Another ESA question

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

I've been reading posts for nearly 9 mos about the different options on which distributor that will match up with a CDI ESA. My boat has an Accel GM HEI distributor that I know is not a marine rated dist. The fella that I bought the boat from builds race cars and had placed this distributor as well as a Quick Fuel drag race carb. I have replaced the carb and have all the ESA components, but have read that the Accel will not work with the ESA. I have also read that the best bet is a Mallory YLU dist with a diode kit. Are there any other options out there? What is the best option for me?
My boat is a 1988 Four Winns Liberator with a Chevy 350 King Cobra. I am no mechanic, but can follow directions very well! Thanks for your help.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Another ESA question

I've been reading posts for nearly 9 mos about the different options on which distributor that will match up with a CDI ESA. My boat has an Accel GM HEI distributor that I know is not a marine rated dist. The fella that I bought the boat from builds race cars and had placed this distributor as well as a Quick Fuel drag race carb. I have replaced the carb and have all the ESA components, but have read that the Accel will not work with the ESA. I have also read that the best bet is a Mallory YLU dist with a diode kit. Are there any other options out there? What is the best option for me?
My boat is a 1988 Four Winns Liberator with a Chevy 350 King Cobra. I am no mechanic, but can follow directions very well! Thanks for your help.

Howdy,


I have one of those Liberators too.....

Your only (safe) option will be to remove the HEI distributor and get a marine type (SAE J-1171 rated) distributor. And if you do not have a marine carb installed, you should replace your current carb with one.

The guy you bought the boat from is not very smart. If you went out to the lake and blew up the boat killing yourself and the neighbor kid, Your Wife and the kids family could get a smart ambulance chasing lawyer and probably take everything the "Race Car Builder" owns!

There are a quite a few distributors out there in radio land. Mallory, MSD, Delco (EST), Mercruiser Thunderbird, etc. .....some don't like Mallory.....

Mine uses a Mercury Thunderbird V ignition.

There are ways to make them work with an ESA but you may also just be able to use a simple ignition interrupt.

A Liberator is a cool boat!


Regards,



Rick

 

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

Re: Another ESA question

I replaced the carb with an Eldebrock 1409. With the Mercury Thunderbird Distributor, were there any mods you had to make to work with the ESA?

 

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

Re: Another ESA question

CDI makes an ESA that matches up to the Delco EST distributor. The diagram looks pretty easy. Have you heard of anyone having any trouble with this setup?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Another ESA question

I replaced the carb with an Eldebrock 1409. With the Mercury Thunderbird Distributor, were there any mods you had to make to work with the ESA?

I had a 460 King Cobra in mine and pulled it. The 454/Bravo III I put in has a Thunderbird V ignition system and because it's a cone-clutch drive, it needs no interrupt.

CDI makes an ESA that matches up to the Delco EST distributor. The diagram looks pretty easy. Have you heard of anyone having any trouble with this setup?

I cannot speak to that other than there's people here who have used it successfully.

In any case, you MUST have some sort of a torque interrupting system to get a Cobra out of gear or you will eventually damage the lower shift cable.

Some people have been able to make a simple interrupt switch work but you have have the timing just right or the shift dogs won't separate easily. I liked the ESA (when it worked correctly) because it would "pulse" the ignition making the engine "lope" so "timing"(of the interrupt vs push or pull on the shift cable) wasn't that critical.


I think the earlier Cobras (or other ones that weren't modified with the steeper "dogs") were a little easier to get out of gear so a simple switch moght work better with them.

If you cannot use the original type ESA, you'll have to experiment with what's available.

 

[floattest]

Re: Another ESA question

This post shows what I did with mine, the last post shows all the part numbers. I know the model years are different, but the upgrade consisted of 4 features, the mallory distributor, a new coil without ballast, and utiluizing the seperate ballast resistor and thre CDI ESA module. I didn't need to modify the module.

I probably could have used the existing coil, so I'm not saying that this is the only way. Just saying what I did.

The results are great: idles great, down to 600 or less, the module works great, a slight stumble and silky smooth shifting.

And I now have no use for my dwell meter.


http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=419886

 

[SIMPLEARKANSAN]

Re: Another ESA question

Floattest, do you have any pics of your set up or some kind of diagram?