Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All,
I just wanted to gauge opinion on fitting a Megasquirt ECU or Megajolt ignition controller.
I have a Ford EDIS, coil pack and a trigger wheel sensor.
I thought that it would be a start to better ignition. I suppose if I wanted to go the whole way and fit some sort of fuel injection (Jenveys et.al.) then I would need the megasquirt. At the moment this is finacially prohibitive, so would the Megajolt option be a way forward.
Any views on either option, has anyone fitted either to their Elans?

Kind regards
Jeff 72+2

Jeff

I have a Megasquirt fitted,started with just the ignition part first,what a difference it made, no moving parts chains worms,weights, rotor arms etc and after having that bedded in went the full hog and injected it...waste of money fitting Megasquirt if you're not going to inject it though..

John

jeff jackson wrote:..........Megasquirt ECU or Megajolt ignition controller.....

Huh!

Shouldn't this be in the boy racer Ford section?

Jeff,

Megasquirt is a good cheap way of getting the EDIS to work properly, and as John said, you will see an immediate improvement.
However, if you plan to go FI in the future, you are best advised to get a "proper" ECU (Omex, DTA, Emerald etc).

Just my opinion, of course.

I have done exactly this - megajolt now but everything else in place (inc injection fuel tank) to go the full hog with Jenveys and Emerald or similar ECU if funds/desire permits in future.

I have just had the engine running in the chassis but it starts immediately and runs perfectly so the signs are good.

One of the drivers for me was a wish to ditsh the dizzy below the carbs and the inherrent fire risk as well as accesibility problems

Jon

Hi All thanks for all the replies so far...
but

'Shouldn't this be in the boy racer Ford section? "

Answer - no..... this is about making my Lotus that I have owned for nearly 20 years run much better with modern fuels.
I have struggled for years fiddling my Dellortos and rebulding my distributor and fiddling with points. My distributor is quite worn so the ignition wobbles about all over the place. I could buy a new distributor like 123, but as I can draw a schematic and lay out a PCB I could go for the Electronic ignition system incorporating coil packs.

So again No it shouldnt be in the boy racer section.
Kind regards
Jeff

jeff jackson wrote:Hi All thanks for all the replies so far...
but

'Shouldn't this be in the boy racer Ford section? "

Answer - no..... this is about making my Lotus that I have owned for nearly 20 years run much better with modern fuels.
I have struggled for years fiddling my Dellortos and rebulding my distributor and fiddling with points. My distributor is quite worn so the ignition wobbles about all over the place. I could buy a new distributor like 123, but as I can draw a schematic and lay out a PCB I could go for the Electronic ignition system incorporating coil packs.

So again No it shouldnt be in the boy racer section.
Kind regards
Jeff

My work here is done!

I have just had the engine running in the chassis but it starts immediately and runs perfectly so the signs are good.

So have I. Owned my car 25 years on Webers and a distributor with electronic ignition and it runs perfectly and I don't have to get at the distributor..............What are you chaps on?

Nebogipfel - you said it all.................

" Electronic Ignition" lets not go upsetting the purists,what's up with points,they were good enough for CABC...

John

To be honest this topic belongs in the "mods" section. That said I don't see most members being all that concerned about topic placement. Jeff, it is your car and you are entitled to do with it what ever you wish. Others that do not want to do this don't have to. They are always welcome to read and offer answers to your question but when the emotion icons come into play in a negative way to change the direction of the topic then someone should say something. I am someone but I am also a nobody, but I am going to say as a member, Please STOP IT. you really don't want me asking Jeff for moderator privs to lay a heavy hand on this type of BAIT. This forum need help and folks are still at this childish practice of inserting their off topic and uncalled for opinions. If you are really trying to be funny and not negative than I am not reading it that way. Maybe you know jeff jackson and are "having a go" but I and others don't know that. I still believe that this forum is here to help people that ask questions and not to PISS off people so they never return to ask any further questions or offer someone help when they call for it.

Am I being Clear enough? or do I need to use some of those emotion icons to add some emphasis?

Jeff,

You will also need a TPS - I made a bracket and spindle to work with the Dellortos.

If you PM me I can give you all the details of my installation

I think it's a great improvement personally to provide 3D mappable ignition. If dizzy's were the way to go all modern cars would still be running them. Plus it's all fully reversible if you ever wanted to go back to a crude ignition system.

Jon

piss-ant wrote:To be honest this topic belongs in the "mods" section. That said I don't see most members being all that concerned about topic placement. Jeff, it is your car and you are entitled to do with it what ever you wish. Others that do not want to do this don't have to. They are always welcome to read and offer answers to your question but when the emotion icons come into play in a negative way to change the direction of the topic then someone should say something. I am someone but I am also a nobody, but I am going to say as a member, Please STOP IT. you really don't want me asking Jeff for moderator privs to lay a heavy hand on this type of BAIT. This forum need help and folks are still at this childish practice of inserting their off topic and uncalled for opinions. If you are really trying to be funny and not negative than I am not reading it that way. Maybe you know jeff jackson and are "having a go" but I and others don't know that. I still believe that this forum is here to help people that ask questions and not to PISS off people so they never return to ask any further questions or offer someone help when they call for it.

Am I being Clear enough? or do I need to use some of those emotion icons to add some emphasis?

You are certainly predictable Gary.

It's called leg pulling and banter. No-one really takes it seriously. I never set out to upset or insult anyone and I'd be amazed if I ever do? If I ever upset anyone unintentionally they are welcome to PM me (because I make it possible) and I would apologise publicly and privately without hesitation.

We have had this conversation previously and I certainly got the impression that most folk were happy with the forum and enjoy a bit of levity. The concensus also seemed to be that heavy handed moderation was neither needed nor wanted.

Please just chill out a bit as they say on your side of the pond.

If you don't approve of a posting why not just ignore it as I suspect most of us do.

piss-ant wrote:.......you really don't want me asking Jeff for moderator privs to lay a heavy hand......

Frankly Gary, No I do not.

EDIT I suggest the easy solution to this problem is for anyone who does object to my (or anyone elses) posts that they simply add the person/s to their foes list in the Control Panel

PS. This ends the matter as far as I'm concerned. I will not comment further. If I have offended any contributors to this thread and they care to PM me I will of course apologise, although they will doubtless see it as a bit of a leg pull from anti mod's brigade.

Pissant

Cool down! My point was and is that most of us are quite happy with mucking about in the murky waters of nearly original and that these mega engineering changes live in the "Mods" section.

Who cares who does what - but if we cannot have a bit of banter - OK, perhaps in the far west it is called teasing - Bait? No. Don't be silly. No Icon!!

David

Hi Jeff
I fitted Megajolt to my Ford Xflow powered Westfield 7 a few years ago. It transformed the car - it is by far the most beneficial mod I've done to the car and I've done lots (not constained by originality on the Westie you see). Although there is nothing gained in maximum power, part throttle running is way smoother and more efficient and throttle response is much improved. It is a very light car of course, but with Megajolt just a whisper of throttle is needed to keep in touch with ordinary traffic - not so before the mod. The Xflow is quite heavily tuned with a high lift cam; before Megajolt I could not get an acceptable idle below 1200rpm, now it will idle happily at 850/900rpm. Part throttle fuel consumption is much better (helps a lot with a 4.5 gallon tank and a couple of hundred miles to go to a trackday). Another benefit is removal of the distributor and the fire risk it presents located as it is under the front carb. My Xflow has Dellortos, fine carbs but if an accelorator pump diaphragm perforates petrol drips on the distributor - as many Dellorto'd Elan and Excel owners have found to their cost.
I've been very tempted to Megajolt my Elan, not least because the engine feels course and unresponsive when I just driven the Westie - and my Xflow is relatively the more highly tuned engine. But I haven't because of originality. I'm certainly not going to make the change now, because I've recently spent lots on a positive earth Dynalite alternator for the Elan to keep things at least looking right under the bonnet, whilst enabling me to have the lights on when the cooling fan is running without flattening the battery! You can't do Megajolt with positive earth.
If you do go for Megajolt it is probably worth factoring into your costs a rolling road session to sort the mapping properly. You can probably find several ignition maps for the Twink online, but many of them are likely to be for engines in above standard tune and it may be hard to find one for an engine in exactly the same state of tune as yours.

Regards
Vernon

Hi Jeff
This article may be of some interest.
Regards
John

http://www.classicfordmag.co.uk/2012/01 ... -ignition/