Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[TribalElder]

Got the call a few months ago that the long awaited 6volt pos to earth Electronic conversion from Powerspark UK has been made. Been bugging these guys for a while

4 pics showing the process which is fairly straight forward.



1st the points and baseplate with condensor are removed and the wires disconnected from coil.
2nd install new baseplate with the electronic unit fitted and run the black and the white wire out of dizzy
3rd fit "Exciter ring" in the centre of dizzy and put the old rotor button on top. Re-fit cap and gently rotate to make sure it is free inside the cap
4th run an earth wire from the pos side of coil to dizzy earth
5th undo the two wires going to neg side of coil and join them to the white wire coming out of dizzy.
6th connect black wire to neg side of coil to complete the circuit.

Job is done

Seems to run better and more get up and go going up a hill.

NO MORE POINTS TO BURN OUT, CLOSE UP OR GET PITTED, WOOHOOO!




_________________
Ian from Oz

It's hard to run like an Emu
When you are girt by Numbats

[ukdave2002]

Hi Ian

Fitting electronic ignition is a good move, especially with 6V systems all my cars have them.

I would however add one more component; a snubber to the ignition supply. The reason is that vehicles with dynamo's have mechanical regulators, these tend to generate electrical noise; as contacts open or close high voltages spikes can be generated, these spikes only last for milliseconds, but can put pay to electronics, and have given electronic ignitions a poor reputation on older cars. The fuel pump should also be fitted with a Flyback Diode, this will cost less than the snubber.

A snubber will cost you less than a pint of beer I fitted electronic ignition to a friends 6v morris 8 in 1997, with a snubber and its still running today.

My preference is to fit the systems that retain the points, as in the event of a problem its much easier to diagnose and a switch back to conventional ignition in the event of a failure, takes seconds.

Dave

[Stuart2u]

I fitted a Powerspark system as above to my 48 Morris 8E a couple of weeks ago. The engine started cleanly first time and seemed to rev well without any initial adjustment from how it had been set up previously. From what I have read, I did expect to have to tweek the timing after road trials. However, when I did take the car out it was grossly underpowered (if thats possible) and despite several roadside stops to make adjustments....both advancing and retarding the timing, it became a struggle to limp home.

Having a spare bottom plate, I simply switched back to the old points rig, reset the distributer via my painted on timing marks and all was well.

I know that manual roadside adjustments are a little hit and miss, but usually I can achieve a decent fine tune this way . Its impossible to fine tune this model with a strobe as the timing mark is hidden away behind the rad and can only be read properly with a mirror. In any case its a little agricultural with only a TDC marker. So maybe the issue is lack of SNUBBER and or FLYBACK DIODE? How would this be wired in and if I asked the spotty neirdy youth in my local Maplin shop would he know what I was talking about?

.....Or maybe I am missing a trick elsewhere in te set up!!!!!

[ukdave2002]

Hi Stuart

The SE is a pig to time with a strobe I put some new timings marks on the top to ease the situation.

Re the additional components I mentioned, they are only there to protect the electronics, although I suppose really bad electrical noise could trigger the unit?

I have just fitted a Powerspark distributor to my MGA, I used it because the original dizzy was worn, and I wanted an electronic ignition, this solution ticked both box's. With hindsight, for a couple of reasons I wish I had fixed the old dizzy up and fitted an electronic ignition that retained the points, because:

1) Its difficult to static time
2) If there is a problem its more difficult to establish if its the electronics or not at fault.
3) If the electronics has failed its a 10 second job to revert back to standard setup.

All that said, your setup should be an improvement over the original, and on the 8's you can reliably open the plug gaps by 5 thou for more improvements, but it obviously needs to be working correctly first !

Is the air gap correct on the sensor, otherwise it does sound like timing?

Dave

[Stuart2u]

Hi Dave

I am going to fit a with points electronic set up that I have fitted to my Ford Pop......like you say, there is the ability to make point adjustments and still see where the points are firing. The benefits are no condenser, cleaner points and better starting etc. The downside is finding a place to fit the unit as small as it is without it looking out of place. I fitted the Pop's unit in the bottom of an upside down period tobacco tin......I have had no comment from the rivet counters at shows....see picture.

The unit was from Boyer Bransden who do various electronic ignition set ups for bikes and cars...and they do one in 6v.

Stuart

PS. When you refer to the air gap, I take it you mean the gap between the ring which fits over the cams and the sensor fitted to the base plate.....I have checked and there is a gap, but its fixed by vitue of the ring size and the fixed sensor. It appears to be a standard gap from pictures I have seen, including the example posted above.

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[Rosco663]

Hahahaha - "Rivet Counters"
_________________
Rosco

[ukdave2002]

Hi Stuart

All these after market systems systems are based on the "Transistor Assist ignition" that became the norm some 30-40 years ago. The transistor is a much cleaner switch than points , and collapses the field in the coil quicker; an analogy would be a slow puncture compared to a blow out; both end up with a flat tyre but, the intense energy of the blow out can be more efficiently used.

Electronic ignition allows us to open the plug gaps to "force" the ignition system to work harder and at a higher voltage, the spark duration is shorter but more intense. This is important on 6v systems as its twice as difficult to get enough energy into the coil than a 12v system, and is what will improve starting and overall performance.

Keeping the points as a trigger for the transistor is fine there is not a huge benefit in using the magnetic sensors, unless the engine is high revving, in which case point gaps may have to be larger to stop bounce at high revs; larger gap generally means shorter dwell, which in turn means less time to "charge" the coil....high revs not a problem on a Morris 8 !!

If you have negative earth there is a kit Maplin for about £10.

In the SE you can hide the electronics in the battery compartment or the compartment next to it.


Dave

[TribalElder]

Received the new Accuspark triple-earth spark plugs today from the UK, under $20 delivered to Oz. These should be able to take better advantage of the new electronic ignition's bigger spark and also provide some redundancy in the event of fouling.



_________________
Ian from Oz

It's hard to run like an Emu
When you are girt by Numbats

[ukdave2002]