MILLERMON CONVERSION

Russ! The Killer Angels is one of the best Civil War accounts I have read, Gettysburg.

Oh yeah, and thanks for the update on the Millermon conversion. I can see by the design that it is reversable for future concerns of originality. It is cost effective and practical and I have one on order. I'll save my good caps and rotors for a rainy day.
DJ

DJ
I'm going to put mine on a distributor machine to tune the advance curve - will let you know what I find. Looking at 10 static and 34 full advance in about 3500 for a wag. Any comments, anyone?

I really think as word gets out on Ben's conversion he will change his tax bracket - quality effective product.

Thanks for the comment on Killer Angels. We read it in my War Studies class here at NDU (not Norte Dame )and walked the battlefield just 2 weeks ago. Would highly recommend both to everyone.

more next week
rt

Received the distributor from Ben. Looks great as advertised. He sent it polished as he said it was easier to keep clean. Came with the distributor and tach adapter for about $500. Expect the cover plate for the other side in a day or so.

To review those not familiar, it has a reliable Mallory optical trigger, and widely available off the shelf Chrysler centrifigal advance, cap($8) and rotor ($4). The reason I am doing this is to rectify my terrible reliability experience with Marelli, add adjustability to the ignition, and simplify (and lower costs of) maintenence. Since this is the first ever 3.2 Millermon installation (all others have been 308s), will be adding a couple of local tweaks:

Will be making a bit more husky retainer ring to hold the distributor to the head - not sure if front or rear bank is best, but will test fit next couple of days once we remove the old coils and free up some room. Also decided to use threaded pins with smooth tops to drive off of where the rotor used to be (affixed with 3 small screws that we are converting to drive dowels).

Will be great to adjust the advance (see '3.2 w/carbs - part 4' at Ferrarichat.com) and will start with a static of around 10 going up to 32 - 34 in by 3500 as a starting point.

Will have an MSD 6AL box with 8000 rpm limiter (in the trunk to keep cool where the Kjet ECU used to be), an MSD Blaster 2 high output coil, and will be using Taylor or Accell wires with 308 well boots, and I am trying to avoid the also notorious (at least to me) plug extenders.

More pictures as we get underway. Any and all advice welcome!!
best to all
rt

Hi Russ,

Nice set-up...Clean and simple. As you may know from my posts, I've been using an MSD box and coil on my BB for many years now. I can't over emphasize the importance of quality ignition wires and connectors. Personlly, based on the very positive experiences I've had with them, I'd contact Magnacore about wires. I, too, was not pleased with the "extenders" used on my BB...and had a set of wires built that do not utilize them.

My current set-up uses a MSD 7AL-2, their HEI coil, Magnacore 8.5mm wires and NGK BP7EIX plugs gapped at .035".

There's a bit of technical information that I obtained from both MSD and NGK in this thread:

http://www.ferrari-talk.com/discus/m...tml?1062555417

Russ, I hope you find this information helpful. I spent alot of time speaking to engineers at both companies, so feel free to pick my mind.

Regards,
David

David
Appreciate your comments greatly - you may not know it, but your boxer threads have been my compass on a lot of these issues.
How did you address the spark plug well boot issue without extenders? - that's one supporting detail I'd love to hear about.
Again, many thanks
rt

Russ,

On the BB, the extenders are very short...maybe a couple of inches long, at best. The inherent problem I had with them was their poor dielectric properties. When I first started to troubleshoot my suspected ignition problems, I found that a few were acring through the sides (of the insulation). When I set the OE wire set (and extenders) to Magnacore, their concern was that the extenders barely covered the end of the spark plug...hence, the spark could arc downward under high humidity conditions. Their solution was a longer rubber boot, on the spark plug end of the wire. This solution works, though it's a bit on a pain to make sure the wire is on the plug securely.

Considering the depth of the plug hole on the 308/328 cars, I can't see how you can get away with no extenders. However, there may be a better quality extender available from Magnacore. My contact there is Steve Brown...

One item worthy of mention using the MSD ignition system...If there's any weak link/poor connection, you'll know it. You can "hear" the sparks, if your connections are not 100% secure. How do I know his??? HA!

Regards,
David

Thanks for the updates Russ and Dave. I am still waiting to hear from Ben confirming my order. It will be a nice upgrade.
DJ

Technical problems.
Well, we have hit a speed bump peculiar to the 3.2 mount. While Ben's distributor works quite well on 308s using centering on the rotor shaft, the unique 328 (and TR) 3 screw rotor mount is not going to work as the tolerences for centering are a bit too tight and we have a vibration.

As Winnie the Pooh would say, "This will require some thought..."

best to all
rt

Possible new plan - the unique 3.2 technical problems may overcome mod work needed.

Looks like we may be able to straightforward adapt an existing Mallory distributor with an offset drive dog by making an adaptor plate and cutting a groove for the drive. Oddly enough, this distributor is less expensive at $248 and more compact. Will see this week.
More later - advice welcome, details available by email.

>>with an offset drive dog by making an adaptor plate and cutting a groove for the drive.<<

sounds like an excellent solution.

Regards, JRV