Crane points converson

[rightpedal]

I spent sunday doing as great job turning my running truck (350 with a HEI that pinched against the fire wall) in to a non running lump.

I pulled the HEI out changed the gear to an old points style distributor(steel for the roller cam) The old distributor has a Crane xri pickup. Wired the distributor as the diagram said (xri leads to neg/pos of the coil, hot lead to the plus side) Tried with resistor and with out. Tested and tried two coils. Hot side has 11.0 v with resistor and 12.7 v without. dbl checked distributor ground.

I cant find how to test the crane unit. I have the online instructions and the original pamphlet (that show the unit hooked up two different ways). It basically says if everything else works our unit is bad.

Calling the tech line in the morning.

The question is any body know how to test one of these units?

[SpiderGearsMan]

I used the unilite and pertronix ..the unilite is very reliable ..crane ignition parts were really popular in the late 90s

[rightpedal]

Spidy i also had good luck with pertronix in the past. I got the crane unit a while back for an old project but never used it. It was still in the box probably 2005 vintage.

The tech line number i had was disconnected. I think i have a good one now. I am leaning toward the pertronix III. At $129 it is pricy but no need for an ignition box. Why do I think I need a ignition box, it is just a truck.


Any thoughts on options?

Steve

[BigBlockMopar]

Just last sunday I ditched a toast Pertronix-unit out of a '56 Chevy in favor for some oldstyle points, just to get it running and be reliable again.

[Matt Cramer]

If you can get it open, a lot of the Crane units used a large transistor called a VB921 -the text on it will include "VB921 VZFI" and some other numbers. They can fail if they're overheated. Often you can see overheating visually - if it doesn't actually look like someone hit it with a blowtorch, the middle or rightmost leg may be something of a darker color than the left leg.

[squirrel]

I'm running points in my old truck, they work fine.

[74NovaMan]

I almost bought one of these last weekend: http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0&keyword=gm10

[Deaf Bob]

Had a points conversion in my 57 when I got it Accel, I believe.. Had a box on the firewall.. Just quit.. Overnite..
Went and got a mechanic buddy, who listened to it crank a few seconds and proceeded to rip it all out and install points.. My pretty Accel stuff was dead! Been running points since (25 years now)

[milner351]

with pertronix it's imperative that it get un-resistored 12v from the battery. I'm not sure if the crane or others have that requirement.

points can be used as a trigger for electronics - you can use the 4 pin HEI module to control everything - electronic ignition for about $20.

[rightpedal]

Matt I will pull the unit apart and check it out. Thanks for the reply and the O2 sensor. It is hooked up and feeding me info. As soon as I get the ignition working reliably I will jump into the carb.

Nova man your idea has merits i wonder about reliability.

Bob Squirrel and BBM That will be the short term fix. Cause the truck is a paper weight right now abandoned in Moms parking spot over at my parents house. (Dad and I got to screwing around with it and well... she is not impressed)

John will the 4 pin fit under the small points cap or am i thinking the wrong direction? What would you use for the pickup? I am so woefully uneducated about ignition systems. I went from dualpoint mopar stuff straight to hei 20 years ago and have put zero thought into it since.

I am just about ready to take the wood block and sledge to the fire wall and call it a day.

Crane emailed me back and regurgitated the pamphlet instructions back to me. Fair or not I am all done with the crane unit.

Any body know why I need electronic ignition? That is posed as a serious question.....

Steve

[squirrel]

Electronic ignition does not require maintenance. No points to have to keep clean and adjusted. There are some other benefits, but that's the main thing it has going for it. How many miles do you put on the truck every year? That would be the main thing determining whether you want to go electronic, or if you can get away with points.

The HEI module won't fit under the cap. It can be triggered by a magnetic pickup, or by points, but the point setup requires one more part (a transistor) to make it work reliably.

http://home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/Ignition/HEImodForPoints.gif

[Matt Cramer]

And one other advantage Squirrel didn't mention - electronic ignitions can be more reliable at high RPM. It depends on the application. Points may take a bit more maintenance and fiddling, but if the truck's just used for truck things, they'd get it running.

[rightpedal]

Jim that was some interesting reading. Not sure it is the way for me. Some projects I will beat to death with low/no budget. Most of the time I just want the damn thing to run.

Matt 5500-6000 when the wife drives it. 4000 when i drive it. So not high in the rpm dept. I just tend to do dumb stuff like leave the ignition on when ADD kicks in.

I think i have the distributor from the 1999 truck. That would work as a trigger/pickup....

Screw this points it is. I have a bunch of crap to haul and the truck has to run. I know i will regret this the first time I leave the ignition on and have to replace the points.

Thanks all.

Steve

[Russell]

points are cheap, go ahead and buy two sets and put one in the glove box.

[milner351]

I don't know the interchangeability of chevy distributors or if the 99 distributor will work (cast / steel gears, etc)

The 4 pin HEI module is about $16 - $25 at the local parts store - as shown in Squirrel's attachment and in other web documents, it can be remotely mounted to a heat sink on the firewall, under the dash, etc, and can be triggered by just about anything. I don't know what a drop in HEI rebuilt distributor from the parts store costs, but I know we found out on drag week in Matt's GTO that some of them have a crappy smog advance curve set up.