[Michael Plummer]

Looks like kjb302ho did a good job answering everyone's questions but if someone wants me to expand on something just let me know and I'll try my best to explain further. Now onto the benefits.

• More accurate & consistent spark advance: I'll talk about this below in another post.
• Eliminates the play/slop in the timing chain & gears from the crank signal sensor.
• Eliminates the lash between the cam & distributor gears from the crank sensor signal.
• Eliminates the need for an OEM quality hall sensor aka stator in the distributor. The ones that come in an MSD, Performance Distributor, and any other aftermarket distributor do not use OEM stators that may or may not work well.
• Eliminates the need for an OEM quality shutter wheel in the distributor.

• Engine position is sampled every 10 degrees of rotation.
• 9x more resolution than the old flying magnet crank triggers
• 9x more resolution than a TFI ignition with EEC-IV: This was my 94 Mustang without the Pro-M EFI.
• 4.5x more resolution than TFI ignition when used with the Pro-M EFI: This is how my 94 Mustang is set up now.
• and finally faster starts

Thanks
Michael Plummer

 

[Michael Plummer]

You'll notice one benefit not listed above under the benefits of a crank trigger ignition was "More Horsepower". In my experience, you won't see some huge gain in horsepower unless your timing is jumping around. A crank trigger ignition will stabilize your timing and if dead steady timing is important to you, you'll want a crank trigger ignition setup.

Freezy 74, a member of this forum told me a story when he was at the dyno and the car he was tuning wasn't making the power they thought it should be making or something to that effect. So they decided to check total ignition timing during a WOT pull while the car was on the dyno and they noticed, the timing they were commanding in the software didn't match up to what they saw on the balancer. The balancer timing was a lot lower. They made the necessary changes to get the commanded timing they wanted and picked up over 40 peak rear-wheel horsepower.

So upon hearing this and in my quest to make more horsepower for a customer we tried the same at the dyno and saw the same thing. The total ignition timing at the balancer was lower than what was being commanded in the software. The customer decided to purchase a crank trigger wheel setup, once installed and with the car back on the dyno, it was nice to see the car rev to 7,000 RPMs and the timing marks never moved and it made over 30rwhp more.

In closing, lots of races have been won without a crank trigger, tons of streetcars that make big HP don't have them either but it couldn't hurt to keep your timing dead on where it was set. And with no reasonable supply of OEM stators available for your distributor maybe a crank trigger wheel setup would be a welcomed purchase for your setup.

Thanks
Michael Plummer

 

[Michael Plummer]

The instructions tell you to cut 7 of the 8 teeth off the shutter wheel except for the skinny or narrowest tooth. If you have the correct tools to do this properly you can do it when you like or if you have a friend (John Janek) that is bored as I did, you can have them do it for you. If you only have one shutter wheel do this step after you properly phase your distributor to the engine. I have multiple shutter wheels from Pro-M Racing so I decided to cut one of them.

WE PRACTICED FIRST ON A MSD SHUTTER WHEEL BUT HONESTLY, NO PRACTICE WAS NEEDED IT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD

FINISHED VERSION FOR THE PRO-M SHUTTER WHEEL

My A/C system is taking longer than expected to finish but I promise there will be photos of the installation.

I hope this helps
Michael Plummer

 

[Michael Plummer]

FYI, I use a Dart Sportsman 4-bolt main center only block with a Moroso steel oil pan part #20506. I did a trial fit of the bracket and there were no fitment issues for the bracket.

Moroso OIL PAN, FORD 289-302, REAR T-SUMP

I hope this helps
Michael Plummer

 

[Jim Tunstell]

The instructions tell you to cut 7 of the 8 teeth off the shutter wheel except for the skinny or narrowest tooth. If you have the correct tools to do this properly you can do it when you like or if you have a friend (John Janek) that is bored as I did, you can have them do it for you. If you only have one shutter wheel do this step after you properly phase your distributor to the engine. I have multiple shutter wheels from Pro-M Racing so I decided to cut one of them.

WE PRACTICED FIRST ON A MSD SHUTTER WHEEL BUT HONESTLY, NO PRACTICE WAS NEEDED IT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD
View attachment 1076466


View attachment 1076465

FINISHED VERSION FOR THE PRO-M SHUTTER WHEEL
View attachment 1076467

My A/C system is taking longer than expected to finish but I promise there will be photos of the installation.

I hope this helps
Michael Plummer

You can also use vise grip pliers to just break the teeth off and then file the raised edge. You just have to grip the shutter wheel at the base of the teeth even with the edge of the shutter wheel. Works great if you don't have access to a cutoff wheel..

V/r, Jim T

 

[pkstang]

hoping this will be offered without the bracket
pk

 

[Michael Plummer]

UPDATE: I was involved in an automobile accident in April 2020 and have been dealing with shoulder issues since the first surgery. On October 11th, I'm scheduled for another surgery on the same shoulder. The crank trigger installation is on hold.

Thanks
Michael Plummer

 

[Jim Tunstell]

UPDATE: I was involved in an automobile accident in April 2020 and have been dealing with shoulder issues since the first surgery. On October 11th, I'm scheduled for another surgery on the same shoulder. The crank trigger installation is on hold.

Thanks
Michael Plummer

Hope that shoulder issue gets worked out. We wish you a full, painless, and rapid recovery.

V/r, Jim T

 

[Michael Plummer]

The Crank Trigger kit is in but it had to be modified to fit a 1994/95 Mustang GT/Cobra with a ProCharger supercharger.

Here's the issue. The crank pulley for 94/95 Mustangs sits flush to the balancer and it's not like the 86 to 93 crank pulley that sits away from the balancer. This is what we (John Janek and myself) learned during my initial installation. My trigger wheel sat inside my crank pulley and my crank pulley sits flush against the balancer........no Bueno.

John thinks we can move the trigger wheel in front of the crank pulley. We call Chris Richards on a Saturday and told him the original setup would not work but John thinks there is enough room to move everything forward. John does a markup with a pizza box from our lunch, a few screws, snaps a few pics for Chris Richards and Chris says it should work if there is enough room between the crank pulley and cooling fan. Can't thank John enough because he knew how badly I wanted this modification for my setup. Thanks John, I was good with finishing lunch and calling it a day

I owe another thank you to Chris Richards from Pro-M Racing for fabbing the new parts, installing them, and setting up the new crank trigger setup on the car. There was no way I was going to get this thing installed in my current condition anytime soon. I asked Chis how much for the parts and labor and I got a big laugh from him and he says you owe me nothing. "Get better and then drive the stupid thing," he says.

Here are a few photos a friend took for me today of the installation. The first two photos are from underneath the front of the car.

Here's a photo of the longer bracket which is reinforced with a gusset plate.

So what's changed?
No spacer is needed at the water pump because the crank trigger wheel gets moved forward
New longer bracket with gusset plate
New spacer/hub that centers the crank trigger wheel to the crank pulley
New longer hardware

I'm super excited because I wanted a crank trigger setup for a long time and now I get to enjoy all the benefits of having one.

Thanks
Michael Plummer

 

[Jim Tunstell]

Glad to see that you got it installed. Please update us once you get it running and driving. I'm super curious to see how smooth the car runs and how smoothly it accelerates.

 

[Michael Plummer]

Glad to see that you got it installed. Please update is once you get it running and driving. I'm super curious to see how smooth the car runs and how smoothly it accelerates.

My car has always driven smoothly. But I had a friend drive the car with me sitting in the passenger seat and to me, the car drives about the same. I got the crank trigger because I wasn't getting the timing being commanded at WOT. Plus, my engine has been together for a long time (over 11 years) and I'm sure there is timing chain slop, lash between the cam and the gear on the distributor which will make the timing move around a bit.

Thanks
Michael Plummer

 

[Jim Tunstell]

That's good news, it sounds like you had everything pretty much dialed in from the beginning.

 

[snakebite90]

Hey Michael, 2 questions.

Do you know if Chris is going to make more of those brackets/kits to mount the wheel up front? I might just have to go that rout as well.

Second, what radiator/fan combo are you running? It looks like you have plenty of room between the fan and pulley. Thanks

 

[Michael Plummer]

Hi there,
Q. Do you know if Chris is going to make more of those brackets/kits to mount the wheel up front? I might just have to go that rout as well.
A. I know of others who have a similar setup like mine so I'm sure Chris Richards will make others. He has the template so I can't see why he wouldn't make them. One thing Chris Richards has proven, he makes sure you never have buyer remorse when you own his Engine Management System when it pertains to new features. I highly recommend that you drop him an email and see what he has to say.

Q. Second, what radiator/fan combo are you running? It looks like you have plenty of room between the fan and pulley.
A. It's a custom setup from Ron Davis radiators. They constructed the radiator and fabbed up a custom fan shroud for the Mark VIII cooling fan. I have to warn you it wasn't cheap (>$1500).

I hope that helps
Michael Plummer

 

[SorsCode]

I was curious on this setup. I need it to work with a Paxton crank pulley.

 

[kjb302ho]

should work fine. bolts onto the balancer underneath the sc pulley setup

 

[John Janek]

I was curious on this setup. I need it to work with a Paxton crank pulley.

What year is your car? Are you inquiring about the 94-95 setup which places the trigger wheel in front since you’re asking in Michael’s thread?

 

[SorsCode]

What year is your car? Are you inquiring about the 94-95 setup which places the trigger wheel in front since you’re asking in Michael’s thread?

Correct I have a 94/95. In 2000 I grafted an explorer trigger wheel onto a stock balancer and really don’t want to do that again.

 

[John Janek]

Correct I have a 94/95. In 2000 I grafted an explorer trigger wheel onto a stock balancer and really don’t wan5 to do that again.

The trigger wheel will not go behind a 94/95 crank pulley.

Please educate me on Paxton setup. Is it like Vortech with a large blower pulley in front of a stock diameter crank pulley?

 

[SorsCode]

The trigger wheel will not go behind a 94/95 crank pulley.

Please educate me on Paxton setup. Is it like Vortech with a large blower pulley in front of a stock diameter crank pulley?

That is correct.

From the looks of it, it could still be mounted behind the crank pulley, just the trigger wheel needs to bevel back towards the balancer. Realize that might not work for the aftermarket balancers though.