Coil, cap and rotor

Here is the picture for the cap. I also had a frozen distributor in the block. Used some wd40 for 2 days. Then wiggled it with a oil filter wrench till it finally came loose. Almost stopped my heart.

On the right hand side of the first picture, where the wires are coming out of the ignition module, is a little piece of plastic that holds the wires in place. I can't tell what the color of that piece of plastic is, because the picture is too dark. Ford's various ignition modules are identified by the color of that piece of plastic, so if you can tell us what the color is, I have Ford manuals at home that will tell me what coil needs to be used in conjunction with it.

The large distributor cap was first used in 1976, I think. My memory is not as good as it once was. They were definitely in use by 1977. So at the auto parts store tell them you want the cap & rotor for a 351M installed in a 1977 Thunderbird, or Ranchero, or Bronco or F150.

The 351M, 400, 429 and 460 Ford V8s all use the same distributor as the 351C. The breakerless distributor in your Pantera was sourced from a late 1970s version of one of those motors.

-G

You da man. I looked with the search feature for someone talking about a swap and the cap/rotor but nobody put part#s. I will make sure I post them once I find out what they are. Once I get the correct part. I see green connector. I can see rust on that cover panel. Once I take it off to change the coil I will sand it and coat it with that rust stuff. My neck is not as springy as it once was.

I'm still at work in Los Angeles. I'll look-up the coil information for you when I get home later this evening.

I think I already know the answer, but I want to make certain.

-G

Sure thanks a lot. Not in a hurry. But once I know Im jamming to the store. I have the cap and rotor figured out. I used your suggestion for the bronco. My OReilly had pics!! Can you believe it? BWD Select - Distributor Cap
Part # C194 21.99$ for the cap. Around 5 bucks for the rotor which I will take with me anyway to match up.

Have a suggestion on what I should gap the plugs at since I have this setup? I read through the posts and Im still confused if I should use 34 40 or 51.

That's a 1976 ignition module, it was designed to operate with 1.25Ω - 1.35Ω ballast resistance, and in conjunction with an ignition coil having 1.40Ω - 1.54Ω primary winding resistance (nominal 1.47Ω). This is essentialy the same coil that was used with the breaker point ignitions.

Ford began using a new coil that utilized a horseshoe connector in 1975, I notice your coil has the earlier style + and - terminals that attach the coil wires with standard nuts and washers. You'll need to specify a pre-1975 vehicle to get the same type of coil.

The factory spec for spark plug gap is 0.044".

-G

Thanks George. You really helped out a lot and always make it easier to do anything. IM going to have the coil tested to make sure if its good or bad. Its really old, I can also clean it up a bit since I will have things apart. Going to take out al the plugs and check them for proper gap too. Might as well test all my wires too. Thanks again.

Yeap my coil tested bad. From terminal to terminal it was 0.

.... as a matter of recommendation if you should run into a snag at the local parts stores ... NPD sells the proper conversion parts including the Harness clip for the coil and cap rotor and coil for the Ford DURASPARK Ignition ..

Ron

quote:

NPD

Yeah like that site. I did have a snag at the store. Some 19 year old trying to tell me what part is what. Been like that since they got rid of the parts books and went to all PC. But I knew what parts were correct and just made him do what I wanted. When he first came back with the cap it was the adapter not the cap itself, I asked him if he looked in the box he said yes. Does that look like a cap to you I asked him. Thats how it went for plugs, rotor and coil. I knew they had them in stock or I would have walked. I still need new plug wires but I rather try somewhere else for that.

Installed new coil and plug wires. Did the plugs and gaped them at .44 then crossed my fingers and it started right up. Runs better, little smoother but still rich. Have some carb adjusting to do now that I finished the other things. Its an edelbrock with the 2 adusting screws on the back. Last time I tried it they did nothing which made me look at the electrical first. Thats how I found stuck dist, bad plugs, bad coil. Was too wet on the street today or I would have taken it for a short test drive.