Hello, newbie here!

Great site. Lots of good info to soak up.

Now for the questions. I have a '85 Ram 150 I have some ?s about. It has the two pickup dizzy I'd like to change out for one with vac advance. Does the box have to be changed also? And what else?


Also I see a two bbl in the future, which manifold is more desireable the cast iron or alum? I know where one of each is soo...

Thanks, newport

Hello! Welcome to the board!

I am in quite a similar situation to you- I have an 86 dodge van with a slant six. Just this weeks I swapped the "Spark Control COmputer/Lean Burn" ignition system/carburetor for a standard carb and HEI ignition. Today is the first day I have been driving it since the swap, and even with the worn out carb i swapped in runs much better. Future plans include a two barrel as well.

As far as the distriutor goes, you will need to swap out the entire ignition system. Unfortunately the computer also controls the carb so you will need to swap out the carb at the same time.

For simplicity sake, I strongly recommend swapping to the HEI system. I only had to cut four wires (all grounds or power supplies to the computer) to remove the old ignition system, and did not have to fabricate any wiring except for the ground on the HEI unit (and that was simply due to where I chose to mount it. It installs very very easily. I am at work now but I will post a more thorough description of the swap tonight.

The carb is not computer controlled on all models. Some of them were still the plain old 1945, although they did have an electric bowl vent selenoid, and possibly an idle stop selenoid (no big deal to bypass). Pull the air breather off and see what wires go to the carb, or better yet, post a picture.

As far as manifolds, I would probably look for a cast iron one. The aluminum ones are much more prone to cracking, so even if you can find one that isn't cracked now, that doesn't mean it won't crack in the near future. The iron ones aren't impervious either, so check the 'floor' of the manifold (where the intake bolts to the exhaust) carefully before laying out any cash.

Chris

I was fortunate enough to already have a Carter BBD. Although my mechanic tried to rebuild it to no avail. He replaced it and the distributor to points. The box on the aircleaner is for show now. I also need a new intake manifold as mine is welded aluminum and sucking air like a McDonalds straw. Go with the iron replacement.

Do you have any pictures?

_________________
The Old Goat '83 D150 225-2

AKA Ice Titan

I went and pulled the alum intake today (was bored). Looks to be OK. I'll check it out closer in better weather as a storm and colder temps are brewing. For $10.00 its not a big deal!

Where does one come by this HEI system? That sounds interesting. Is it expensive?

The only electronics is an idle stop, for the air conditioning I suppose.

And lastly, if the carb is not computer controlled how does that affect the diz swap?

Thank You for the info so far!

You are right. I was thinking of my 86 van. In 86 vans all slant sixes got som eform of computer controlled carb. 85 may have been the last year for a non-computer carb.
This is good advice. I have two aluminium Super Six intakes sitting in my gargae, and both of them are cracked in exactly the same place- the floor of the intake immediately inbopard of the EGR port. THe aluminium intakes are nice and light, but that comes with a price--weakness. HOWEVER! If you manage to track down a Mopar Performance M-1 aluminium intake, GET IT! They are superior pieces.

A few years back I helped Pat Schalles develop an HEI ignition conversion for the slant six. All I really did is provide a mule vehicle to test the system Pat figured ou;t and built. This is the same test system I am running on my van right now. Here is the link for the webpage Pat set up detailing the swap: http://duster318.freeservers.com/tech/hei.html

The swap is VERY easy to do. Already my van runs smoother, quieter, has more power, and my idle timing is rock solid and doesn't bounce around +/- 5 degrees like the old computer ignition did. The HEI system is very cheap, especially if you get your parts for the swap at a "Pick-and-Pull" type junkyard. All you need is an electronic ignition distributor, an HEI unit, some male and female quick disconnect terminals of various sizes, and some wire. Electrical tape helps clean up the wiring harness.

Besides being a very easy swap to replace a points style ignition or a lean burn/computer controlled ignition, one benefit of using GM HEI is that you can adapt the batch fired fuel injection system from mid-80s GM 3.8 liter v-6 cars since they are trigged from the ignition pulses. It is basically a bolt on fuel injection system with the exception of the fuel pump and fuel rail.

Reed, You da man!

Thank you so much for sharing that link!

Hmmmmm, fuel injection? Brings up the questoin of the 3.8 liter supercharger....

Ah, so many possibilities so little time (or is it money?)