Pinto Car Club of America

Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: PaulHolcomb on April 04, 2006, 04:42:08 PM

Title: 2.3L TFI Upgrade into a 1980 Pinto
Post by: PaulHolcomb on April 04, 2006, 04:42:08 PM
Can someone please help me with this question?  I was told about upgrading my ingnition to a TFI system.  However, I don't know what cars to get it out of in the junkyards and exactly which parts I'll need to make this work.  I'm putting a ministock pinto together and will be racing in 15 days.  Can someone please give me a parts list of what I'll need to do this swapout?  If the TFI swap is too difficult, which system will give me a good spark curve for around 7000-7500 RPM.  I am running a D Port 2.3L Hydraulic Roller Head with a Johnson 520 Cam.  Please help!!!!!  I can be reached at Holcomb31Racing@earthlink.net  or HolcombRacing@yahoo.com, as well as here. :text_yb_please:
Title: Re: 2.3L TFI Upgrade into a 1980 Pinto
Post by: goodolboydws on April 09, 2006, 11:50:36 AM
I know that some of the Escorts and Lynx used the TFI ignition on their 2.3L engines, but these engines weren't rated to the RPM's you're talking about, so I wouldn'tnecessarily trust that ignition set up for your application, at least with the factory parts. For example, distributor gears break, and it can be big bucks worth of damage as a result if anything ends up in the wrong place.

I know that on  a Nissan site I visit, there is a lot of talking going on about a Petronics? flamethrower ignition as being something "great", but Ihave no personal experience with it.

For that matter, I used to run a '67 Mustang, a combo street and daily driver,
with a dual point ignition set up(Mallory, I believe) in the 70's, using a self built Heathkit Capacitive Charge ignition for spark energy that was rated to run faster than my engine, which topped out at about 6,500rpm.... with the cam I had in it last....
That's 30 years ago, wow do I feel old.

There have got to be racing application ignition systems that drop into a 2.3.
Title: Re: 2.3L TFI Upgrade into a 1980 Pinto
Post by: 78pinto on April 09, 2006, 12:54:29 PM
in order to run TFI i believe you have to have the complete EFI setup, not worth doing at all.
Title: Re: 2.3L TFI Upgrade into a 1980 Pinto
Post by: 78jr racer on April 10, 2006, 04:54:59 AM
just keep watching the racing parts on ebay. good distributers keep popping up on there every week. now that racing season is back. that or make a visit to esslinger. but you might as well walk in the door backwards bent over!
Title: Re: 2.3L TFI Upgrade into a 1980 Pinto
Post by: PaulHolcomb on April 20, 2006, 12:01:30 AM
I found a perfect distributor for this application....It's a Mel's ignition.  It's stock in appearance, has all electronic parts internally, has a 2 wire connection harness, does NOT need a seperate module, and comes complete with a coil for 300 dollars.  It is rated up to more rpm's then I'll put out!!!