Points to electronic????

[nomad]

What is the best bet to eliminate the points in my S1? Pertronix? I've not always heard good things about them and if it weren't so hard to get at the distributor I'd stay with the points as I have with my other classics.
Kurt

[StressCraxx]

Hello Kurt,

As long as your distributor is in good mechanical condition, points and condenser work fine. That means the shaft and bushings are not worn and the scroll gear is in good shape. My original 23D4 had 1/16" shaft wobble and a worn scroll gear which caused lots of timing scatter. Keith Franck rebushed my distributor and replace the scroll gear which reduced the timing scatter to a tolerable level. He also replaced the advance springs with new because the advance was increasing at too low an RPM.

Barry Spencer of Spencer's motorsports is a dealer for the 123 distributors. He can program the curve exactly as designed as your 23D4 Lucas distributor. http://www.spencersmotorsports.com/part ... stributor- They are far superior to the Pertronix dizzys that are made in China and the original Lucas. Most of us racing Formula Fords gave up on pertronix about 7 years ago because they either were dead when brand new or would not last a weekend or two. My friend Mike Summers had a Pertronix dizzy fail due to shaft breakage at the Monterey Reunion. I still run a Bosch distributor with NOS Bosch points and Condenser because they are reliable and easy to troubleshoot. Unfortunately our rules won't let me run a 123 or I would.

[nomad]

Thanks, I'll look into the 123 system more.
Think my distributor is in good condition but did plan on sending it to Jeff Schemer for a check up.

Kurt

[mbell]

I run a 123, very happy with it. Expensive but best option for a dizzy imo.

Personally I wouldn't have it tuned to match the original. Modern fuels burn quite differently so original curve isn't that great. There is a thread ot two on here about curves on 123 that's worth looking at if you do get one.

[steve lyle]

I've had my car for 7 years. I ran it on points for the first 5, then got tired of dealing with the difficult access. I switched it to Pertronix after talking to a couple of vendors about it. I had the same concern as you, hearing about failures. What they told me was that they had failures in the early years, but lately none.

First, I had my original distributor rebuilt and recurved to home market specs, vs the Federal curve it had originally.

Then I swapped the points for Pertronix. Car runs great, just as before, and there's no need to mess with it. I carry a spare set of points and a condenser in the trunk, just in case.

On my B, I run points. Easy access, and Jeff Schemer told me that in his tests he actually gets better power with points. But if the Pertronix reduces power in a Twinc, my butt hasn't noticed it.

I'm told there's a Pertronix version with a built-in rev limiter. Ken Gray of DBE mentioned it at Log40. If I had known, I would have gone with that version.

[reb53]

I swapped my points out for a "Lumenition Optronic" and "MSD Multispark" combination.
I can't vouch for its reliability though as it's only been running since 1983 without fault.

[elans3]

Back in 2002, I put an Aldon Ignitor in my S3 S/E (same as a Pertronix, but sold by Aldon in the UK.)
I sold the car in late 2003. I bought the car back in 2020, and it still had the same Aldon unit in the distributor.
So, after 18 years and 20,000 miles it was still operating perfectly.
I did have the magnets in the shaft sleeve come unstuck a week or so after buying the car back, but that was easily remedied with superglue. I also bought a new sleeve from Aldon, and kept the old one as a spare. I noticed that the new sleeve had the magnets sealed in better nowadays.
I sold the car again a couple of months ago, and it was still perfect, so it's been on the car 20 + years, and 22500 miles.
Impressive, and I'd buy another , no problem.
I also have had them on Alfa Twincams, and a BMW 2 litre Neue Klasse, with no issues.
Some years ago, I bought a freshly refurbed Alfa 2 litre Twincam for my Giulia Ti Super Rep, and it came with a 123 distributor fitted. Glad to say that's been faultless too, and has now done 6 years and around 6000 miles.

[2cams70]

I sold the car again a couple of months ago, and it was still perfect, so it's been on the car 20 + years, and 22500 miles.
Impressive, and I'd buy another , no problem.

22,500 miles! - that's only 2 sets of points

[RobertMaulden]

I swapped my points out for a "Lumenition Optronic" and "MSD Multispark" combination.
I can't vouch for its reliability though as it's only been running since 1983 without fault.

Have been running this combination on a S2 road / sprint car for some years. The ultimate reliable combination for all situations imho (but any potential buyers beware of fake MSD units from non known sources)

[TonyA]

The first generation Pertronix Ignitor I would fry itself if the ignition was left on and coincidentally, one of the magnets was in the spark contact position.. This is the reason for many of the complaints.The subsequent model Ignitor II is protected from this problem. Incidentally if anyone fries their Ignitor I, you can get an Ignitor Ii module and use the original baseplate and magnetic rotor.: they are interchangeable...Tony

[elans3]

[quote 2 cams
22,500 miles! - that's only 2 sets of points[/quote]
Yes, but over 20 + years, and no need to touch the distributor or adjust them in all that time.
Takes all the faff out of changing points.

[snowyelan]

The ignitor 3 is the one with the built in rev limiter. I have limited miles on mine, but works good so far. It needs a low resistance coil.

[alan.barker]

Fitted a hall effect simonbloc on my sprint 8 years ago and 100%. Plus very cheap, l got fedup with crap condensers from china.
Alan

[Andy8421]

Hello Kurt,
As long as your distributor is in good mechanical condition, points and condenser work fine.

Well yes, as long as you use the car regularly, and don't mind regular maintenance.
I remember well the springtime routine of taking the flywheels off my garden machinery to clean the points of corrosion after the winter layover. Also the relief when Stihl and Briggs and Stratton moved to electronic ignition, doing away with the points and everything would just start after the winter.
The same is true of the Elan, if the car is stored with the points open and not run for a couple of months, particularly in damp environment, there is a chance it won't start until the points are cleaned. That, plus the grief of getting to the points makes electronic replacements a sensible choice IMO.

There are a couple of issues with this. The mechanical advance should still be oiled regularly 'a couple of drips of oil after the rotor arm is removed' and there is a question (in my mind) whether the change to electronic ignition changes the advance curve. On the standard setup, the angular position of the cam relative to the main shaft is a balance between the bob weights, return springs and the friction of the points on the cam lobes. Remove the cam lobe friction, and does the distributor produce a different advance curve? Being mechanical, its all hit and miss anyway, so it probably doesn't matter, but if I ever get time, I will see if I can measure an effect.

[StressCraxx]

My experience with the Pertronix was a string of 3 kits 8 years ago that either were DOA or died on the road requiring me to pull out the points from the glove box and change them by the side of the road. Pertronix refused to replace more than one kit. I had the second one on my Elan, third in the Crossle, and the warranty spare in my tool box. Pertronix admitted they had problems with the components sourced from China.