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A while back I had some problems with engine quitting/missing on my 77 Toronado and at one point suspected that the MISAR controller was the culprit. Even looked at swapping out the distributor for one from 88/98 of that vintage that still ran the vacuum advance distributor because nowhere was there a new/rebuilt MISAR controller available or anyone that could rebuild them. Fortunately it turned that was not my problem. But one is still left with the problem of what to do when this 40+ year old little computer packs it in.
So I was casually surfing the internet the other evening checking out various sites to see what parts might be available that I could use and voila! a rebuilt controller appeared. So here is a link to it.
I'm pretty sure this meets the definition of the phrase "Rare as hen's teeth". Nice find!!!
Imagine that, the site says only one in stock.
I still have the functioning one still in my Dad's car, but I have a new Olds vacuum advance HEI distributor in a box on the shelf, becasue I know the day will eventually come where neither of the controllers will still work. Besides, it's more convenient to toss the box w/ distributor into the trunk for road trips, than drag the rusty parts car behind me
That box, along with a distributor wrench and a timing light, were the very first things I packed into the trunk for my FL to MI road trip. They wedged nicely up over the spare tire that takes up 45% of the usable space. lol.
Last edited by 77toronado; April 6th, 2019 at 03:16 PM.
I was really really tempted to grab this controller as a back up but then reasoned that it would not do me much good if the crank sensor or temp unit packs it in. Jaunty had a problem with his temp sensor on his 78 and the other sensor on his car is internal to the distributor. For us with 77 models our crank sensor is external and mounted below the power steering pump which usually means it is well lubricated. So after considerable thought I think I am going to do what you have done which is to source a vacuum advance HEI distributor as a backup in case the MISAR system ever has a problem.
Jaunty had a problem with his temp sensor on his 78 and the other sensor on his car is internal to the distributor.
The original temperature sensor, the one that connects through the distributor, was completely removed from the engine and just dangling on the end of its wire. The place where it attaches has a blank-off plug in it that looks like it's been there for many years. There was no other temperature sensor on the car. I originally put one in the upper radiator hose as I couldn't remove the blank-off plug on the front of the engine where the sensor would go if this engine were in any other car. I finally decided to get rough with it, and I drilled it out and tapped a new hole to fit the size of aftermarket sensor I wanted to attach. Worked out pretty well, and I have it attached to a gauge under the dash. Joe P suggested that I could find the wire among those going to the distributor that connects to the dash TEMP light so that that would light up if it ran hot, but I haven't tried to do that yet.
Pardon the debris in the area. I was so happy to have the new sensor installed, working, not leaking, and not looking too bad that I grabbed the camera and took some photos before I had a chance to get the shop-vac out and vacuum away the metal shavings from the drill-and-tap operation.
Great find, by the way. I've dealt with oldsobsolete before some years ago when I needed an impossible-to-find part for my '67 Delta. He had it, and it saved my happiness.
I think I am going to do what you have done which is to source a vacuum advance HEI distributor as a backup in case the MISAR system ever has a problem.
Great to have that unit as a backup, because parts for these cars will get harder not easier to find with each passing year. When I needed ignition parts - cap, coil, rotor I had a hard time finding them but eventually found the last units in stock at a little parts supply house in the small town I moved to. The reason they had them available was the guys running stock cars a the local track still had a demand for them. Yet in the city of Oshawa where GM had its manufacturing plant and all the associated surrounding suppliers, nobody and I mean nobody had any stock and did not seem all that interested in getting them for me. Not even the local NAPA shop. Go figure!
A couple of more weeks and the old girl comes out of storage and once I get the through the spring time " honey-do" list I can start working on some of my vehicle projects - fingers crossed!
April 3rd, 2019, 11:14 AM
