

Other than an 82-3 Escort, I don't think anything with TFI had centrifugal or vacuum advance. If you wire up your TFI distributor it will run with a carb but with no advance it won't run well.

I think that was why the guys in my previous post were using MSD ignition boxes. It sounded like they got the timing to advance correctly.

 

[Aimwell]

So possibly the tfi with msd ignition box?

 

[Aimwell]

So maybe a tfi distributor with a msd ignition box?

 

[19Walt93]

I think that was why the guys in my previous post were using MSD ignition boxes. It sounded like they got the timing to advance correctly.

How would an MSD box make a fixed distributor advance? The answer is it can't. I had a Pertronix Billet Flamethrower distributor in my Ranger when I first built it, it was shiny and had a hot spark but there was an 8 second delay before the centrifugal advance came in and a 14 second delay in returning to base timing when dropped back to idle. My Napa Chinese repro Duraspark distributor is not shiny but having a functional advance curve made a tremendous difference in the way it runs.

 

[Aimwell]

Do you know of any in stock? LOL!

 

[19Walt93]

Do you know of any in stock? LOL!

Sorry, no. I bought the shiny P.O.S. because I knew I needed a steel gear to mesh with my roller cam and Ford never made a Duraspark 351 with a roller. Usually replacing the gear means drilling another hole through the shaft and once a shaft has 2 holes, it shouldn't be drilled again. I was disappointed that the Napa unit was Chinese but it's working fine- now that I replaced the stator with an NOS Ford part.
Gary Baum at Second Generation Mustang in Pa. (secondgenerationmustang@comcast.net) or Phil Schmitt at Mustang II Specialty Shop in Alabama might have one. I talked to Gary at Carlisle last summer but I haven't talked to Phil for a while, I suspect he's still in business, too. It might be wise to ask if he has a distributor for a 2.8 Mustang II and not volunteer that it's going into something else.

 

[Aimwell]

I will definitely do that! Thanks! I did find one at "Performance Distributors" that will work $300 and 12 week wait. Thanks again