DUI is it worth it ?

[GirlsLoveDirt]

hey anyone here do the DUI upgrade. I'm seriously thinking about it. is it worth the 400 bucks ?

[Desert Beast]

my buddy just got a DUI, he said it wasnt worth it, with all the court fines and loosing his license. :D

[Chrome]

Matter of fact I did it tonight...upgraded from Corona to Margarita. Worked out just fine but I do think your tipping a little too much. :D

[Rande]

GLD, the biggest bang for the buck is the TFI upgrade. It is not the last word in hi-tech ignitions but it will double your spark energy for about $100. It uses stock Ford parts that you can get at junkyards or local parts stores.

It involves a new coil and the connector for the wiring, a new rotor for the distributor, a new cap and an adapter for the cap and new sparkplug wires. You increase the gap of the plugs to .45.

You can also go a bit further into the distributor and dial in a new advance curve by changing the advance control springs in the distributor.

This upgrade is easy, inexpensive, and effective. You can find the info in the tech archives of this site. I did the upgrade on my '83 J20 and experienced an immediate and easily noticeable improvement.

[Sitting Bull]

Here is the "general concensus" from what I can tell. Others will disagree, but this seems to be the jist of it when all opinions are factored in...

From a performance standpoint, it's not worth it. The TFI set-up is much cheaper, and will give you the same boost.

From a reliability standpoint, the DUI kicks butt. You bypass the stupid ICM which tends to randomly break down.

So, if your looking for performance, go TFI. If its worth the extra $300 to bypass the ICM - go for the DUI.

[ October 04, 2003, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: Sitting Bull ]

[GirlsLoveDirt]

awesome again always great thanks for the valid information i get from you guys.

[83 WagDriver]

LOL

[Elliott]

Originally posted by GirlsLoveDirt:
hey anyone here do the DUI upgrade. I'm seriously thinking about it. is it worth the 400 bucks ?Not when you can get a modified single wire hookup GM HEI for about $165 from Ted Wendel here on the board. Eliminate your ignition module and have your coil in the cap. ;)

[Ralph]

A local CJ-er, who has about $30k invested in his Jeep, just installed a DUI distributor and absolutely loves it. He had an MSD Off-Road module and Blaster coil on his 401, which is also equipped with Howell TBI, Edelbrock everything, even ceramic coated headers.

I have to hand it to the guy at DUI. He set up the distributor according the engine specs, as well as the environmental conditions in which this vehicle operates (heat, altitude, etc.)

[The Anti-Chrysler]

I think sitting bull has it down perfect. The majority of the performance boost on both upgrades comes in the form of a hotter coil, which is much cheaper via TFI. However, I have upgraded to TFI, and I've already smoked another ignition module, so the idea of being rid of that module does have its perks. Performance wise, I was very happy with the TFI upgrade, which cost around $100.

[The Anti-Chrysler]

Oh, there are also HEI conversions to GM distributors, being sold by someone on the board, as well as on ebay, which are very similar, but much less expensive.

[Rande]

Nice thing about the HEI distributor is the elimination of the motorcraft ignition module. I would think the extra $60 or so in cost over the simple TFI upgrade would be worth it.

[Johnwog]

Check this out $250, I'm going this route in the near future
http://home.supernet.com/~zmjeeps/

[oddfire]

Done TFI with MSD. Done HEI with DUI. DUI wins.................phil

[Paul]

I have Ted Wendel's HEI for AMC. It cost about $160.00 and works great--no more ignition box, easy to hook up, and finally, FINALLY, I no longer have a pinging problem. It's worth it.