TheSamba.com :: View topic - Okay I am interested in an Electronic Ignition

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:24 am

Okay I am interested in doing the electronic ignition. It seems that the coil is very important to the equation. I am running a 0221 119 027 with a 009 dizzy. Is it good enough? Can I just plug and play? What is necessary to get them up and going?

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:30 am

Are you talking about a real electronic ignition or just a points replacement?

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:33 am

Probably point replacement.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:35 am

Just get a Pertronix. They seem to be the most popular.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:00 am

Will it work with my existing coil? How hard is it to step up/adjust?

Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:13 am

They drop in and there's two wires.

It depends on the coil you have. There's a few versions of Bosch blue coils.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:05 am

Here is the Bosch coil I have 0221 119 027

Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:14 am

I had to file down spacer that goes between magnet disk and rotor. This was on svda though.

Anton

Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:15 am

"Spoon" wrote: Here is the Bosch coil I have 0221 119 027
That's a Brazilian Bosch Blue coil. It should be OK, but check with Pertronix to be sure.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:42 pm

If you're getting a Pertronix, get one of their coils to go with it.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:13 pm

Free Advice: Carry a spare set of points with you.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:13 pm

SkrapMetal wrote: Free Advice: Carry a spare set of points with you.
And condenser ;)

Recently i've heard from a number of sources that the 4 magnets are not exactly 90º from each other. Variances as much as 4 degrees from low to high have been seen.

So if #1 is on the low side (the cylinder you set your timing to) and #3 is on the high side, then you could have #3 4º more advanced and slowly cooking it.

Next time you have your timing light out, check the timing on all 4 cylinders.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:55 pm

Spoon,

Why do you want to install a points eliminator module?

The spark won't be substantially better.

It will improve your timing stability and eliminate point maintenance.

But you will have an added a reliability problem. The failures of points replacement modules seem to be hit or miss. I don't know if it is because of overheating or electrical noise spikes that kill the modules.

If you want an actual performance improvement install a high energy ignition system. If you are only using points to trigger an external electronic ignition system, they will last a very very long time because there is almost no current flowing through the points, so they no longer pit.

You would have far more performance improvement buying an ignition coil with an air gapped core than you would buying a points eliminator module for the same price.

Scott Novak

Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:32 pm

so to maybe build on the last comment i'll add a possibly dumb question. how come i rarely if ever see a stock ignition system augmented by an MSD box? They seem to be popular with the people who are into other models, honda, chevy etc.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:38 pm

I've never been a fan of MSD. I rather get the Mallory system.

Uh... my Honda doesn't have a distributor.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:06 pm

Glenn wrote: SkrapMetal wrote: Free Advice: Carry a spare set of points with you.
And condenser ;)

And a timing light.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 7:38 pm

I thought about doing the same with my 68 stock 1500 and stock vacuum distributor but a I recall on my lil engine number 3 hump the place the points ride is retorated by 4 degrees to assist in keeping number 3 cooler due to the the position of the stock oil cooler.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:40 pm

Glenn most older hondas have a dizzy, newer ones no. if hes asking these questions he needs a set of b/w striped points and do his maintenance, dammit this stuff aint free :D :D :D

Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:56 pm

been using a compufire been happy with it for the past 3 years.I use a real bosch blue coil with it.

Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:14 pm

shok wrote: so to maybe build on the last comment i'll add a possibly dumb question. how come i rarely if ever see a stock ignition system augmented by an MSD box? They seem to be popular with the people who are into other models, honda, chevy etc.
Shok,

Good question. Some people say it's because VW owners are too cheap.

You don't see many people using high energy ignition systems of any kind on air cooled VWs. I wasn't impressed by the construction of the Mallory Hyfire 6AL that I had. I dumped it on ebay. I've seen the schematics of the MSD 6A and that appears to be missing some important circuits. For both construction quality and performance, I'll go with a Jacobs ignition system.

People still continue to use the Bosch blue coil and think it is a great ignition coil. They never seem to stop and ask why is the Bosch blue coil only capable of firing a wimpy 0.025" spark plug gap?

I'm using 0.065" spark plug gaps with my Jacobs ignition system and NGK BP7HS10 spark plugs. I'm using a spark plug two heat ranges colder than stock and don't have any fouling problems. Because I'm using a colder spark plug, it doesn't have ANY run on problems like a hotter spark plug can. Thats another advantage of a high energy ignition system. You can run colder heat ranges spark plugs without fouling.

As people move on to newer cars with distributorless ignition systems, they sell their old ignition systems fairly cheap. You can by a used inductive switching Jacobs ignition computer and air gapped core ignition coil for around $100, and a Capacitive Discharge Jacobs ignition computer and air gapped ignition coil for around $120. If you shop very carefully, you can buy a used Jacobs capacitive discharge ignition computer and ignition coil for under $40.

I've purchased a brand new Jacobs Pro Street an Ultra coil for as little as $100.

It just doesn't seem to make financial sense to buy a points eliminator module, that won't give you any significant performance improvement, before you buy a high energy ignition system which WILL actually improve your performance.

Scott Novak