Seeing there's been several people asking lately (again) about converting to Duraspark from Load-0-Matic points, and several (more) of these people have early blocks that won't readily accept a later distributor...
Has anybody ever look into replacing points with a Duraspark magnetic pickup and reluctor (star-shaped) wheel? You'd still have the Load-o-Matic / SCV ignition advance system, but you'd have an electronic ignition trigger with reliable, readily-available parts. And except for the two wires coming from the distributor, it'd appear completely original. (And you could wire a GM HEI module in so that it's completely hidden, the only thing not stock-appearing would be that extra dist. wire...)
Looking at a points distributor I've got here, it seems it would be easy...
Find where the points are just opening to fire the #1 plug, and mark the shaft, breaker plate, and distributor body for reference.
Pull the distributor shaft, have the points cam turned down on a lathe, then cut a groove for the reluctor wheel's locating key/pin. Only question is whether or not the cut-down cam would still be big enough for the reluctor wheel...but if not, put a bushing on it and secure the bushing to the shaft.
Reinstall the shaft, install the reluctor wheel, and line up all of the reference marks from step 1. You could then install the magnetic pickup on the breaker plate in any one of 6 places around the shaft, as long as the magnet is lined up with any of the 6 reluctor wheel "teeth". Two questions here: What's the clearance between the "tooth" and the pickup magnet? And at what point does the magnetic pickup sense the "tooth" and send its signal - when the "tooth" is approaching, nearest, or leaving the magnet? (and if you wanted to index the rotor tip to the cap terminals, you could adjust it by moving the magnetic pickup forwards/backwards on the breaker plate).
Anybody else got any ideas? Did I miss something?
*What's the id of a DS reluctor wheel, and if it's bigger than the points cam, is there another 6-cyl wheel that would work (GM, Pentastar, etc)?
*When exactly does the magnetic pickup sense the reluctor "tooth"?
*What's the clearance between the pickup and "tooth"?
Maybe there's a market opportunity here for somebody to do conversions...I think I'd have done this if I'd stayed with my early engine much longer.
Has anybody ever look into replacing points with a Duraspark magnetic pickup and reluctor (star-shaped) wheel? You'd still have the Load-o-Matic / SCV ignition advance system, but you'd have an electronic ignition trigger with reliable, readily-available parts. And except for the two wires coming from the distributor, it'd appear completely original. (And you could wire a GM HEI module in so that it's completely hidden, the only thing not stock-appearing would be that extra dist. wire...)
Looking at a points distributor I've got here, it seems it would be easy...
Find where the points are just opening to fire the #1 plug, and mark the shaft, breaker plate, and distributor body for reference.
Pull the distributor shaft, have the points cam turned down on a lathe, then cut a groove for the reluctor wheel's locating key/pin. Only question is whether or not the cut-down cam would still be big enough for the reluctor wheel...but if not, put a bushing on it and secure the bushing to the shaft.
Reinstall the shaft, install the reluctor wheel, and line up all of the reference marks from step 1. You could then install the magnetic pickup on the breaker plate in any one of 6 places around the shaft, as long as the magnet is lined up with any of the 6 reluctor wheel "teeth". Two questions here: What's the clearance between the "tooth" and the pickup magnet? And at what point does the magnetic pickup sense the "tooth" and send its signal - when the "tooth" is approaching, nearest, or leaving the magnet? (and if you wanted to index the rotor tip to the cap terminals, you could adjust it by moving the magnetic pickup forwards/backwards on the breaker plate).
Anybody else got any ideas? Did I miss something?
*What's the id of a DS reluctor wheel, and if it's bigger than the points cam, is there another 6-cyl wheel that would work (GM, Pentastar, etc)?
*When exactly does the magnetic pickup sense the reluctor "tooth"?
*What's the clearance between the pickup and "tooth"?
Maybe there's a market opportunity here for somebody to do conversions...I think I'd have done this if I'd stayed with my early engine much longer.
