Mopar Performance distributor kit

[Ghoste]

I caught a blurb here quickly that MP was no longer making its electronic conversion kits.  Was that a Fiat decision or did Mallory get out of it?  Is Mallory still making them if it was Fiat?

[Cooter]

Lost their China manufacturer?

[Ghoste]

Or couldn't find one, I think they were building them in Mexico weren't they?

[UFO]

According to a mopar action article recently they suffer from spark scatter that is not fixable.

[Ghoste]

Oh really?  Always or beginning when?

[Charger-Bodie]

last one I got from MP was made by Pro-form

[Ghoste]

How recently?

[Charger-Bodie]

It was about a year and a half ago . If I remember right,my ability to track time sometimes wavers anymore.

[Ghoste]

Interesting, I never even knew Pro Form made distributors.

[b5blue]

How can you tell, I got one a few years ago but ended up getting a stock one set up for me by Don at FBO. Now the Mopar Performance one sits in the box after less than 200 miles on the car. 

[UFO]

The whole story is in the Feb '14 Mopar Action.

[Ghoste]

So was it the Mallory advance design causing the scatter?

[UFO]

So was it the Mallory advance design causing the scatter?

.

[Ghoste]

That explains some things.  Thanks UFO.

[myk]

I bought that kit in '94; who made those versions?

[Ghoste]

Chrysler.

[tan top]

The whole story is in the Feb '14 Mopar Action.

thanks for the info 

[1974dodgecharger]

Ok, I guess I better ditch mine then and now opt for something else.

[Ghoste]

Contact Firefighter about the Firecore stuff.  That will be my next choice.

[firefighter3931]

I just read the Mopar Action article. I've used the newer MP distributor in the past and it worked in my application but both the mechanical advance and vacuum advance were disabled. The distributor was locked out. Based on that I can't comment on the spark scatter issue from a personal perspective but i have seen some erratic timing on other car's i've helped to tune. It can be frustrating swapping out springs and resetting/adjusting mechanical advance with marginal results. 

The MA article does make mention of the FireCore billet distributors and upon testing they found that timing was rock solid with the Firecore unit. Ehrenberg even summerizes the article by saying ; your best option is to find an old 73 distributor and rebuild/modify it or purchase the FireCore unit. More or less of what i've been telling members for the past few years ; Firecore is a top shelf product and i wouldn't be recommending it to my friends if it wasn't. 

As for the ECU's ; there is a member on Moparts who has been doing a fair bit of dyno testing on the replacement style ECU's and the only ones he likes are the rev-n-ator and FBO box. All the other chinese knockoffs pull timing and higher rpm and loose power at peak volumetric efficiency which is when the greatest demand on the ignition system occurs.

Mopar performance is out of the electronic conversion market at this point which isn't necessarily a bad thing based on recent reports.


Ron

[Ghoste]

It is the end of an era but all things pass too.

[b5blue]

  Mine ran fine in the car. A bit too much advance but I never adjusted it. The fresh A-1 Cardone remanufactured I'd installed prior was total crap. Hunting an intermittent no spark issue had me swapping components and lead me to FBO so I sent Don my A-1 as a core. (I later found a nasty wire patch in my engine harness that was the real issue.) 
 

[hemihead]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

[Charger-Bodie]

The firecore distributors are the way to go in my opinion. Top notch all the way around,and  very easy to tune.

[jlatessa]

So is the Accel BB dist. I just bought from Summit one of the problem ones??

Joe

[myk]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

[firefighter3931]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

Check it and see Myk ; hold the throttle steady and have a look at the timing marks using a light and see how steady it is. I would do this at several different intervals ( 1300/1500/1700....all the way up to 3000 or whenever it stops advancing) to see what's happening. 


Ron

[hemihead]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

I know many guys would buy a Hello Kitty Dizzy if everyone else was running one even if it only fired on 3 cylinders lololol . Too many trendy people own these cars now .

[myk]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

Check it and see Myk ; hold the throttle steady and have a look at the timing marks using a light and see how steady it is. I would do this at several different intervals ( 1300/1500/1700....all the way up to 3000 or whenever it stops advancing) to see what's happening. 


Ron

How steady should it be?  Are we talking no variation or is a slight difference per strobe acceptable?

[1974dodgecharger]

firefighter,
that reminds sometimes my tach goes crazy on occassion like from 1k to 2k bounces back and forth it happens once/day on driving around.  At first I thought it was because I had my PCV hooked up to my air filter base pan, but I took it off and it still does..could it be dizzy?

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

Check it and see Myk ; hold the throttle steady and have a look at the timing marks using a light and see how steady it is. I would do this at several different intervals ( 1300/1500/1700....all the way up to 3000 or whenever it stops advancing) to see what's happening. 


Ron

[firefighter3931]

After many years in the Mopar game , I've noticed guys tend to buy parts more because of the name than by the actual performance of the part .

True; I'd buy a Hello Kitty disributor set if it meant I could get optimum timing.  But...Ghoste says my 90's vintage MP 'dizzy was made by Chrysler so I should be good, right guys?

Check it and see Myk ; hold the throttle steady and have a look at the timing marks using a light and see how steady it is. I would do this at several different intervals ( 1300/1500/1700....all the way up to 3000 or whenever it stops advancing) to see what's happening. 


Ron

How steady should it be?  Are we talking no variation or is a slight difference per strobe acceptable?

It should be very steady....no bouncing around.


Ron

[firefighter3931]

firefighter,
that reminds sometimes my tach goes crazy on occassion like from 1k to 2k bounces back and forth it happens once/day on driving around.  At first I thought it was because I had my PCV hooked up to my air filter base pan, but I took it off and it still does..could it be dizzy?

When the tach is having these wild flutuations is the engine revving up ? If not then i would suspect some type of electrical issue. 


Ron

[1974dodgecharger]

ron,
thx no engine revs just tach going wild on onccasion....thx will look at electonric voltage regulartor see if it solves it.

[Ghoste]

I don't think buying parts by name alone is by any means limited to the Mopar hobby (or purchases in general for that matter) but I've always found Mopar ignition parts to be pretty limited as to what was available anyway.

[madmike]

I bought the MoPar Performance distributor/ignition control box kit in the spring of 2011, and installed it in my '68 Charger with a mild 440.  So far, I have about 2500 miles on the engine.  One ECU failed, and the second one is acting just like the first, before it failed.  The car always seems to run differently (not consistently) almost every time I drive it, and it has gotten to the point where it seems to run best with the vacuum line to the distributor disconnected, which doesn't seem right.

I will definitely consider using a different ignition system entirely, this coming year, especially after reading these posts!  They sem to confirm what I've felt all along about the quality of the kit.

[Ghoste]

Yeah, it's unfortunate too because the Mopar ignition kit used to be such a gerat piece.

[70-500-SE-EXPORT]

Happy they stopped making them, they are garbage.  I had ignition problems from day 1 with my MP distributor kit. The timing was erratic. Power was nowhere where it should have been. Had backfiring problems and pinging and off idle I couldn't fix the bog no matter how I adjusted the carb. I thought the dizzy was the problem so I bought a pertronix 3. This dizzy turned out to be ghe biggest POS ever and the motor misfired and ran horrible. The cap was such a sloppy fit the rotor HIT the terminals and took chunks off them! You could hear the rotor hitting when the motor was running and feel it hit harder if you turned the dist to adjust timing.

So I sent it back and ordered  a firecore ready to run from Ron and the firecore wires. Best money I've ever spent on my charger. The 383 has never ran better! Timing was rock solid and not fluctuating like before and all the drivability problems are gone. The build quality of the firecore is incredible and the wires are a the best quality wires ive ever seen. I Highly recommend this distributor. Ron was also very helpful with tuning questions

[myk]

Guess I lucked out with mine.     Then again, maybe I'm leaving some power on the table?

[Cooter]

I've had good luck with reman stock units as long as you play with the mech. Timing as most are later model units with 20 degrees or more...

[Troy]

Fighting my car for 2 years now. I've had 7 different ballast resistors, 3 orange boxes, and 2 distributors. Thought it was a fuel problem in association with the ignition so I swapped/rebuilt some parts there too. I did buy a Firecore ignition but it didn't fit the rest of the look of the engine compartment so I saved it for another car. I finally ordered a distributor from FBO and installed a Rev-n-nator and took it for a test drive on December 30th. Whole new car!!! No more detonation, no more inconsistency, and no more falling on its face at WOT. I can't prove it was all the ignition but I won't be buying another.

Troy

[bull]

It says here in the article you gotta go full retard to keep them stable.

[Ghoste]

 

[67tbird]

I just bought this kit http://www.scramspeed.com/Mopar-Electronic-Ignition-Kit-LA-Magnum-p/screid1zz.htm it has a pro-form distributor should I return it? Came with orange box instead of purple that it shows. no wonder the kit was selling for 150 instead of 200 I see elsewhere.

[Charger-Bodie]

I just bought this kit http://www.scramspeed.com/Mopar-Electronic-Ignition-Kit-LA-Magnum-p/screid1zz.htm it has a pro-form distributor should I return it? Came with orange box instead of purple that it shows. no wonder the kit was selling for 150 instead of 200 I see elsewhere.

I would return it and get a Firecore. Talk to Firefighter3931 on here and will set you up with exactly what you need.

[don duick]

I bought a mp distributor about 2 years ago I use a msd 6A box with matching blaster coil. No problems so far in one and a half years. my 440 is mild has 224/231 comp cam and 10.3 compression. I can rev to 6000 in 1st gear {727} slam into second tyres will spin a bit and will keep pulling.  Am surprised hearing about mp distributor problems. when I set my timing the marks were steady. I also drilled a hole in number one lead on the cap and put the timing light on the hole and rotor button lined up ok. I have vacuum advance disconnected and about 18 degrees advance. initial timing is set to about 17 degrees. I also tried a msd distributo for comparison and found no difference in performance. I still have a 1973 electronic distributor I might try that for comparison also. Have to re-gragh it first as it has way too much advance. I have had problems with orange boxes also.

[Ghoste]

If you aren't getting spark scatter I wouldn't sweat it.

[Back N Black]

I'm planning on purchasing a FireCore ready to run distrubutor. I have a question, how hard is it to change back to the old MP unit? The only issue i have is, if the unit fails you have to send it back for repair. I usually carry a spare dist and orange box? Can i remove the firecore unit and do a quick change on the side of the road with my old unit?

[b5blue]

  I installed my RTR in my 70 with ECU type engine harness this way. I mounted the new coil to my stock six pack bracket by drilling the 3 needed holes. Jump resistor by making a small jumper with blade connectors. Attached RTR ground to one of the studs for the old coil holding strap/bracket and 12V+ From harness and RTR to + new coil then RTR - coil to new coil. For now the resistor and ECU are still mounted on the firewall and unused wiring tucked into harness holding tabs.
  I'll be moding my harness later, I want a separate ignition control harness and have mods for my Denso 120amp alt. to do but if you left much as is and in place you could change coil and dizzy in 10 minutes. 
  My mindset is/was to just ditch all this other stuff anyway, the new RTR system has zero failure rate from my searches on the internet.   

[Ghoste]

Roadside change is easy but you likely won`t need to. 

[67tbird]

I bought the msd 6a, but kept the mopar ECU conversion kit(difference between buying stock dist and kit was roughly 30 bucks) would i be better off leaving points dist. in or going with the one with the magnetic pickup?

[Ghoste]

I'd get a good electronic one.

[don duick]

correction to my previous post. Checked my mp distributor again and discovered I do have spark scatter.