Reply to "Electronic Ignition"

Hi Dave,

I'm running a Mallory Unilite electronic distributor. Works great! Some have complained about reliability of the Unilite but I've never had a problem in 13 years. Note that Mallory changed their signal processing and re-revved their unilite module in the mid-2000's to make it more reliable (and also reduced the cost).

I've run a Mallory 6AL for some years, but eventually it started to fail when it got heat-soaked. A little online research revealed this is a common failure mode for both the Mallory and MSD ignition boxes.

I now run a Pantera Electronics Electronic Ignition System with my Mallory Unilite distributor - works great! The Pantera Electronics EIS is great! It's 100x faster than an MSD, will fire a wet oil soaked plug, has an internal rev limiter you can set (no need to buy additional "pills" like the MSD), is impervious to heat from the engine compartment/headers, has LED lights that provide a wealth of information for confirming all is hooked up correctly and working properly, can control your carb choke more accurately, turns off the AC compressor load when you romp the throttle, will auto-adjust idle if you're sitting in traffic and your AC kicks on, has an optional internal trickle charger if you don't drive your car very often, doesn't require a tach adaptor, etc. And, Jon Haas provides the absolute best customer service I've ever experienced from any vendor!!!
http://www.pantera-electronics.com/eis.htm

If I were just now converting to an electronic ignition, I would only consider the following options for the following reasons...

1. If the goal is to maintain a stock original appearance, or keep cost of conversion to a minimum:
Install a Pertronix Ignitor II or Ignitor III kit into your existing Ford distributor.
http://www.pertronix.com/prod/

2. If your goal is to keep it all Ford, and increase your reliability and performance, I'd go for a Duraspark system - Ford Duraspark distributor and ignition controller/box. This system has a history of being pretty reliable, and parts are available at any Ford Dealer across the country.

3. For the ultimate ignition system in terms of performance and reliability, I would go with the Pantera Electronics EIS combined with a Ford Duraspark distributor. Made in America, great feature set, outstanding performance, and bullet-proof reliability.