Going from points to elec. Ignition
- Thread starter J1MMY
- Start date
keanej
New Member
my car had lumenition fitted in the 80's and so far its still working well
The lumenition unit is still available and an easy fit, some minor wiring changes required
Fit a new coil at the same time - will cost around £200 all together
Do a google search and you'll see lots of suppliers and advice on fitting
John
The lumenition unit is still available and an easy fit, some minor wiring changes required
Fit a new coil at the same time - will cost around £200 all together
Do a google search and you'll see lots of suppliers and advice on fitting
John
Ah, lumenition - forgot about them, have seen a dax cobra running a V8 on them. Deffo worth a look.
JP6, £374 IS expensive, for a little more you could run a fuel/ignition stand alone system!
Called a firm after seeing their ad in retro ford (I also have a mk2 cortina 1600e ??? ) I called them and was quoted £185 plus postage to have my own distributor re-con'd and converted appropriately. They did mention that I would have to remove the Ballast Resistor to ensure a constant 12v supply to the dizzy?
Gonna keep researching this, will present my findings and results in the hope that it may be of use to others
JP6, £374 IS expensive, for a little more you could run a fuel/ignition stand alone system!
Called a firm after seeing their ad in retro ford (I also have a mk2 cortina 1600e ??? ) I called them and was quoted £185 plus postage to have my own distributor re-con'd and converted appropriately. They did mention that I would have to remove the Ballast Resistor to ensure a constant 12v supply to the dizzy?
Gonna keep researching this, will present my findings and results in the hope that it may be of use to others
Give these people a try http://www.jrwadhams.co.uk/ . I've ordered a Lumention set for mine & it cost £125 (plus V.A.T.). Again, I would have loved to keep the car as original as possible, but on the other hand I'm really looking forward to enjoying using the car & not worrying if it's going to break as she's already let me down with the condensor & points after a 8 year lay up. Fair enough the condensor was old, but the car had been fitted with a new set of points and, whilst ticking over at JP Restorations on Tuesday, just stopped. The points had closed up!! Also, I've been having problems at getting her started, she'll fire up fine, die, then be a right b****r to get going again ??? . I'll let you know how I get on.
LAWRENCE
LAWRENCE
Well the lumenition kit is finaly fitted after some teething problems . In the kit is an adaptor plate with a pin underneath so that the adaptor & sensor could be fitted to the distributor base plate. I've got an early type distributor fitted so had to remove (read grind off) the pin. The next hurdle was the points cam greasing screw. Once the "chopper" was fitted, it was found that the "chopper" would foul the greasing screw. As we weren't using the points anymore, we thought that we could remove the screw. Upon removal, the whole baseplate was loose....................I needed a different base plate, hence why I was over at Pete's (JP Restorations) today. New baseplate fitted & she fired up 1st time. I'm still struggling starting her up when warm (do I give her some juice or just keep cranking???) now & again, but she now rev's cleanly. The main reason to change over to electronic is servicability, so on that pont alone I think I've got a result.
. In the kit is an adaptor plate with a pin underneath so that the adaptor & sensor could be fitted to the distributor base plate. I've got an early type distributor fitted so had to remove (read grind off) the pin. The next hurdle was the points cam greasing screw. Once the "chopper" was fitted, it was found that the "chopper" would foul the greasing screw. As we weren't using the points anymore, we thought that we could remove the screw. Upon removal, the whole baseplate was loose....................I needed a different base plate, hence why I was over at Pete's (JP Restorations) today. New baseplate fitted & she fired up 1st time. I'm still struggling starting her up when warm (do I give her some juice or just keep cranking???) now & again, but she now rev's cleanly. The main reason to change over to electronic is servicability, so on that pont alone I think I've got a result.Glad your happy with the electronic ignition. I would like to change it on mine once my other jobs are done, I think it would make the car more reliable and there is nothing worse than sitting at the side of the road for ages waiting for a recovery lorry. Do you think your warm starting problem could be due to fuelling as mine used to do that so i fitted an electric pump an the problem went.
Si
Si
Mines already got an electric pump as standard, but I'm putting the warm start up problems down to the driver . I've only had 1 starting problem today. What I do is, as I turn the key, lightly apply a little throttle & she fires up. The problem that I had was not applying any throttle. I'm still learning about the car, but electronic ignition is definately the way to go in my book.
LAWRENCE
. I've only had 1 starting problem today. What I do is, as I turn the key, lightly apply a little throttle & she fires up. The problem that I had was not applying any throttle. I'm still learning about the car, but electronic ignition is definately the way to go in my book.LAWRENCE
I would recommend the Aldon Automotive Ignitor - it all fits inside the dizzy cap with two wires to the coil - very easy to fit, no unsightly boxes or brightly coloured wires, simple to fit and easy to revert back to a standard points set up & CHEAPER than lumenition - about £80!
Been using mine for over 2 year now - very satisfied.
Gary
Been using mine for over 2 year now - very satisfied.
Gary
Well it all depends on the exact spec of the electronic ignition! In theory it is possible to produce a more precise and stronger spark, but this is not always realised in practice. For instance the stronger spark would require a different coil - which with points alone would cause the points to burn out quickly.
The real practical advantage of electronic ignition is the elimination of servicing, and that the performance does not deteriorate with use.
Chris
The real practical advantage of electronic ignition is the elimination of servicing, and that the performance does not deteriorate with use.
Chris
In addition to the improvements of electronic ign over points, is the question of the availability of GOOD QUALITY contact sets. I always used Lucas points, and never had problems if the cars were serviced correctly and regularly. Start using C.I. and Intermotor sets and you're wasting your time and the switch to electronic is well worthwhile. Rover V8's are points critical, any mis-adjustment or the fitting of poor quality points causes problems.
webmaster
New Member
As per Chris' reply, but to add, the add-on electronic ignition systems that retain the points for triggering (i.e. the maplin kit) still suffer from a lot of the points problems, i.e. the dwell is still controlled by the points etc. The only real advantage is that the main coil current switching is done by transistor rather than the points, so the points don't burn out as quickly and you can run a more powerful coil (lucas sports coil for instance).
The better solutions are the Lumenition optronic and magnetronic which do away with the points all together. These are good sytems that don't make too much of a mess of your engine bay.
Ultimately you want a system that gets rid of the distributor all together, but then your looking at serious money and very non-standard looking engine bay.
Edited By webmaster on 1193051138
The better solutions are the Lumenition optronic and magnetronic which do away with the points all together. These are good sytems that don't make too much of a mess of your engine bay.
Ultimately you want a system that gets rid of the distributor all together, but then your looking at serious money and very non-standard looking engine bay.
Edited By webmaster on 1193051138
Brian-Northampton
Administrator
If you're thinking about moving to electronic ignition, I expect you're looking at some failings in your distributor - hardly surprising given the age of our vehicles. Before you take the plunge, I would give serious consideration to getting your distributor reconditioned. I had mine done by H&H Ignition Solutions and they did a sterling job and I posted some photos here: Recon'd Dizzy
Give them a ring, I spoke to Lee Hull who was very accomodating. I tested my car afterwards with both points and electronic ignition (Pertronix) and couldn't tell the difference.
In essence, it's worth making sure you're timing is spot on before you go down the electronic route.
If you go to the H&H Ignition Solutions website, checkout "customer cars" you'll see my P6 in the arena at the Knebworth Classic Car show in August I sent in my picture and told him he was very lacking in the P6 dept !
Give them a ring, I spoke to Lee Hull who was very accomodating. I tested my car afterwards with both points and electronic ignition (Pertronix) and couldn't tell the difference.
In essence, it's worth making sure you're timing is spot on before you go down the electronic route.
If you go to the H&H Ignition Solutions website, checkout "customer cars" you'll see my P6 in the arena at the Knebworth Classic Car show in August
I sent in my picture and told him he was very lacking in the P6 dept !