Flathead upgrade

B

Bubsyouruncle

Senior Member
Have to admit that with the advent of electronic ignition and fuel injection I don't worry about my car starting under any meteorologic condition. They don't fail. I do think that I am reading about more engine fires than i used to. High pressure system failures?


Is anyone building ignition systems and/or fuel injection for 59A? Ignition would be easy. Fuel-not so much.
 
A couple of guys on here, "Ken Henry" and "Kilohertz", have done a bunch of work on fuel injection. Check out their threads, especially this one : https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294486&highlight=fuel+injection.

My take on this is that if you can figure it out yourself (like these guys did), you may be able to come up with something good, but there are no good "bolt on and go" solutions out there. It's even worse with aftermarket electronic ignitions. They have a habit of dying unexpectedly and leaving you stranded, while points will always allow you to "limp" home.
 
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How about usually limp home. Had an event where I lost "spark" to the point of limpimg. Had new parts in the trunk, installed them & it wouldn't run at all. Put the old condencer back in and got to the drive, but not the garage. Oh the fun ......
 
mfirth said:
How about usually limp home. Had an event where I lost "spark" to the point of limping. Had new parts in the trunk, installed them & it wouldn't run at all. Put the old condenser back in and got to the drive, but not the garage. Oh the fun ......
Click to expand...

That's "home" in my book.
 
Lots of opinions on ignitions here. Some guys like the points. As for me, I was not able to limp all the way home with points, condenser, and/or coil failure as limping could not overcome a hill before I got to my street.

I have found the Pertronix in a otherwise stock crab distributor, even the 6v positive ground version, has been the most “off the shelf” reliable. I didn’t feel like going through the trial and error of finding points, condensers, and coils that would actually work and were of acceptable quality. My engines have been starting reliably for the last 10 years with electronic ignition.
 
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As Tubman said it is a bit of a labor of love and can take a lot of fussing and fabricating to produce the desired end result. For someone wanting more plug and play EFI, adapting the Sniper 2GC EFI might be a good option and looks like it would cost less than what I have put into designing and modifying my custom setup over the years. I'm running Megasquirt and a Ford EDIS ignition module from a 90s V8, but with GM coil packs that take a more standard ignition cable. The throttle bodies are adapted Holley 94 carbs... Ken


52032285500_82b0953aab_b.jpgA50ADBF4-CF79-4011-808B-F1C10978D607 by kenhenry_06268, on Flickr


51975251706_ac5e491e3a_b.jpg4FF26C92-B156-4E82-8571-4B3DFEFFC5AB by kenhenry_06268, on Flickr
 
Thanks Terry! With enough effort it runs as good as carbs LOL. Regarding reliability, this has been flawless for two years now (knock wood) but so was my stock carb and 6v loadamatic ignition. Only issues were boiling/evaporating fuel in the carb and one bad condenser… Fuel mpg is up 5-10%. Ken
 
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