I always like to keep everyone posted on how things go for me, since it can always help someone else.

So I got the XR-i, MSD Cap, Coil, & Coil Wire this morning.

I immediately installed the XR-i in my new single-points distributor and mounted the coil and ballast resistor on the firewall. Next I pulled the old HEI out of there and stabbed the new distributor in place and wired everything up.

The entire installation took me about an hour.

Then came the tuning. It ran very sluggishly and would almost drop out as soon as I turned on my electric fan, even though the voltage was reading just fine on my Fluke 87-3 digital multimeter. In fact, the coil was getting 12.6 volts to the line side of the resistor's 14.3 volts. Hmmmmmm. I had to think about it a bit.

Maybe I got dielectric grease on the HED pickup. So I pulled the cap and, sure enough, there was some white grease on the pickup. I cleaned it up and adjusted it as close to the cam as possible.

That helped a little.

Then it dawned on me that this is meant to be a replacement for points, which call for an .035 plug gap. I had a new set of plugs anyway, so I gapped 'em at .035 and installed them. That got me a little closer, but it still wanted to drop out when I put it in gear at idle, even though the vacuum advance was connected.

Finally, to get it to idle well I went with 20 degrees initial advance (plus vacuum advance). Now it runs like a scalded ape, but still won't idle as smoothly as it did with the HEI. And I have to figure a way to limit the mechanical advance because I get some detonation as the RPM's increase and the transmission upshifts.

All in all, it's not bad, but it's no match for a good old HEI or a well tuned points ignition.

I took my HEI apart right after and will begin rebuilding it tomorrow. I'd love a small-body HEI, but it's not in the cards for now. I'll get one of those "Cap-a-dapts" so I can continue using my new MSD 8200 coil. Not a complete waste of time and money, but a great learning experience.

Thanks for the update Chad..I thought about one of those conversions for my 67 Caddy..

Thanks for the follow up! After reading your first post, I was really intrigued with this set up. It actually looked and sounded pretty good, but now Im not so sure. I even went so far as looking at the install PDF to see how difficult it was to set up and install.

One thing that confused me about it was the ballast resistor business that the instructions center on. It says all Chevys had a resistance wire, and if you had a car with a resistor wire, to leave the ballast off, even if using a non stock coil; MSD Blaster, etc? In other words, just throw the blaster coil on there and forget the ceramic resistor? Ive run a Blaster on points ign. for a long time, and use the ceramic resistor that it came with :confused: ? Maybe because its digital?

It sounded like a drop in replacement, but evidently not. I was also hoping for a NON tight fitting, relatively inexpensive alternative to HEI, but I suppose they just arent there :( ...

I believe what it says is to use the ballast resistor if your car isn't equipped with a resistor wire. I downloaded the pdf before I got the stuff so I'd be familiar with the procedure before it arrived.

In other words, they don't want the whole 14+ volts going to the coil, but they do want it going to their module (notice the hot wire to the module is tied in before the resistor).

I wonder if it would hurt to put the entire 14+ volts to the coil. It shouldn't, right? Since the coil is only feeding the plugs through the rotor and the distributor cap. The triggering module is only seeing the input voltage and the negative side of the coil. It's not like it's overpowering the contact points.

I'll have to try bypassing the resistor after I get the HEI rebuilt. I think I can get a stronger spark out of it without the resistor. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I have to mention that the car does start instantly when cold now, and with a little more tuning on the carb's idle, it runs much better than before. Pulls strong all the way up. Still doesn't idle as smoothly as the HEI, but it starts and runs just as well through the rest of the RPM band. I'm sure I could tune a little more roughness out of it.

I'm much happier with it now than I was earlier this afternoon.

Now I'm experimenting with resistors to get the shakiness out of the tach at low speeds. I tried the low end 1K 1/2-watt resistor first. Now I've made a wire up at the other extreme of the recommended range (10K 1/2-watt). I'm putting it on first thing in the morning. I ain't buying a tach adapter from them. I'll just live with a shaky tach if I can't fix it with resistors.

I do like the way it looks!

I installed one in mine a couple of months ago. No complaints with it overall. Really pretty simple installation. I was using points up till then and .....don't laugh...we were using them during the dyno session of the 540 initially. They were a set of Accells that were about 5 years old. They started bouncing around 6900 rpm....but we made 800 hp with them!

Have you played with the rev limiter part yet? That part on mine sucks. I know my shift light is accurate, and when I was at the track for a Vette shootout deal, I found the rev limiter kicking in long before the shift light activated. No matter where i turned the little screw it was shutting me down. I ended up running the rest of the even shifting almost 1000 rpm below peak power due to the rev limiter part. But I won the event!

I need to call Crane pretty soon and see what they say.


JIM

I know you are supposed to use a ballast with points and Mallory Unilite w/ "hot rod coils", but this Crane XRi says NOT to use a Ballast IF you have a resistor wire. From the VAGUE stuff Ive read about it, it doesnt seem all that different from the Unilite? From what I have read searching here and elsewhere, post '66 Chevys all came with a resistor wire in the ignition system, hence the fact that according to them, it DOESNT need a firewall ballast in a post '66 Chevrolet. Maybe if they posted more on their website about it, it would be clearer for people looking into it, and they wouldnt have to guess about it? Actually, I couldnt find anyting on the Crane website about it! Then again, maybe its a newer product and just hasnt been "posted" yet redface.gif

Still, it seems like a decent product for a little over $50- especially doing like you did and taking a brand new distributor and converting it right out of the box. ?

Yeah, I went over all their cryptic "ballast resistor" stuff again last night.

What they're basically saying is that if you don't have a ballast resistor or a resistor wire, your coil will have increased internal resistance which takes the place of an external resistor.

I've always understood that an HEI wants full voltage to the coil with no resistor. So I just checked my HEI coil with an ohmmeter and it reads 0.8 ohms. So much for the coil taking the place of the resistor. Of course, this is an aftermarket "Hypertech" in-cap coil, not an original Delco. But it's worked fine for several years with full voltage and no external resistors.

I'm thinking more and more than the ignition would perform better without extra resistance built into the circuit.

Jim, did you have to modify anything to make your tach function properly?

On the subject of the rev limiter, I've been in touch with an ignition man who's replaced about 79 of the Crane units because of issues with the limiters.

When you think about it, it's nothing but a potentiometer. How accurate could it possibly be with all the varyiables outside their module?

The factory resistor wire is known for breaking down with age also increasing the amount of resistance. I would replace that wire from the switch to the coil and run at least #10 wire for an HEI. If you need a ballast resistor for points etc., they are easily wired inline. The HEI needs alot of juice, the factory hei cars all had #10 wire. Running a smaller guage wire can cause spark break-up at higher rpms----just like a low battery.
I've also been toying with the idea of running the crane setup on my son's Nova-since it looks easy and economical. Also I have access to an older distributor machine for dialing in the advance curve on the points type distributors which is alot easier than in the car. I'm glad the Crane setup was discussed but I'm still undecided. Anybody else running the crane? How high rpm can these be spun?

I have no factory wiring whatsoever in my car. I made my own harness and have been running 12-ga. wire to the HEI successfully for years. I think 10-ga. is a bit overkill since 12-ga will easily carry 20 amps. I recall my factory HEI cars as having 12-ga wire feeding the coil, but I could be mistaken. 10-ga. definitely won't hurt, but I don't think it's necessary.

I hit 6200 rpm yesterday with the Crane unit and had no trouble whatsoever. The only thing I don't like about it is the way it idles, and I've managed to improve that aspect with a little tuning.

I'm gonna drive with it for a while to see how it behaves. If it gives me any real trouble, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

"I have no factory wiring whatsoever in my car."

Ahhhhh- thats why you are using the ballast resistor! I thought you were using the factory harness. Thats where I was getting confused!

SO, I guess that this XRi deal IS NOT like the Unilite and really DOESNT need the ceramic resistor IF you have an intact resistor wire?...They really should have something on their site for "fence sitters" to give some info on that product tongue.gif . Ill never wind my car to 6900, so as long as the rev limiter stays above 7000 at the highest settings, Its no factor in my case. But still- 79 units replaced? Seems kind of high...Other than that, I wonder how that person you spoke with felt about the units otherwise?

Still seems pretty intriguing at that price, but I dunno :confused: . It does seem like a better deal than Pertronix. Some have had success with them, but others seem to just get all kinds of trouble out of nowhere.

Thanks for posting your follow up!

Mine is in a Tach drive Vette dist. so no issues there. I'll call Crane and see what they say about limiter. I thought it would be a nice thing to have..not worried about dead on accuracy...just wanted it there as a failsafe if something scattered or I missed a gear or something. If I could get a ohm reading or something from Crane I would just adjust it to 8000 rpm and leave it alone. Bu tmaybe I'll see if they'll replace it since others are having issues too.

Without rev limiter messing up..they will RPM fine. I know a shop that uses one for the "dyno mule" dist that they use on just about every motor and it goes well past 8000 rpm regularly.

JIM

Just resurrected this post, as I was thinking about this Crane unit. I'm running an Pertronix Ignitor II with Flamethrower II coil, and I'm having a problem with it not wanting to idle in my pump-gas 454. Otherwise, it seems fine, but I can't live with the crummy idle. I pulled it out and stuck my old HEI in to confirm it was a distributor issue, and it idles perfect. I'm gonna go over the entire set up again (wiring, module, etc.) and look for an error on my part, but so far I think the Ignitor II has to go. Plus, I'll call Pertronix tech. The car also starts better with the HEI - turn the key and she lights, while with the Ignitor II it needs to crank longer. Sounds like this XRi isn't much better. Oh, well.

I just installed two of the Crane XRi kits (in other people's cars) and what I did was use a relay to run 14v to the XRi while leaving the original resistor wire running to coil+. Both installs run just fine, idle is better than with points and both cars start instantly. The owners called me back saying they run better on the highway too. So far so good. Since these were just "cruisers" I didn't test the rev limiter feature. In my car I am using a Small Body HEI.