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BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

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  • Originally posted by Beagle View Post
    I might be interesed in the HEI if you decide to ditch it - I was gonna recurve the Duraspark, but I like the one wire business. It's hard to steal something when you can't find the switch to turn on the ignition. HA!

    We used to do that with a buddy's 280z / 350 chev. It has a lot of initial and not enough cam, hard to spin. We put a switch on it, get it spinning, then let it have spark. That was after the third starter which was kind of a pain in that car.
    That is how we do our blower motors too works good and as you said makes it hard to start for people who don't know.

    Comment


    • In the Ranger and in the Mustang I have been running a steel distributor gear with the roller cam. Some have good luck with this, others do not. Since I am shooting for reliability, I'm trying to eliminate 'iffy' things so I decided to change to a bronze gear.

      This particular distributor, like the HEI one that is still in the car, has a unique 2 piece distributor shaft. In my opinion, it's a neat engineering solution to the problem of getting the distributor gear on the shaft in EXACTLY the right spot (4.000" from the base of the distributor mount). It also allows for block variances and it won't pop out since the thrust on the distributor shaft is downward. Very similar in function to how a Mopar distributor/intermediate shaft is set up. Unfortunately, because of this design, it requires a special distributor gear to center and stabilize the keyway section of the shaft. I couldn't come up with a bronze gear that was made this way, so in typical BBR/Bangshifter fashion, I improvised.

      This is the distributor, stock steel gear and the new bronze gear.


      The existing hole was too high for this gear. I turned the shaft 90 degrees, marked and drilled a new 5/32" hole for the pin with the drill press. Then drilled the existing pilot hole in the gear to 5/32". Drove the pin in, cut it off with the Dremel and then flared the end with a punch.



      You can see the potential problem in this pic.


      Went to Lowes and picked up a 1/2" I.D. bronze flanged sleeve bushing to use as an alignment sleeve and slipped it all together.


      I will add a drop of Loctitie to the bushing to stick it to the lower gear/shaft section to keep it from pulling up and dropping into the pan when I pull the distributor out.

      I'm gonna keep the stock gear and the lower section from the HEI distributor in the Drag Week toolbox just in case....

      Last edited by BBR; August 24, 2011, 06:45 AM.
      Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
      1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
      1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
      1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
      1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
      1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

      Comment


      • Sorry would have told you but forgot the 351 had the same issue with the gear /hole placement. we did almost the same thing

        Comment


        • Mrs. BBR is one tolerant lady. Does she know you have that on her cutting board?

          lol. Love the Toro lawn mower wheel bushing solution.

          I'm kinda interested in the polymer gears. The brass ones seem awfully soft. Is that the gear that came out of your engine (grey one)? It looks brand new?! The one I put in the 302 with "compatible with everything" gear showed a pattern waaay too fast to make me happy.

          /edit - duh. Sorry. I re-read it. It looks new cuz it is new.
          Last edited by Beagle; August 24, 2011, 07:22 AM.
          Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

          Comment


          • Jeremy - I'm sorry to hear of issues with MSD pro billet - I'm used to hearing of problems with proform and other "cheap" distributors - but I expect better from MSD and the $$ thier stuff commands.

            BBR - I hope this MSD set up has that big mill singing a sweet sweet song for many miles.... I admire your quick fix on the gear - I hope it's reliable for DW. I would be pulling that dizzy out after day 1 to check for wear.... bronze gears scare me a little, seen a few of them come out so worn the ends of each gear tooth was razor sharp.
            There's always something new to learn.

            Comment


            • Good eye Beagle. lol That *is* a cutting board that is supposed to be in the kitchen, but has not made it back after the remodel.

              The polymer gears are pricey I think and I don't think anyone makes one for a BBF yet.

              That is the new gear, but the steel gear and cam looked ok when I tore down the Ranger's motor. I switched cams and have not had the distributor out on this motor since I built it. Guess I'll find out what it looks like shortly.

              John, I have heard guys say the first one wears out fast but the second lasts much longer. I am going to check the cam and steel gear condition, and then decide if I want to order a spare bronze gear.
              Last edited by BBR; August 24, 2011, 07:53 AM.
              Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
              1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
              1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
              1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
              1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
              1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

              Comment


              • Worked on the car on Saturday and knocked a bunch of things out.

                Good news is, the new ignition is in. The bad news is it does not work yet. lmao.



                I messed with it for a while and decided to cool my jets and work on some other stuff.

                BTW, the steel distributor gear I pulled out looked perfect.

                Other things I did:

                Wired up cigarette lighter thingy to power my gps.
                Wired up the lights on my water temp and oil pressure gauges.
                Messed with the instrument panel lights.... still do not work, but the gas gauge does work now!!!!! YES!!!!!!!
                Wired up the trailer light hookup.
                Installed the dome light.
                Screwed on the t-top trim I bought a month or so ago.

                A busy day. Still alittle ticked the ignition isn't firing. I imagine it is something silly that I did.
                Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
                1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
                1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
                1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
                1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
                1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

                Comment


                • This thing is about to make me pull my hair out....

                  I have checked everything and swapped to a stock Ford TFI coil for it's higher secondary resistance. The MSD one was supposed to be 5500 ohms but I only measured 3900.... yikes. Duraspark specs show they want 7700 to 10,500. I have 2 stock TFI ones and one was 8k+ and the other was 9k+. I put the 8k+ one on. Likewise, the primary resistance of the MSD measured lower than advertised.

                  Pickup coil checks out fine--> 600+ ohms and able to generate 2.0V AC spinning by hand.
                  Coil checks out fine.
                  Power for the module and the coil are coming from the factory locations.
                  Everything is wired up properly, but no spark.

                  As a precaution, I picked up another ignition module to compare to the one I have. Looks like the one I have been trying to use may be bad. I checked resistance through it on every wire combination I could and found it only had 300-400 ohms between the main power leads (run and start) and the tach lead. The new one has ZERO continuity between those leads. So I may have found my problem. The lower resistance coil may have zapped it, but I really kinda doubt it.

                  Arrrg. I'll swap it tomorrow at lunch and see what happens. Worst case is I go back to the GM style dist, but I think this will fix it.
                  Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
                  1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
                  1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
                  1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
                  1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
                  1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

                  Comment


                  • A ford fighting itself? Say it ain't so? =P
                    Escaped on a technicality.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by TheSilverBuick View Post
                      A ford fighting itself? Say it ain't so? =P
                      I didn't say it... thought it... but didn't say it - truth be told, I'm rooting for ya
                      Doing it all wrong since 1966

                      Comment


                      • Thank you for your support. lol

                        Apparently some industrious Jeep people are using Duraspark distributors with TFI coils and GM HEI modules with great success. They gut the Duraspark box and then use it as a heat sink for the GM module. So I guess that is option #3. haha
                        Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
                        1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
                        1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
                        1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
                        1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
                        1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

                        Comment


                        • Ok.

                          So.... it WAS the ignition box. Swapped boxes. Got a *chuff* now and again. Messed with advancing / retarding ... nothing. Standing there looking at the distributor and had a revelation....

                          The BBF firing order is:

                          1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 and is NOT...
                          1-8-7-3-6-2-4-5

                          I had the plug wires on clockwise not counter-clockwise.

                          if it *can* be screwed up... I *will* screw it up....
                          Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
                          1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
                          1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
                          1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
                          1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
                          1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

                          Comment


                          • Welcome to my world as of late =\

                            Waiting for the VROOOOOOMMM!!!
                            Last edited by TheSilverBuick; September 1, 2011, 11:36 AM.
                            Escaped on a technicality.

                            Comment


                            • BBR - this is what happens when a normal all together brilliant dude such as yourself gets stressed out with deadlines.

                              The cw / ccw is a mistake I've only seen one other time - by a similarly brilliant dude working on an olds, after working on lots of fords.

                              The ignition module thing is something I can help with if you want to keep a GM 4 wire HEI module in your toolbox as back up - a friend used this trick in a '67 'bullit coupe' he built - I think he used points to trigger the HEI module - but no matter - I have a wiring diagram or six I could pass along if you need such a thing, it sounds like you have this all taken care of now - and the sweet sweet sound of proper combustion will be soon carressing your ear drums.
                              There's always something new to learn.

                              Comment


                              • The total nut kicker of it all?

                                I have the firing order AND CCW written on the top of the radiator. (See pic above...) Doh!

                                Yeah it runs now. Starts better and just sounds snappier listening to it.

                                The whole HEI dist is going in the tool box so if I have an issue i can just cram the other one in and take off.
                                Last edited by BBR; September 1, 2011, 11:54 AM.
                                Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
                                1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
                                1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
                                1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
                                1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
                                1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

                                Comment

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