Query re: my Flamethrower Coil setup

[Anonymous]

Currently I have a PI and Flamethrower coil. It works reasonably well (considering the age of my LOM dizzy). I've been researching the possibility of going to a Duraspark II setup (and ditch the SCV setup... I know, I need to change to a non SCV carb as well).

In all of the research I've done, most Duraspark wiring setups have bypassed the pink resistor wire (that runs between the ignition switch and the coil... wires 16 and 16A on this diagram: http://www.hammar.dyndns.org/~djhamma/w ... 6ignit.jpg ). MustangSteve's diagram suggests this bypass (with a splice that feeds the + side of the coil and the Duraspark ICM red wire): http://www.mustangsteve.com/durasparkfinal.jpg . If I understand this correctly, this sends a full 12v to the coil.

Here are my questions:

1) with regard to my current setup, I have bypassed nothing and simply run the red-green 16 wire to the new coil. So I'm not getting a full 12v at my Flamethrower coil right? Does this limit the full performance of the new coil?

2) will the flamethrower coil be compatible with a duraspark II setup, or do I need a duraspark II coil?

3) given that my red-green 16 wire is 40+ years old, should I be worried about it carrying a full 12v to the coil? Would a relay be a better way to get it there? (I.e. use the red-green 16 wire to trip the relay and pull the 12v straight from the battery?)

4) will I ever be able to pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby? I had $10 riding on "Hard Spun" in an office pool.

Peace!
Bengoshi2000

 

[fordconvert]

It seems like I read somewhere that the ford type duraspark modules are not quite heavy duty enough to handle much more coil than the stock one so thats why the HEI is a popular combo. As long as you buy a quality big name brand module (either duraspark or HEI) I wouldnt think it would be a problem. I would suspect that the people that say they have fried modules were buying the cheap store brand modules. Im running a DS2 with a HEI module and a Blaster2 coil which looks to be the same as flamethrower and most of the other 'performance' coils. I think with the GM modules a good heat sink is the key. Since the ford modules have the fins on them mounting them away from other heat sources and so they catch some air flow may help extend life.

If your carb is otherwise fine I wouldnt worry about changing it just because you change the dizzy. I tried running my single advance DS off the SCV valve and it seemed to work alright. I ended up switching to manifold vac because it overall seemed to give better performance. I put a T in the line that goes to the transmission. The big change when you do that is you get advance at idle which among other things makes the idle speed higher. Many 70's and 80's carbed cars ran the dizzy off the manifold for warm up and then had a thermal vac switch that switched them to a ported source when it warmed up to retard the timing at idle for better emissions. It was a popular mod to remove the switch and go direct to the manifold. Some cars came that way from the factory. Ported (not scv)vac is pretty much the same as manifold vac except at idle. Most of the time the ported sources are very low or off at idle whereas a manifold source is going to be highest at idle and when the throttle first closes.

As for the wire issue. I didnt feel like messing under the dash so I wired a relay onto the voltage regulator. There is a direct to the battery wire there and a wire from the key. Problem was that it is not live durning cranking (may just be a problem with my 66 stang) so I had to hook up the old wire also because it gets full 12V from the solonoid when cranking and when running doesnt hurt anything because the current will flow the path of least resistance (the relay) so I get full power. I tried driving the car with the relay un hooked (therefore using the resistor wire) and with the relay and couldnt tell any differnce in performance just driving around the neighborhood. Your relay idea will work fine. I would use a fuse just in case. IIRC my system seems to draw around 2 amps in the driveway. Not sure if it draws more under load or not. I think I have a 5 amp fuse in it.