Restoring TI in my '67 L71

[Michael J.]

I am going to be tackling some jobs I have been dreading this winter, one is to get my '67 L71 back to a TI setup. Sometime in the past (maybe 10 years or more), the TI was disconnected and a ballast resister was installed. The TI box and wiring harness/bundle to the firewall remains and looks pretty new. But, I am wondering how big a job this will be, in particular, is there a different distributor needed for TI? Wiring harnesses? I suspect I can find the wiring connection info in the AIM, anything else likely to be different I need to pay attention to? Thanks for any help.

[Mike F.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Maybe this NCRS member could help you out?

http://www.tispecialty.com/index.htm

[Alan D.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Different Distributor - the wiring is the simple stuff and is in the AIM.

[Michael J.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Thanks guys, I had not heard of the NCRS member doing this before. I suspected the distributor might be different, just didn't know if maybe the base plate was changed out for points and that was all, guess not.

[Steven B.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Michael, I highly recommend Dave. I met him years ago when I lived and worked in Richmond, IN. He really knows TI's.

Steve

[George W.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Thanks guys, I had not heard of the NCRS member doing this before. I suspected the distributor might be different, just didn't know if maybe the base plate was changed out for points and that was all, guess not.

Michael,

Dave Fielder is the guy to go to; he does good work; will show you how to do it and has all the parts you will need.
If you need "every thing" dist, coil, TI harness, amp, etc he has them, but take a bag of cash with you...
the stuff is not cheap Put the TI back in, you will like the way it runs. Have fun.

[Duke W.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Somewhere in the back of my head I have an understanding that a TI distributor can be converted to single point and vice versa. It's just a matter of having a breaker plate or pickup coil in the housing and a shaft with a cam or rotating pole piece.

Obviously if the TI was disabled, the magnetic pulse distributor was either replaced with a single point distributor or the internal components were changed from mag pulse to single point.

If the dist. still has the ID band, that might be a clue.

Duke

[Michael J.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Thanks all, I will give Dave a call. And yes Duke, the band is there, and indicates a "correct" distributor. When it was flight judged at the regional, that passed, whereas the "damage" to the firewall for the ballast resistor and the coil did not. I am thinking the distributor has been modified for points (although of course the band could just have been switched), Dave can probably tell me about all that. Thanks again for all the info.

[Daniel Y.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Micheal - just so you know the back plate was changed around end of February/March 1967 sometime from a "rolled" edge to a "flat" edge

[Michael J.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Thanks for that info, the distributor in the car has a January date, build date on the car was Feb. 14, a Valentine's Day car.

[Daniel Y.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

in that case you should be ok with either rolled or flat. we know that the design was changed in February but don't know exactly when they put in production.

[Al B.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Mike

I have the same issue with my 67 L68 It looks like the TI pak, & wiring harness are gone. Someone attached an after market TI amp on the fire wall with it's own harness, all of which I'd like to replace, not sure about the coil. How did you restoration back to orginal go?

Thanks

Al Burton

[Michael J.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Al, I have not done this yet. The expense and trouble is just not something I want to do at this time. I might later, but need to find a really good mechanic who knows these complex and difficult systems first. Good luck!

[Michael F.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Duke is 100% right, only real difference in dist what he states, I have points in mine as easy to start and check problems after motor rebuild and body off, you also need ti box and the warning harness has special wire which is not used when points used. contact dave as stated, he is the man. good luck

[James G.]

Re: Restoring TI in my '67 L71

Thanks all, I will give Dave a call. And yes Duke, the band is there, and indicates a "correct" distributor. When it was flight judged at the regional, that passed, whereas the "damage" to the firewall for the ballast resistor and the coil did not. I am thinking the distributor has been modified for points (although of course the band could just have been switched), Dave can probably tell me about all that. Thanks again for all the info.

Dave is the best. In 1989 I entered the vintage race scene with my restored 64 fuel injection convertible. The first year I learned the track and how to drive, and my times got consistent. Over the winter I converted the distributor to TI. Immediately, I picked up 2 seconds a lap with no other changes. Now that does not sound like much, but at the end of a race it is 20 to 40 seconds faster than the other guy.

Later, I called SUMMIT RACING and asked about their MSD- 6AL box with the rev limiter chip. They told me the GM Distributor was one of the best. Then sent me the wire diagram with the purchase of the 6AL Box. It is still in the car today being used as intended.

Dave has all the modern improvements for the inners to the stock TI box. It will be a great education, and that old 435 big block will run with 100 more hp.