Storebought duraspark

[Renny_D]

Hi I am needing to duraspark and using the part numbers I can get all the parts including a reman carb from autozone. Has anyone done this conversion with all store bought parts versus junkyard diving. I've been through three in the portland area and no 2.8s with duraspark. I am assuming that becuase I am not pulling a harness out of a car that I will have to do a fair bit of splicing. Did anyone go this route and what if anything should I look out for. Also can you do the duraspark conversion just the ignition side and leave the feedback carb in place - I ask as I am undecided if I want to do the carb swap or go EFI. I have found several s10 2.8s in the junk yards to pull that tbi from.

Thoughts and experiences please.

Renny

 

[superds]

I have done two duraspark conversions. Mostly bought new parts for both. Didn't buy anything used for the last one I did. Both were on '84 BIIs and only require a couple wires to be spliced, I think one of them is the coil power wire. The rest, if you buy the correct parts, is just plug and play.

You're goig to remove most of the wire harness already in the engine compartment, only leaving a few plugs and wires, there's about a 90% reduction in the amount of wiring on the engine after the conversion.

Shop around on the internet for prices on the parts, I found an Autozone coupon code that saved me quite a bit of money over going to even rockauto.com (another very good source for low prices on parts). Try searching for Mustang II and Pinto parts (especially the carb). The reman carb is where I've found I could save the most money by shopping around. I just ordered a carb this week from Autozone for a '77 Pinto 2.8 for $172 shipped and I'll get $20 core charge back when I take a carb back to my local Autozone. Current coupon code is "SPRING1520" (found on their website).

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Mine was all new but the distributor harness. I got the harness for the dizzy out of a 84 2.0 4cyl ranger I believe you can use the module also. If you get lucky the late 70s pinto, mustang II and capri had the duraspark setup and you can get the carb taboot.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You can use the feedback carb I recommend putting #43 jets in it there should be #50s in there now. When swapping the distributor out point the rotor straight back to the firewall before you pull it out so you can get the new one close enough to time it. If it dont drop all the way down turn the crank with light pressure on the dizzy to line up the oil pump. Then just hook the vacuum advance up to the manifold vacuum tree after you time it at 10 dbtdc. Turn the idle air needles out 3 1/2 turns from lightly seated once the engine is fully warmed up adjust the idle air needles for the highest vacuum pressure or engine rpm. and adjust the idle stop screw for around 700 rpms with the choke fully open.

 

[martin]

When I did the conversion on mine I bought a new distributor and gm hei 4 pin midule (easy, just four wires), then made a manual metering block for the original carb (half an hour with hand tools). There were two main reasons I went this route, parts are much more expensive here than they are in the states and it's also easier to set up and tune.

 

[Renny_D]

Thanks for the responses. This is all good info. I'm curious about the manual metering block. I don't quite understand how the feedback carb added extra fuel as it doesn't really have an injector?? I really want to try the Chevy 2.8 injection so if I can live with the feedback carb for a bit longer and improve performance/fuel economy that would be awesome.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

What the feedback solenoid does is control the amount of air bleed into the venturi cluster. the more air the leaner the mix if you unplug the feedback solenoid it cuts off the air to the cluster. The block allows you to meter the air going in. when I had mine setup I just left the low port closed and you can adjust the idle air with the needles and for the high you just adjust it by earball. You will be able to watch the fuel needle drop as your driving if it is too rich. I never did try smaller jets, even with a normal carb I found smaller jets greatly improves performance. I just put in # 41s and am real happy with the results. I figure if you put some #43s in you should not need to make a metering block I remembr mine ran real good until you tried pulling a long hill and black smoke started to bellow out the exhaust the smaller jets took care of that. Black smoke = too much fue.l