Upgrading ignition on 454

" I have 1976 Mercury 454'

" I have 1976 Mercury 454's with Thunderbolt electronic ignition. All of the parts for the ignition have gone obsolete, and I'm thinking about ripping the whole ignition off and starting from new. Does anyone know of a resource that can/will advise on what current ignition systems will work? The Mercury factory has refused to help, and the local dealers can't seem to figure it out, either. "

" andy,
i have an old penn ya

" andy,
i have an old penn yan that has been fitted with an ac delco voyager hei ignition. it has a module in the distributor that has two female ports. one for a computer, and one from the coil. if you do not have a computer, such as on a boat, the module takes over the advance curve and gives you about 30-34 degrees advance at high rpm. it works very well, and the only thing you have to worry about is a module going bad. they are either good or not, so carry a spare (about $15). i believe you also need a matched coil for this set up. i have been very happy with mine, but you may want to get the final word from croozer. "

"You have a lot of choices for

"You have a lot of choices for an electronic distributor for the GM big block. I've had good results with Mallory magnetic pickup marine units. If your distributors are in good shape and you can still get caps for them, you might consider a Pertronix pickup - an easy swap. Use the links on this site or Google around for more info.

"final word"?? That's funny, Cap'n! ;^)

"

" Thanks for the input, guys.

" Thanks for the input, guys. The least espensive kit I have found uses Prestolite mechanical-advance distributors, while the expensive stuff has a computer with programmable digital timing advance curves. Now, these are not high-performance engines and I never cruise much over 3200 RPM, so I wonder if I would get anything for my money by buying the fancy programmable stuff? It's more than 2x the cost! What do you think? "

" Surf on over to ebay..... Se

" Surf on over to ebay..... Search Mercruiser.... Find a used Merc ThunderBolt IV for a V8 Chevy.... It's about the best, simple, reliable, inexpensive way to Go..... "

" Surf on over to ebay..... Se

" Surf on over to ebay..... Search Mercruiser.... Find a used Merc ThunderBolt IV for a V8 Chevy.... It's about the best, simple, reliable, inexpensive way to Go..... "