Powerspark electronic ignition conversion.

PostPost by: Orsom Weels » Thu May 16, 2013 5:43 pm

Hello all

I recently decided to give in & get rid of the points & condenser on the +2. This was a decision I?ve been putting off for a while now as I really like the ?fix em on the roadside? aspect of points if there?s a problem, not that I?d had many problems with them over the years, & had always questioned the point of pointless ignition. However, it seems that replacement points & indeed more so, condensers, are not what they once were, with points that needed fettling to fit & line up acceptably & with heels that wore down closing the gap in no time at all & condensers that failed with very little mileage, they don?t make em like they used to! So, what to fit? I looked at the replacement distributors available but was put off them from discussions I read on here suggesting that they were just generic advance curves not best suited to a twincam, so a simple trigger conversion to fit the original dizzy was the way to go for me. I started looking at what was available & what others had fitted & their experiences with them. Lumenition & Newtronic were mentioned in older threads but Aldon & Pertronix seemed to be most popular recently but with random possible problems with the original tacho. My friend John had been using an Aldon ignitor in his Elan for several years & was always bestowing it?s virtues & apart from erratic tacho behaviour was very happy with it so that looked like a good way to go. Then, somewhat coincidentally, his Aldon unit suddenly died & to get the Elan back up & running ASAP, he purchased a Powerspark conversion from ebay. On fitting this, he noticed no real difference from the Aldon except that his tacho was now behaving perfectly normally so he suggested that I also give one a try for my +2. Based on this, I ordered one & also opted to purchase one of their coils to go with it as the +2 still retained it?s ballast resistor system so had the wrong resistance & voltage coil fitted. I placed the order at about 4pm & it arrived in the post the very next morning, & all for less than ?40. Excellent! I removed the dizzy, replaced the points & condenser with the trigger & pick up, refitted the dizzy in roughly the right position & the car fired up instantly, a quick check with the strobe & that was that, the whole job done in about ? an hour. (Yes, I?ve worked out how to remove & replace the dizzy without removing the carbs, just the outer half of the airbox) The tacho is rock steady & reading the same as it always has, starting is instant, idle is a lot smoother & the little bit of a flat spot that was there has completely disappeared & overall the car feels just that little bit more perky. You may have gathered I?m very pleased with it, so much so, that as I see they also do them for just about every distributor you can think of, including the Lucas 18D2 fitted to many British motorcycles, & in positive or negative earth, I think I?ll treat my Norton Dominator to one as well. You can check them out here http://www.simonbbc.com

Regards, Tim
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PostPost by: jono » Fri May 17, 2013 6:34 am

I fitted the same to my Mini and, I agree, an excellent bit of kit at a very reasonable price which made a marked transformation to the car.

...I went a bit further on the Lotus and fitted Megajolt as I like the idea of a custom ignition map. This also works very well even though it's just running on a base map at present. The biggest difference I noticed is that the engine fires almost instantaneously off the key.

Jon
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PostPost by: mariodschy » Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:26 pm

@Orsom Weels: Very good feedback, this helps me in my decision to go the powerspark way.
What dizzy did you use? I need it for a Lucas 23D4 Dizzy, hope that powerspark works with.
- 1972 Lotus Elan Sprint LHD/DHC
- 1962 Austin Healey Sprite MK II - Sold 09.05.2016

Sorry for my bad survival English ;-)
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PostPost by: Grizzly » Tue Jun 02, 2015 12:54 pm

I have nothing but issues with the AccuSpark Ignition kit, i went through three before i got rid, frankly i wouldn't recommend them there cheap Chinese units, i admit they do make the car run really well when there first put on but are quite fragile not to mention my rev counter wouldn't work with it.

Now i have tried a few different set up's the one i would recommend is the Lumenition Magnetronic, i would say the Optronic works just as well but the power module is just unsightly imho plus the Magnetronic is the cheaper too.
Chris
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PostPost by: nebogipfel » Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:11 pm

Grizzly wrote:I have nothing but issues with the AccuSpark Ignition kit, i went through three before i got rid, frankly i wouldn't recommend them there cheap Chinese units, i admit they do make the car run really well when there first put on but are quite fragile not to mention my rev counter wouldn't work with it.

Now i have tried a few different set up's the one i would recommend is the Lumenition Magnetronic, i would say the Optronic works just as well but the power module is just unsightly imho plus the Magnetronic is the cheaper too.



That seems like very bad luck. :shock:

I should think a good proportion of classics running around these days are either using the Accuspark or Powerspark units which look to be the same thing.

As for being made in China, That isn't a problem either. The Chinese have some of the most up to date manufacturing plants in the world making products for prestigious brand names .

All I can say is so far so good...........
John

No longer active on here, I value my privacy.
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PostPost by: Orsom Weels » Tue Jun 02, 2015 4:28 pm

Accuspark is not the same as Powerspark, I have had experience with both, although not on the same car. The accuspark unit is on an MGB with the Lucas 45D distributor, it was already fitted when I purchased the car & seems ok, although I haven't driven the car much, so can't really give an opinion based on experience. The powerspark unit I fitted to my +2 has been absolutely faultless, it's using the original 23D4 distributor, was a doddle to fit & set up & hasn't been touched since, & the Tacho still reads correctly & steady, it doesn't behave erratically as seems to be the case with other conversions, the same can be said for the kit John fitted to his Elan. I've been so happy with the Powerspark system that I've since used it on a few other vehicles, both my own & a few friends/customers & all have proved to be perfectly reliable & perform just as well as kits costing four times the money. They are available for just about any make & model of distributor you could think of, & can also be had in positive earth or negative earth. The service from Simonbbc is equally faultless, & although I haven't had any problems or issues, I feel confident that they would do their best to help should any arise.
I should point out that I have no connection with either powerspark or simonbbc, other than being a very satisfied customer.
Best regards, Tim
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