Electronic ignition
 

I am considering changing the ignition on my 52 Victoria to an electronic system. I am curious if those that have tried it find it to be a worthwhile upgrade. I have always felt that the ignition on the flat heads to be shakey, at best, I would hope that this will make it foolproof.
Thanks.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Re: Electronic ignition
 

It's like everyting else ,If they work there great. When they don't there junk. I have a Mallory breakerless from speedway mtrs, on my 48. The module went out of it within a few months. That's ben 20 years ago. Haven;t had any trouble sense. My car ran a lot sharper the minute I pot it in. Could have ben the old dist. wasn't right I would do it again Be sure and use the surge box or what ever they call it.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Jim & 48cpe. What surge protector are you guys talking about?
I've never heard of this before, nor used one?
Thanks
Jim

Re: Electronic ignition
 

It's a little box about 2 by 2 in. wires [ I think ] connects in series from the hot wire to the ignition hot wire It s kind of like a resister . It just absorbs the spike in voltage from the gen. or alternator I think that is why I lost the first module I didn't have one on

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Huh. Never knew they existed

Re: Electronic ignition
 

6 VOLT WITH GENERATOR MIGHT NEED ONE OF THESE :

http://mallory-ignition.com/active-power-filter.html

Re: Electronic ignition
 

You have 2 things to fight.
1. Voltage spikes that go higher then the ignition can handle.
This is solved by installing a metal oxide varistor between power in and ground.
The mov is passive until the clamping voltage is reached.
Select clamping voltage to fit aplication 6/12v.
2. Stray frequencys.
Noise coming from ignition and generators.
A choke coil lets DC current pass and filters away AC frequencys.
Noise filters for car audio is cheap ;)

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Bubba,

It says this is compatible with their "Unilite" distributors. Can it be used in other applications? Do you know the "pin-outs" on it?

Re: Electronic ignition
 

That i dont know as a rule we dont use them but i have customers that do.
I think it is needed on any electronic unit especially if you are using a generator etc. Many generators produce some really nasty looking voltage.
A clean rebuild generator with a good quality voltage regulator might not need one at all.....

Re: Electronic ignition
 

I have a Pertronix unit along w/their coil in my 8BA , and as Bubba says a "clean rebuilt generator and a good , quality voltage regulator ". No problems after 2 yrs. , so far .

Re: Electronic ignition
 

A simple capacitor at the generator calms down some of it to.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Also change to a higher voltage output coil so you can run a larger plug gap which will improve mileage and performance. Just make sure you have good plug wires.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

How much more plug gap ? What is safe ?

Re: Electronic ignition
 

i DONT AGREE WITH THE LARGER PLUG GAP ON THE FLATHEADS!

Plug gap goes with the engine (not the ignition system) a low compression flathead doesnt really benefit from a wider gap. The advent of the wider gaps came with leaner air fuel mixture and emission standards.
I guess if the flathead was lean then a wider gap might help try to ignite the air fuel mixture.
However the wider gap requires that the coil put out extra voltage . Extra voltage can be hard on the plastics used in these old ignitions.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Ok , I understand . Thanks Bubba ! - FF

Re: Electronic ignition
 

When Richard was doing all his ignition testing, he tried numerous plug gap settings and as Bubba says the stock works best. Especially on a low compression engine like a flathead. Max plug voltage id quite low 8-10 K on a 8.5CR.

Re: Electronic ignition
 

When I first got my crab style electronic distributor, I opened the plug gap to .040. I continually had trouble with the caps cracking or carbon tracking. Went back to .025 gap. The engine still runs great and haven't had a cap problem in years

Re: Electronic ignition
 

Can one of you smart guys confirm/deny my thought process:
I've always thought that the Battery was the "cushion" in the system.
In that you charge the battery and all attending connections come
from a point from the battery? No?
Maybe Jseery can explain it better?
I have been running Pertronix modules for more than 25 years, using
solid core Packard 440 wires and alternators. No troubles, and no cushioning device
Jim