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Yesterday with my mechanic friend we went after a problem with my 427/435 which just stopped the other day while running. We concluded it must be electrical so started checking everything until we got to distributor and couldn't find the points. He said he had never seen one of these ( he is a really good mechanic) so I checked a shop manual and found that it was a breakerless distributor but could find nothing describing how it works or when to tell when it has a problem. Can anyone direct me to info on how to maintain them. BTW, we must have hit something right because after we put everything back it cranked immediately. Appreciate any help as always.
K66 Transistor ignition, mandatory option on corvette solid lifter big blocks 1965- 1971 I believe. There is some diagnosis at the TI Specialty site by Dave Fiedler.
Mike
Did you lose only the ignition source or did you lose all the power in the cabin? Would the car crank over but not start, or was there no response from turning the key to start?
Thanks, no the car would crank over, it just wouldn't start. I am not sure that the distributor had anything to do with initial problem but when we pulled some wires , opened up the cap, etc. ,it started. Crazy that we don't know what we did but it started nonetheless. We realized that we didn't know how to deal with that type distributor so in case a problem in future, I was wondering whether there is anything to help our lack of knowledge. Appreciate the response.
Thanks all, talked to Dave F today and he helped me understand more about TI ignition. Car running now , will see for how long.
if its a real 435 car you will be hurting the authentication of the car by running anything else but TI. the key like anything else is to have everything set up correctly and restored correctly.
Here is a 66 diagram w/TI and AC in case it comes up again in the future. (By the way, HEI to me is that ugly friend you have that you don't want to be seen with, but original TI is way cool) Save this in case you need wiring help on the system:
Y He said he had never seen one of these ( he is a really good mechanic) .
Keep him as a friend, get a mechanic that knows vintage Corvettes. Also get the service and overhaul manuals for you year Corvette. They will have very detailed information on troubleshooting and repair of the TI system.
I sold my 67 435 roadster in 2012 but what I remember about the car even with 43N sparkplugs and some Granny type driving it would pull cleanly to 6500 RPM every time, I was younger then. Suspect the K66 was responsible for that.
Mike
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Originally Posted by mudbone64
But it's as ugly as it is friendly.
Doesn't have to be. The TI distributor pickup coil makes the same timing waveform as an HEI distributor. An HEI module can be mounted inside the Ignition shielding and hooked up to the TI distributor. Looks stock, and is inexpensive and durable.
From: I'd like to propose a toast... to internal combustion and wind in the face.
Originally Posted by 69427
Doesn't have to be. The TI distributor pickup coil makes the same timing waveform as an HEI distributor. An HEI module can be mounted inside the Ignition shielding and hooked up to the TI distributor. Looks stock, and is inexpensive and durable.
Anything to get rid of those awful looking HEI distributors is a plus.
I sold my 67 435 roadster in 2012 but what I remember about the car even with 43N sparkplugs and some Granny type driving it would pull cleanly to 6500 RPM every time, I was younger then. Suspect the K66 was responsible for that.
Mike
The TI system produces about double the per spark energy of the single point system, so the TI will fire a fouled plug that the single point might not. Plus, no mechanical components to wear to cause dwell and timing changes over time and miles.
The trouble is it just wasn't very reliable, and when it failed it was usually suddenly without warning, whereas a failing set of breaker points usually gives you lots of warning
BTW, the HEI is basically the same circuit as the TI but is built on a thick film hybrid instead of discrete components on a circuit board. In my experience the HEI is more reliable than the TI, but still not as reliable as a set of points.
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breakerless distributor
