TFI Upgrade

[vintagetrks]

Thinking about doing a TFI upgrade. But don't really know what it is or how to do it. My buddy Jaber hooked me up with a link that shows a list of parts but did'nt give any info on what is involved in performing this upgrade. Can any of you guys give me some details on what is involved and how difficult it is to perform this upgrade? Thanks for all your help

[jaber]

The only thing you are doing is changing the cap, rotor and coil on the motorcraft distributor. On yours, IIRC, you would need to upgrade your distributor, and ignition modual to the motorcraft one. If you stop by tomorrow, I can give you a visual tour. I did the swap on my '77, but pulled the ignition harness out of a '78 Cherokee, so it was adirect swap of parts. I will look to see if I have a link to the wiring for the swap.

[jaber]

Heres one instance where a guy uses the GM ignition modual in place of the Motorcraft box.

http://www.epiccomputer.com/dale/jeepjunk/tfihei/shuffjb/prestolite.htm

The '78 and newer engines already have the Motorcraft dizzy.

[vintagetrks]

TFI

Looks like I'd probably have to get a whole new distibutor then right? Is it the motor craft for the 460 Ford? Sounds like it might be a fairly simple upgrade.

[vintagetrks]

TFI

Checked out the link. Thanks Jeff that was very informative. Would'nt it just be easier to put an hei distributor in though?

[jaber]

You want to get a dizzy for an '80's + AMC engine. AMC used a Ford dist and the ford parts clip right on. Bring your Jeep over tomorrow and I'll 'splain it to you.

[vintagetrks]

TFI

found one on e-bay would this one work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AMC-Jeep-Wagoneer-304-360-390-Motorcraft-Distributor_W0QQitemZ180362992660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item29fe78dc14&_trksid=p4506.m20.l1116

[bowtieman55]

another option...

instead of swapping ALL your igntion stuff out, you could just drop in a HEI. The cost is equal to, or less than a high end TFI upgrade, it is mostly self contained and only takes one wire to work.

http://www.crtperformance.com/html/credit_card_orders.html

[vintagetrks]

instead of swapping ALL your igntion stuff out, you could just drop in a HEI. The cost is equal to, or less than a high end TFI upgrade, it is mostly self contained and only takes one wire to work.


http://www.crtperformance.com/html/c...rd_orders.html

Thank You for the link. Thats the direction I'm going. I've put HEI's in alot of chevys and your right it's simple and only $90.00 for the whole set up thats sweet. Do you have that set up on your rig? If so did it give you any marked improvements performance wise?

[Asphalt Cowboy]

Thank You for the link. Thats the direction I'm going. I've put HEI's in alot of chevys and your right it's simple and only $90.00 for the whole set up thats sweet. Do you have that set up on your rig? If so did it give you any marked improvements performance wise?

The distributor alone is $90. You're going to need the one with plug wires.

[Fiodh. Argus]

I bought a $150 chinese made HEI and it lasted only a few hundred miles over the course of a year or so while I was involved in other repairs. I instead recently went to BJs and spent $200 on their proform unit, after spending another $100 trying to repair the first unit with new coil, module and pickup with no luck. (frustrating!)

this is just a heads up, there was a thread a while back on the cheaper HEIs and the opinions were not good .... that CRT unit was discussed.

the HEI is a simple install and a nice upgrade, good spark, easy starts.

good luck with this.

[jaber]

Dont forget to swap your cam gear on the dizzy. They dont like different gears. Take the gear off the old dizzy and put it onto the new dizzy.

Good luck with your choice and remember, you'll get what you pay for.

[vintagetrks]

HEI

I was thinking about it last night and was thinking the same thing as you guys about the Chinese stuff and got to looking at BJ's and decided on their Mallory HEI it's more expensive but Mallory makes good ignition stuff. Did'nt know about the gear swap thanks Jeff I'll make sure to put my old dizzy gear on to the new MALLORY HEI unit.

[DAHoyle]

The HEI is a good setup, and a good one is well worth the money.

That said, it offers a 0.0% performance gain over the Motorcraft with the TFI conversion.

Personally, If I already had the Motorcraft, i would never consider swapping it for an HEI. If I had the old Pertronix, then it would be pretty much a toss-up.

The Motorcraft module does offer an advantage in starting, as it retards the timing when the starter is engaged, but that isn't really much of an issue unless you are running lots of initial advance. It is the only ingintion system with that capability, as far as I know, and all the rest of them have gotten by just fine without it.

The HEI is supposed to have some advantage in dwell management, but it would depend on the module. How much better it actually is, is up for debate, and has been for decades.

All things considered, I want my module separate from the coil and the rest of the Hi Voltage/Energy components, so I'll just stick with the TFI. Start adding hotter coils and such, and there is a lot of energy floating around in a small package, with the HEI. Some have issues with it, and some don't.

It pretty much just comes down to personal choice.

[vintagetrks]

The HEI is a good setup, and a good one is well worth the money.

That said, it offers a 0.0% performance gain over the Motorcraft with the TFI conversion.

Personally, If I already had the Motorcraft, i would never consider swapping it for an HEI. If I had the old Pertronix, then it would be pretty much a toss-up.

The Motorcraft module does offer an advantage in starting, as it retards the timing when the starter is engaged, but that isn't really much of an issue unless you are running lots of initial advance. It is the only ingintion system with that capability, as far as I know, and all the rest of them have gotten by just fine without it.

The HEI is supposed to have some advantage in dwell management, but it would depend on the module. How much better it actually is, is up for debate, and has been for decades.

All things considered, I want my module separate from the coil and the rest of the Hi Voltage/Energy components, so I'll just stick with the TFI. Start adding hotter coils and such, and there is a lot of energy floating around in a small package, with the HEI. Some have issues with it, and some don't.

It pretty much just comes down to personal choice.

I'm just looking for better hotter spark in the hopes I get a little beter mpg and crisper acceleration. Not really looking for a miracle. Plus I'm not very keen on the points style dizzy's. Much less hassle with an HEI.