'79 Ford Ignition Help

[MED]

I'd get an Ignitor II, or similat. Fits under the original distributor cap, reversible. Around 15 years ago, I had a module go out in my Bronco. Took three tries at NAPA to find one that lasted. Was giving me weak spark. These are simple systems. A Haynes manual should put you on it quick.

I need to get another module for it; the one in it is correct and worked for a long time but I didn't know if these would result in a weak spark condition so this is helpful. I thought these going bad only resulted in a no spark condition, which is what happened the first time.

I'm not an expert on Ford. That said, Pertronix Ignitor and coil goes a long way in fixing spark/idle/performance problems. Using the appropriate Pertronix coil does away with the ballast resistor.

Fowling plugs sounds like it is running rich. Where did the car come from? Most stock carbs are tuned/jetted for sea level. Jet size changes about ever 2000 feet.

It wasn't running rich for the first thirty-three years; car came from my dad's garage in Monument. If you saw the spark intensity of the plugs, you could see the problem. The spark is barely strong enough to run, but not burn the fuel/air completely. I thought for sure it was the coil when I first looked at it. If I can fix it w/out changing parts, I would like to exhaust that first. However, upgrading the ignition system is sure tempting! I tried to replace the resister you referenced, but I couldn't find one. I could try that again.

The thing that is critical on the Ford "brain boxes", the "connector" where the wires meet the box is a particular color. You need to make sure the replacement box has the same color connector. If it is not it will give you issues like you describe.
Typically if the brain box fails you get no spark whatsoever.
If the vehicle has been sitting that long, rebuild the carb. The gaskets have dried up and no longer capable of sealing.
Is it an Autolite or Motorcraft carb? If a Motorcraft it is a Holley carb. If it ever backfired even once through the carb the power valve is toast, creating a very rich idle condition.
Do check the ballast resistor for the ignition, I don't recall if it is a physical resistor or a resistor wire.

The car does not have enough miles that the issues are going to be a worn out this or that. Look for indicators of critters chewing wires etc.
Good luck, 79 Lincolns are awesome old long noses.

I matched the module to the car back around 2002. It worked correctly for 10 years without a problem until now. It is definitely burning rich, but the ignition system is also not working correctly. However, none of the conditions changed regarding carb adjustment and location. I am not familiar with the carb issues you described so I may need to look into that. I am far more familiar with the HEIs and Quadrajets, and I pretty much loathed the Duraspark stuff. There is definitely a resister, I brought it into the parts store and couldn't locate the part. I liked the Mark Vs too; however, they were a lot better in '77 & '78 when they had the 460s. This small block two barrel is a POS!

I am taking a break on it for now since I have other priorities, I will get back to it again and report.

Thanks for all the replies!