DIY Stud of the Month

January 2010

The January 2010 DIYSOTM is Justin Finney with a writeup on use of one of our MegaSquirt EMS systems and trigger wheels and installation of a Ford EDIS ignition system on a 1966 Bronco (article could be helpful to anyone doing an EDIS conversion though).  He's even gone so far as to powercoat the trigger wheel and bracket. 

Ford EDIS Megasquirt Conversion 289 302 351

Why Do this Conversion

• Bigger spark (no spark lost from the rotor to cap)
• Precise timing (timing chain slack and distributor gear wear can throw off timing)
• Control timing curves from your computer
• Larger spark plug gap
• Proven Technology (used on ford cars and truck for the last 15 years)

Parts List

• MSD or Motorcraft Coil Pack MSD-8241
• EDIS 8 Module
• VR Pickup
• Megasquirt or Megajolt
• Trigger Wheel
• 4 Bolt harmonic balancer
• Single Pair shielded wire
• Aluminum scrap.
• EDIS Plug wires

I started considering this conversion when I switched my 1966 Bronco to Megasquirt. Having full injection when off roading is a must. With fuel injection you do not need to change jets or metering rods at high altitude. Now I have immediate throttle response and can stomp at any angle. I used a Holley-projection 700CFM throttle body.

Engine Specs

• 289 Cubic Inch engine
• Edelbrock Performer RPM Air-Gap Manifold
• Holley Pro-jection 700 CFM throttle Body
• Megasquirt II with 3.57 Board
• Heavily ported heads, hardened seats, Enlarge valves, Comp Cams triple springs
• Comp Cams Roller Rockers
• Comp Cams retro fit roller cam conversion XR282RF-HR10
• Headman Headers
• Victor Series Water Pump
• Billet Pulleys

Building The Trigger Wheel and VR Mount

I used my drill press to drill the 4 evenly spaced holes in the trigger wheel. I lucked out because I basically eyeballed it.

Building the Crank trigger wheel and VR Mount.

EDIS-8: missing tooth is exactly five teeth (50°) ahead of the VR sensor.

Having an extra timing chain cover made building the VR sensor mount allot easier. Most off this was just eyeballing. No formulas or calculations.

Parts Preparation

Sand Blast Cabinet

Harbor Freight Powder coating machine

Powder Coated and ready for Oven

Put in Oven

325 degrees for 15 Minutes. Beware! This is sure to activate angry wife syndrome.

Finished Wheel and Mount

First Mounting

Testing VR Mount

Cam Position Sensor off an Explorer 5.0. The only point of this part is to drive the oil pump and cover the hole left by the distributor.

Mounting Coil Packs and building wires. I used the coil pack mount off a 5.0 Explorer.

5.0 V8
cylinder locations
4//////////////8
3//////////////7
2//////////////6
1//////////////5
coil idetification
4 7 ///////////////3 5
8 2 ///////////////6 1

Mounting the EDIS Module and Megasquirt. This is Mounted under dash. Megasquirt is awesome.

Finished Product

I was using an MSD mechanical advance distributor and 6AL before the upgrade. Now I can control timing curves through Megasquirt. I can also run much bigger spark plug gaps. The system is way more precise then running a distributor. I will be adding an MSD DIS-4 Soon.

Click Here if you have questions or would like to contact us!