Zenith Electronic Ignition?????Anyone????

[Anonymous]

My 68 Stang came with one of these when I bought it, and still has it, seems to work well. The box it came in is still in the trunk. Anyone ever heard of this???--ZENITH???
I can't find anything online about it.

 

[Anonymous]

Nobody has ever heard a thing on Zenith. I'm thinking that it might just be the 60k actual miles on this car, and the 1st owner gave it a tune up sometime before it was parked back in the 70's when they actually sold zenith, and the box stayed in the trunk. When I replaced the valve stem seals, the originals were brittle. Well the 4 intact ones I found. The rest were halfway gone, or gone altogether. With the new ones, the smoking problem went away. Which is something consistent with a car in this situation. I know the previous-2nd owner told me he replaced the carb. Everything points to the car having actual miles. The engine compartment is exceptionally clean for a non restored car. It's nearly show quality.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought they made TVs...but hey Mitsubishi makes all kinds of stuff now, too, including cars...

 

[Anonymous]

I can remember putting some kind of aftermarket electronic ignition on the 73 Comet I had in the mid 70's. It did not last. They weren't real reliable. I wonder if it was by Zenith.
By the way, it seems I have seen some ignition parts by Zenith over the years. I am not sure if they are related, but some of the old Carburetors for Harleys were made by Zenith.
Doug

 

[Anonymous]

I know they made carburetors for Modle T's and such.

 

[Lazy JW]

Zenith made lots of carbs for old tractors, etc.
Joe

 

[80Stang]

Wow this brand popped up here. If I just remember right there is one in my friends 65 HT, but it is not wired. He found the box attached under a aftermarket washer fluid reservoir. For some reason he removed the reservoir and there was this strange box.

I'll check this case as soon as I visit our garage down town. If it is Zenith I'd appreciate short explanation of the working wiring in your stang as he might be interested to try the box - after changing that dual points dizzy to something else. I try to remember more, maybe there was an electronic dizzy in the trunk as well...

Anyway, it is in a 289 setup.

 

[66200i6]

What do the parts in the distributor look like? I had a system on my 70’ Sportroof back in the late 70’s. This system actually used an electronic eye. There were eight slots in a disk that broke the connection or acted like the points. This used the Chrysler trigger to run.

Anything like that?

 

[MustangSix]

You have to go back to the sixties and further to remember Zenith. At one time they made several electronic ignition add-ons and other DIY things, in addition to TV's and radios. They were a major brand of home electronics. They teamed up with HeathKit, IIRC, to offer several kits for radios, electronics, and some automotive related parts. I recall their CD ignition systems in the days before electronic ignition.

In the late 70's early eighties they were one of the pioneers of the PC movement with Heathkit.

 

[Anonymous]

I actually got into my trunk today, and took a look at the box. It has the original instruction manual, and the warranty card. It all appears to have that type of vintage font on there too where you can just tell it's from way back. It must have been a decent product because it showed a 2 year warranty, and said "congratulations, you have purchased the finest electronic ignition system available in the world today". It showed it being a company from New York. Too bad I couldn't find a reciept. One thing I can say, is the car runs great, and gets impressive fuel economy. Under the cap it is like a deal with like slots that turns. I guess I'll just leave it in there till it fails I guess.

 

[66200i6]

That sounds like the one I had. The slots in the disk go through another part, which contains the electric eye. Each slot is like the points closing allowing the coil to recharge. Your next step is to get a good magnetic core coil so you get the quick recovery and a good set of low resistance wire wound plug wires. You’ll be set.

As long as is works don’t fix it.

Have fun, Ric.

 

[Anonymous]

66200i6, Yeah, I almost lost the whole deal when I was driving it home from AZ when I bought it. The person who installed it used too short a screw for the slot deal and I lost it, couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start at a restaurant. FIrst thing I did was remove the distributor cap, and found out what was wrong, it bent up the slots, so I straightened them best I could with some pliers, and found the correct screw in the box in the trunk which also had the original points and rotor in there and got it running again in no time! Gotta love the simplicity of them I-6's!!!