electronic ignition in a preflow 250 2v

[2502vxw]

Hey there fellas, I am nearly at the end of my XW rebuild and at the moment I am happy with my current setup (this block in it's present condition (well with a standard cam and original morse taper timing setup) and a standard head and carb in an XW ute was an absolute FREAK. it would happily rev to over 7G and in the wet with a 3.23:1 diff would get no traction in any gear (single rail) for about 300 metres if you tromped it...hell, in the dry you could happily start a burnout in 3RD). But at some point I'd like to get electronic ignition for the old girl on the recommendations of others. At the present time my driveline consists of a pre X-Flow 250 block (I think it was originally in a corty cause where the dipstick goes in at the rear in a corty is filled by a bolt in this block and it has the dipstick in the standard position now)), 10 thou under big ends, 20 thou over XF unleaded pistons, Crow #2666 cam, double row timing, , new oil pump, lifters....everything. 2V head, 34 ADM?? Weber from an XE with custom hand made (I mean hand made... nothing but a drill and hand files) alloy two-piece adapter block, Ramflo filter, Hand made accelerator linkages. T5 manual from an XF, 2.92:1 disc LSD from ZJ fairlane and EA fairmont GHIA buckets.... oooh the luxury of adjustable lumbar support LOL ...so much better than the standard benchy. Anyway, I have been told by a few people that I can hook up an XF dizzy to my machine and give it that much more potential, I just have to add a spacer to the bottom of the dizzy as they have a smaller diameter than the old ones. Does anyone know if this is true and are there any other issues. (a mate of mine put his XF engine into his TE corty and ended up putting an XE dizzy in to eliminate the need for the computer for it) Would an XD/E electronic setup be the go for me? Cheers, Tony

 

[addo]

You should bush it or upsize the shaft. Also you will need the Crow dizzy gear to suit.

Mine are done with donor shafts off points units, TIG welded to the XE advance plate and centre shaft. The bushings need renewing in the 20 thou oversize now achieved. I paid a decent amount for the work but it is good and includes a recurve.

There is a little snag with the block; see if you can move the hold-down a bit further from the shaft. Also reduce the thickness of this area of the dizzy by a shade, and get rid of the big paddle it creates out one side. In other words, the lower section of the electronic dizzy is turned to look like the early units.

Regards, Adam.

 

[2502vxw]

Thanks for that.... I think I might just stick with ye olde points.... I have already spent a bomb on all the mods just to get this box and motor into place....maybe down the line I'll look into it, but as I mentioned, this motor has a pretty reputable history of delivering with pretty much standard mods. I have just heard from a few blokes that the electronic spark gives em a little bit more to work with and I figured "why not'".. Thanks for the quick response, Tony

 

[71ford]

Hey there fellas, I am nearly at the end of my XW rebuild and at the moment I am happy with my current setup (this block in it's present condition (well with a standard cam and original morse taper timing setup) and a standard head and carb in an XW ute was an absolute FREAK. it would happily rev to over 7G and in the wet with a 3.23:1 diff would get no traction in any gear (single rail) for about 300 metres if you tromped it...hell, in the dry you could happily start a burnout in 3RD).

Did you actually get the 250 2v to rev to 7000??? With those mods??

 

[xdee]

Dude, 7 G's happily? I'm not doubting your honesty but perhaps the honesty of the tacho your using.

7000 isn't unheard of, but unless it is has a nicely strengthened bottom end, "happily" is probably an overstatement


.

 

[2502vxw]

well, yes... perhaps "happily" is not the word I should have used .... but it did see 7000 a few times (mainly when engulfed in palls of smoke and somewhat stationary with tyres screaming).... As I said, this engine is a freak and everyone that has witnessed it's misbehaviour is quite surprised by what it gets up to. I can only hope that it will rev as well with the 2V head on there... And to ensure accuracy, a shiny new tacho will be installed this week before I fire her up for the first time since the rebuild. I did check it out with some seperate calculations, based on the top speed. And with that diff and the tyre size I had at the time it would have been revving at about (can't find calculations at the moment)... 6800 ish at 120 mph and I wound the speedo past that, so as long as the speedo isn't too far out of whack after 60 mph it should be a fair assumption to believe that it could handle 7000. (I will however concede that the speedo could, well be out after 60mph (up to 60 it is spot on) and I didn't have a tacho at that stage in her life so error could come into it) I'll let you know how it goes with the new tacho... (might leave it a while to run in before I start trying for those figure though I think)

 

[Anonymous]

G'day , sounds like you're a kindred spirit! I've got a 2v in an xb coupe that, like you, is still running points which is ok except for the continual adjustment.... I look with envy at 2 things the US boys seem to have at their disposal easier than us at least - they use a later duraspark 2 distributor which seems to drop straight in, or a Pertronix ignitor setup which replaces the points (crane and a few others have similar) but what worries me about getting one of these is the fact that we use Bosch distributors, how different these are from the US ones I don't know - whether a US designed ignition module will bolt in to a bosch dizzy is unknown.....Anybody tried? Anyone know of a local points replacement? I kinda remember lumenition modules from years ago but not sure if these are local or not.....

 

[xctasy]

Problem solved.

The US made Pertronics has an #1865 kit for about 160 bucks which fits the XC and XD iron head Bosch sereis distributor, and this dissy is a direct bolt in for all 1966 to 1975 non cross flow sixes.

Then you can use the right coil, which may be a Crane HyFire or any of the 1.5 or 3 ohm units from Pertronics.

Interestingly, the Bosch distributor uses the standard US Dodge rotor arm, so the Pertronix points eliminator kit uses all the right bits ex USA.


(After mid 1980, the 530 thou gear drive pilot in the block got reduced to a smaller 495 thou pilot hole so the Holden XT5 and alloy head Falcons could use the same small body electronic Bosch distributor used in all 1980 to 1985 Ford and Holden sixes).

 

[xrglen]

G'day , sounds like you're a kindred spirit! I've got a 2v in an xb coupe that, like you, is still running points which is ok except for the continual adjustment.... I look with envy at 2 things the US boys seem to have at their disposal easier than us at least - they use a later duraspark 2 distributor which seems to drop straight in, or a Pertronix ignitor setup which replaces the points (crane and a few others have similar) but what worries me about getting one of these is the fact that we use Bosch distributors, how different these are from the US ones I don't know - whether a US designed ignition module will bolt in to a bosch dizzy is unknown.....Anybody tried? Anyone know of a local points replacement? I kinda remember lumenition modules from years ago but not sure if these are local or not.....

hi there, iv used a std bosch xe dizzy in my 250 2v tc cortina with a pre xflow, with no bush since 1993 and have had no problems.
they work better ,as they have less advance,by about 2 degees, so work well with mild to midrange cams.
dont use a kit that fits into your old points dizzy, as they are not as good as the yanks think. this being that they dont have our xe electronic dizzys at their door step...
i will put money on it that a bosch xe dizzy will out perform a usa duraspark anyday of the week. dynos and drag strips dont lie.
try it like i did 13 years ago and see how much power and easy starting is.
never look in the USA when we have more at our door step. just make sure you take out your resistance wire or resistorout, so your new electronic coil can get a full 12volts, not the 7-9volts that the points get.....cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm, now I'm confused - the XE dizzy sounds great but... from what previous post is saying it looks as if there is a difference there in the pilot holes of nearly a millimetre! So, yes it would drop in but it sounds like it would be a sloppy fit?? So the bush we are talking about is just to take up that size difference?? But you reckon it works anyway without the bush?

 

[addo]

I have them re-shafted with a donor XY-XB dizzy. Yes it costs money, but these units are now 20+ years old and it's a good excuse to overhaul the complete dizzy. It's easier to up the shaft than bush the block.

If you gave me a Pertronix I would put it on the ground and drive over it with the truck. That's what I think of them.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow! top rating for the Pertronix there.... I recently read an article on a Corvette discussion group (not that I've got a Corvette!! - just surfing) about Pertronix - they were saying that they all prefer points too. Yeah, I reckon I might have a bit of a look at the local u-pullit yard and see if I can pick up an XE dizzy to muck around with....

Thanks heaps, everyone for the quick, detailed replies. I've been away from this group for a little while but I'm glad to be back - this group previously solved a problem that nearly made me sell my car - believe me I'm glad that never happened.....

Cheers!