[Trickybado]

Hello everyone, im new to the site. Im in need of some help with my new project. This is is 78 bronco but with a 77 400 in it. The guy before me didnt give a lot of details unfortunately. Im just trying to get the right parts in and get this thing running. The dude before me said it needed a different distributer and fuel lines ran and it should run fine.

Could someone please help me identify what distributer I would need? Any other related advice would be also appreciated.

 

[2ndHelping]

We could use some more details, such as:
1. Have you had it running at all?
2. Does it fire?
3. Have you checked for spark?... fuel?
4. Never trust in whole what a PO tells you.

 

[Trickybado]

We could use some more details, such as:
1. Have you had it running at all?
2. Does it fire?
3. Have you checked for spark?... fuel?
4. Never trust in whole what a PO tells you.

No i havnt had it running yet. Past guy said he turned it over but thats as far as he got. Fuel tank is disconnected. Havnt checked spark. Tried to turn it over but just got clicks even with cables hooked up so I need a new battery.

 

[2ndHelping]

You'll need to make the fuel in the tank is good before trying to suck that stuff up to the carb. Put in a new fuel filter also. Make sure the spark plugs are in decent shape. Check all the wiring related to the ignition system. Then give it a shot and let us know what happened. Good luck.

 

[Gondal]

What is wrong with the distributor?
It does not look stock. What brand is it

 

[B.U.F.F.]

That looks like a Mallory unilite dizzy. Good product. Only thing it may not play nice with the duraspark ignition box. I’ve not ever tried mixing the two.
If that dizzy doesn’t work you can get a remanned duraspark dizzy from most any parts store as long as the PO left all the duraspark wiring inplace. If not I’d recommend a one wire HEI like this from summit racing
1978 FORD BRONCO Summit Racing Blueprinted HEI Distributors SUM-850025
I’ve had good service from the one I run and it’s price is not bad.
The problem with the remanned duraspark dizzys I’ve found is cheap chinesium pickups that burn out and the lack of quality duraspark boxes available.
Oh and get rid of that glass fuel filter and put a good fram or comparable filter on. Those glass ones leak and cause fires.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gondal]

Msd ready to run is a good dizzy too.
The reman duraspark is junk in my opinion

 

[Shaker666]

Yeah, that's a good distributor. Before I went SEFI, I was running that dizzy. The Unilite optical trigger module inside can go bad, but usually only if you deliberately try to fry it - forget to disconnect the wiring to it and started welding on the frame of the truck or something. I actually have several Unilite distributors sitting on my shelf collecting dust at this point. I'd be happy to ship one out to you for the cost of shipping if it comes down to it. That being said, it's unclear as to why it doesn't fire. The coil hookup needs to be correct, as does power to the Unilite module. It makes for a fairly reliable offroad part as it's somewhat impervious to water crossings - where a standard points dizzy would fail to trigger spark after being submerged, the Unilite will just keep going.

The attached Unilite installation manual might help.

 

[Trickybado]

You'll need to make the fuel in the tank is good before trying to suck that stuff up to the carb. Put in a new fuel filter also. Make sure the spark plugs are in decent shape. Check all the wiring related to the ignition system. Then give it a shot and let us know what happened. Good luck.

Ended up going with a stock duraspark distributer, new spark plug wires, and stock ignition coil. Plus a few other small things i didnt even realize were missing. Checked all the ignition wiring. Threw a new battery in, turned it over and everything seems happy so far.

Next step is fuel. Thinking about switching to the 33 gallon. Need the sender unit, filler neck, and fuel lines. Once i get this in over the next couple weeks, i should be able to fire it up and set timing and all that.

I appreciate the advice to everyone who responded and more is always welcome.

 

[Johnnyreb1]

I went the route with the 33 gallon to on my 78. Even with a new 33 gallon sending unit--$75 and new filler neck--$50. It still doesn,t read much after cleaning and checking all the wires. I think it must be the sending unit. Good luck. I went with a point distributor .Because to me its safe and points don,t cost as much as a power box and .Doing 2 like that I,ve never had any bad luck.,but to each his own.

 

[zeus78]

That looks like a Mallory unilite dizzy. Good product. Only thing it may not play nice with the duraspark ignition box. I’ve not ever tried mixing the two.
If that dizzy doesn’t work you can get a remanned duraspark dizzy from most any parts store as long as the PO left all the duraspark wiring inplace. If not I’d recommend a one wire HEI like this from summit racing
1978 FORD BRONCO Summit Racing Blueprinted HEI Distributors SUM-850025
I’ve had good service from the one I run and it’s price is not bad.
The problem with the remanned duraspark dizzys I’ve found is cheap chinesium pickups that burn out and the lack of quality duraspark boxes available.
Oh and get rid of that glass fuel filter and put a good fram or comparable filter on. Those glass ones leak and cause fires.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a mallory unilite any 78 (460) with the stock ignition box and it works great.
But honestly, from what I've heard from many that onow, a stock ford dizzy is the best thing you can put in there.

 

[simrokkzz]

Ended up going with a stock duraspark distributer, new spark plug wires, and stock ignition coil. Plus a few other small things i didnt even realize were missing. Checked all the ignition wiring. Threw a new battery in, turned it over and everything seems happy so far.

Next step is fuel. Thinking about switching to the 33 gallon. Need the sender unit, filler neck, and fuel lines. Once i get this in over the next couple weeks, i should be able to fire it up and set timing and all that.

I appreciate the advice to everyone who responded and more is always welcome.

I recently put in a 78 33 gallon tank (new) as my 79 version had lots of crap in it and in Germany it's absolutely uncommon to clean tanks. I would have paid double to cost of a new tank incl. shipping from US to Germany.
if the tank is empty, not too much of a hassle, but there is major difference between 25 gal and 33 gal tanks:
25 is held in place from straps
33 is held in place by a big guard plate, see the picture.

not sure how you would like to fix the tank to the car, but you may have think about.

2nd item on the list: fuel sending unit:
whilst changing tanks I invested in a new unit from LMC, but this reads crap. tank has around 20 liters in it (around 5,2 gal) and the gauge shows more than half full...
Thats weird, so I am gonna need to check cable or sending unit resistance.

3rd item - fuel lines:
If you stay with a carb, you do not need high pressure hoses and no return hose, so you can use a small hose piece to connect tank to the metal pipe inside driver side rail of frame and this goes nearly all the way to engine bay, then 2nd piece of hose to fuel pump and a 3rd piece from fuel pump outlet - metal pipe to carb.

I would recommend to put a clear housing fuel filter between fuel pump outlet and carb inlet, so that you can verify easily that there is fuel.

good look, looks like you gonna have some work to do.

Here's a pic of the tank skid plate for the 33 gal version: