Electronic Ignition Conversion Recommendations?

[fad]

Hello

So... Wading through all the electronic ignition upgrades available for distributors (to replace points), and there's a huge price range...

Can anyone tell me what is good, and what is junk?

I see stuff like this:

www.rapidonline.com/Velleman-K2543-Electronic-Transistor-Ignition-Kit-for-Petrol-Cars-70-4230?IncVat=1&pdg=kwd-283407988470:cmp-757438067:adg-42338105440:crv-178952908744:pid-70-4230&gclid=Cj0KEQjw2fLGBRDopP-vg7PLgvsBEiQAUOnIXKuc1SxYfBA8PxqF6JOns1xEI7WU1RwzkdJ0P1RZWssaAo-m8P8HAQ

which presumably still uses the points but as a switch to pulse the ignition?

Then there are hall sensor kits with prices that go from £30 all the way up to £300...

So... What are your experiences with these bits of kit? Some I can tell right off the bat are overpriced, and some I can tell look "too cheap" but may be I'm just behind the times?

[fad]

For reference, I currently run a chopped about 009 that has had it's advance locked out (draw through turbo application).

[SmokeEm]

I can only speak from personal experience with Fords mainly but on our drag car (Capri), we ran a full Bestek system which Jon at Bestek custom made (£200) - was a great bit of kit. On my Cortina, I used the Aldon kit that went inside the std dizzy and that cost £100 and is still going strong with the new owner. Avoid anything made by accuspark!

[bortaf]

I've fitted maybe 15 to 20 of these over the years

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bosch-034-009-Electronic-Ignition-Kit-POWERMAX-Rotor-Arm-for-VW-Beetle-/130599654009?hash=item1e68589279:g:qVsAAOSw8w1X9Qlv

only had 1 not work and that was replaced inside 3 days (new item posted straight away) accuspark/powerspark, all the same kit just a differant packet, local beetle specialist fits them weekly, has a drawer full of them as they sell so well, it was he who recomended them to me.

[VW]

Mar 30, 2017 10:17:58 GMT fad said:

For reference, I currently run a chopped about 009 that has had it's advance locked out (draw through turbo application).

You probably already expect this, but not having on boost ignition retard was a bit if a pain with my old vw turbo set up.
I could never get the ingnition exactly how I wanted it.
I was running blow through.

[fad]

Drawthrough on mine. Its a toy/drag strip slut and driven with digital throttle, on or off. Not all that worried about advance and retard at the moment.

[nomad]

Hi, lots of experience here with Lucas 25D (Ford/Hillman, most Brits), no experience with VW.

I fitted a "stealth" Aldon under the 25D distrib cap to replace the points on a Cortina, that ran fine for many years (think I've still got it somewhere)

The Hunter was fitted with a "black box" Piranah before I got it, KFW reported that it wss a lot happier with that than with points.

Some of the older bolt-on units kept the points, and the black-box had LEDs to show when the points opened, I found that a handy bonus when setting static timing

The unit on my Hunter might be for sale soon - I like the sales blurb for the Velleman kit (link from fad )
"You can give your old banger the feel of an expensive luxury car with the Velleman Electronic Transistor Ignition Kit."
It sounds ideal for my daily, and if it doesn't feel like an expensive luxury motor afterwards I can always give Trading Standards a call
Are we taking bets if it will live up the advertising claims

My personal choice would be to replace the points with an under-the-cap unit, and keep the points somewhere safe in the car for emergency use.

[mk2cossie]

I've fitted Lumenition kits to a couple of cars, and my friend fitted a kit on her mini 30 and wondered why she hadn't done it years ago

Significant improvement in cold starting and no re-adjusted the points, as the kit does away with them and the ballast resistor and fits hidden inside the distributor cap

[HoTWire]

Mar 31, 2017 12:58:57 GMT mk2cossie said:

I've fitted Lumenition kits to a couple of cars, and my friend fitted a kit on her mini 30 and wondered why she hadn't done it years ago

Had one of these on my camper van and Beetle, great little things.

[kevins]

My elan has a lumentation kit which has never given any problems, it was on it when I bought the car 22 years ago and was far from new then.

[barty]

ive used besteck in the past on most of my fords and its fit and forget. Easy to fit as well.
out of interest whats it for ?

[melle]

I've converted several Bosch Saab/ Ford V4 distributors with Golf/ Jetta/ Scirocco Hall systems, I believe you can also upgrade 009s that way. See my website for a wiring diagram, click the download link on the site for a how-to pdf: www.saabv4.com/index.php/project/hall-ignition/

[fad]

Mar 31, 2017 16:15:23 GMT barty said:

ive used besteck in the past on most of my fords and its fit and forget. Easy to fit as well.
out of interest whats it for ?

Flat 4 air cooled drawthrough beastie... link is my signature

[Deleted]

Another vote for Lumenition, mine was great

[ChasR]

Lumenition stuff is great and rarely given me issues.

I've once had the H&H kit but could not get them to work where the Britpart kit did.

Most of my VW friends have gone to the Powerspark setup and have been pleased with them in 009 dizzies .

[Waxoyling Lyrical]

I fitted that Velleman/Maplin kit in the OP's first post to my Minor Traveller some years ago, and it worked well, though housing it properly is rather tricky to ensure it keeps it's cool and remains reasonably water-proofed, etc. Fitting such a kit means that the points can last for years, as they never develop the usual arc pits, and you do away with the potentially troublesome condenser.

I then went over to the Accuspark setup that sits inside the (Lucas 25D4) distributor and that's been pretty good, though a bit tricky to set up properly unless you have a strobe gun, as you need to rotate the dizzy quite a bit from the stock points position to get it to even start, then of course, adjust it for optimum timing.

There's some vids on YouTube about fitting them:





I keep the standard points & condenser in the glovebox, just in case anything goes wrong in the middle of nowhere though!

[gtviva]

I vote Lumenition, never had a problem but not cheap, accuspark stuff is ok but can be unreliable from the feedback I have had

[dodgerover]

With a turbo setup would it be an idea to go with a megajolt so you can reduce the advance under boost? Or hack up a saab system to do the same?

[fad]

Normally yes. However, the premise of this project is to keep things as old skool as possible. So, that's why it's on carbs not FI, that's why its lowered with cutting and welding rather than airbags. It's why I am using a locked out 009 rather than the far, far superior options out there.

Yes ok electronic ignition is not "old skool" but I am allowing little tweaks here and there to make use of the car easier (it's also a safety thing, the last thing I want is another ignition issue that results in a manifold detonation!). But in this instance, I have it running on points and condenser and having proved that it works, for more trouble free motoring and a better burn I'm allowing this small upgrade.

I've learned shedloads from this project, and I am really enjoying doing things the "hard way", and learning how things have changed over the years. For example the turbo... I used a garret T3, which are an old old design and not the best turbo out there, because that's what used to be used for junkyard turbocharging. BUT, I also learned that changes in manufacturing techniques has meant that a T3, while it used to work for this application, doesn't any longer. The reason? The oil seal. They are no longer made to work in negative pressure as with a draw through system with the throttle shut. The dynamic seal was unseating and allowing oil to pass through into the compressor which was causing all sorts of issues when the throttle was closed. Turns out that carbon shaft seals were binned long long ago, but no amount of reading up old material brought this to light since back "then" no one had even heard of a dynamic seal. I enjoy keeping old knowledge alive, and that's why a nicer dizzy is off the menu (for now!).

[outrage]

+1 for Powerspark/Accuspark (and some more names they are sold under). Fitted some in the last years, no problems so far. They all seem to come from Autoera Ningbo in China, and if you don't need service or support, you can buy them at aliexpress for about 25 USD.