Electronic Ignition

[micmak]

Hi Folks,

I was watching Dream Car Fixers last week.  They were re-freshening a Herald.  They decided to upgrade the ignition to electronic.  All they did was replace the points with a module.  I wondered if my Vitesse was points or electronic.  I had a look today, this is what I found:

   

 

So, can I assume I have electronic ignition?

.....Mick.....

 

 

 

[Paul H]

Yes it looks like you have an Accuspark electronic ignition , same as I’ve fitted to my Vitesse , though I do carry a spare set of points should it fail . You also have Accuspark marked on your plug leads 

Paul 

Edited March 24 by Paul H

[micmak]

Thanks Paul.  So they are inter-changeable;  points or electronic?  Is that all there is to electronic ignition?  No other components?

 

.....Mick.....

[johny]

Thats right Mick, with this type of unit theres nothing else. This is good for looks and simplicity but possibly bad for the cooling of the electronics...

Be aware that when swopping between the module and points the ignition timing will probably need resetting. Because of this I have bought just a spare module (11 pounds ebay) which I can install by the roadside, undoing the little allen screws and so hopefully leaving the timing unaffected...

[dougbgt6]

I keep the old points in a plastic bag together with a small screwdriver, fixing screw and capacitor all under the passenger seat.

It's been there 8 years.

Doug 

[Pete Lewis]

2 hours ago, micmak said:

was watching Dream Car Fixers last week

and you would also see they changed a £680 diff when it only needed a paper gasket and pinion oil seal cost pennies 

last week they showed the MGB head reckoned it needed unleaded inserts and the photo of the stripped head showed after 40 yrs of unleaded fuel the seats were as good as new

on the herald they sold on there was no mention of oil change or even oiling the trunions 

a right pair of tv muppets as for the hood window there are a good few marine type that would have stitched in a new window if they were really trying to make a buck they would be a bit more care over  poor decisions , 

if you were out to make a profit you would  have stuck to points and pocket the £40 

crazy program aimed at plonkers  sorry its very poor 

Pete

 

[cliff.b]

3 hours ago, johny said:

Thats right Mick, with this type of unit theres nothing else. This is good for looks and simplicity but possibly bad for the cooling of the electronics...

Be aware that when swopping between the module and points the ignition timing will probably need resetting. Because of this I have bought just a spare module (11 pounds ebay) which I can install by the roadside, undoing the little allen screws and so hopefully leaving the timing unaffected...

Regarding the cooling of the electronics, when I fitted Accuspark to my Spitfire nearly 3 years ago it came with a sachet of heat sink compound, as used when fitting a PC CPU.

If the module is to be removed and refitted it is probably a good idea to use some more each time. I did this when I re-used the module on a new distributor and have had no problems.

[Colin Lindsay]

3 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

a right pair of tv muppets

It's entertaining but it's real Laurel and Hardy, if that's the term where there's a smart one and a dumb one and the smart one has to explain everything for the benefit of the camera. So far I've only watched the MGB episode, I'll watch more as it's still quite interesting, but as Pete says their choice of spending is a bit erratic and not very wise. 

 

[micmak]

3 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

and you would also see they changed a £680 diff when it only needed a paper gasket and pinion oil seal cost pennies 

last week they showed the MGB head reckoned it needed unleaded inserts and the photo of the stripped head showed after 40 yrs of unleaded fuel the seats were as good as new

on the herald they sold on there was no mention of oil change or even oiling the trunions 

a right pair of tv muppets as for the hood window there are a good few marine type that would have stitched in a new window if they were really trying to make a buck they would be a bit more care over  poor decisions , 

if you were out to make a profit you would  have stuck to points and pocket the £40 

crazy program aimed at plonkers  sorry its very poor 

Pete

 

Ah it's TV theatrics really.  I wondered about trunions too. Most of the car TV shows are annoying.  The only one I like is Bangers and Cash, probably because they mostly have old English cars that I remember from my childhood. But there is so little bullshit on it too, unlike pretty much every other car show.  It's almost refreshing,..

[Colin Lindsay]

Thread drift here we go... but Wheeler Dealers went all American, The Repair Lot are a bit too amateurish, Shed and Buried now has Fuzz who contributes nothing to it, but Dream Car Fixers... they were so positive about the Herald in the few minutes I watched just now, and quoted a price of £22,000 as "what they're going for now"... so I like them more. Haven't yet seen what they'll do to the car, though. 

[dougbgt6]

There's an American one about the finding and recovering of the cars, nothing about what they do to them, people don't care about that! This guy said "Yeh, it's down buy the lake" They go through the swamp in a pickup to the lake, the car is down an incline by the lake. Pickup pulls the car up the incline, gets stuck. They go to get another pickup for the first pickup. CUT to another story, then back to the stuck pickup. It was riveting stuff.

Doug

Edited March 25 by dougbgt6

[micmak]

16 hours ago, cliff.b said:

Regarding the cooling of the electronics, when I fitted Accuspark to my Spitfire nearly 3 years ago it came with a sachet of heat sink compound, as used when fitting a PC CPU.

If the module is to be removed and refitted it is probably a good idea to use some more each time. I did this when I re-used the module on a new distributor and have had no problems.

Interesting.  I have a tube of heat sink compound around here somewhere.  I might take out the module and smear some of the compound under it.  Can't hurt.

.....Mick.....

[Mjit]

18 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

crazy program aimed at plonkers  sorry its very poor

I happened to spot it playing while flicking channels so added a series link to record all episodes...which I deleted again after getting to the next ad break it was that underwhelming.

Why can't we get some actually interesting/different classic car shows, like the old A Car Is Born series?  Why instead do we have only; one half decent one in Wheeler Dealers, one just about passable one that you can watch in 30 min. by skipping all the back story/handover BS in Car SOS, one to watch and think .oO(Are these guys actually trying to lose money?!?!)Oo. to watch when there's nothing else on in Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics, and a couple of others that just aren't worth watching.

[johny]

11 minutes ago, micmak said:

Interesting.  I have a tube of heat sink compound around here somewhere.  I might take out the module and smear some of the compound under it.  Can't hurt.

.....Mick.....

Id be very surprised if it hasnt already got some as it comes with the kit and looks to have been done properly...

[rlubikey]

4 hours ago, micmak said:

Interesting.  I have a tube of heat sink compound around here somewhere.  I might take out the module and smear some of the compound under it.  Can't hurt.

.....Mick.....

If you've never used it before, you only need the merest smear. (It may be just a smear to you mate ...) Too much and you get worse heat transfer. Also, it looks like bird poo - and it's difficult to wash of your fingers. You've been warned!

Cheers, Richard

[micmak]

25 minutes ago, rlubikey said:

If you've never used it before, you only need the merest smear. (It may be just a smear to you mate ...) Too much and you get worse heat transfer. Also, it looks like bird poo - and it's difficult to wash of your fingers. You've been warned!

Cheers, Richard

Ha ha.  OK, I'll keep the bird poo in mind if I decide to do a "smear"!

Thanks.

 

.....Mick.....

[Colin Lindsay]

Dream Car Fixers sort of blotted their copybook in the Herald episode.... having spent the day at TSSC HQ, they then ended the show by saying how they'd been to the 'Triumph Herald Owners Club'... oops.  

[johny]

At least they got the marque right🤣

[Pete Lewis]

and the moggie minor today was as bad wne you are supposed to be making a profit 

why fit a dynator at around £300 when a basic alternator is ££60 and they leave the regulator in place !!!! but why change any they didnt check the charging rate

and change the brake /strut/reaction rubbers to transform the handling

did they check the tyre ages or change the engine oil .not mentioned !!!!!

but spent £1100 getting the Sprite seats trimmed  to colour match 

its not program to be proud of ,

Edited March 28 by Pete Lewis

[johny]

Still its better than Love Island, Naked Attraction, Big Brother, Pimple popper and a myriad of other reality TV programmes eh?

[Colin Lindsay]

22 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

and the moggie minor today was as bad wne you are supposed to be making a profit 

Now THAT makes me wonder. The buyer has a budget of say £10,000. They find him a car needing work at £7,500. They then do the necessary work at maybe £1000 BUT instead of getting him a car that's now £1500 under budget they blow a huge amount on bling, charge him the full whack, and pocket what's left. Surely they should be saving the buyer money or maximising their own profit without buying ridiculous things, like a complete recon diff or a Dynamator that's unnecessary expense? Still, I must admit to liking it - it's at a basic level and I can understand most of what they do...! (Plus so far they've worked on REAL Classics, not some 2012 Mazda or 2016 Subaru or the like under the guise of a 'future classic'. )

[AndyTV8]

  Personallly, I think you are all overthinking it, simply TV people trying to make some kind of entertainment based on a subject area which isn’t broadly covered. The producers are probably happy that the show is being discussed in any way, positive or negative.

Maybe they are trawling through Classic Car forums for ideas on their next versions

……. Andy

[micklewis]

On 24/03/2024 at 12:08, micmak said:

 

Hi Folks,

I was watching Dream Car Fixers last week.  They were re-freshening a Herald.  They decided to upgrade the ignition to electronic.  All they did was replace the points with a module.  I wondered if my Vitesse was points or electronic.  I had a look today, this is what I found:

   

 

So, can I assume I have electronic ignition?

.....Mick.....

 

 

yes , looks like a aldon , one of the best available 

[Morgana]

On 25/03/2024 at 09:28, micmak said:

Interesting.  I have a tube of heat sink compound around here somewhere.  I might take out the module and smear some of the compound under it.  Can't hurt.

.....Mick.....

Partner's MGB has a Lumenition that broke in lockdown with an intermittent fault. Testing the system out of the car with a drill to represent the rotor revealed that the sparking plug started sparking erratically after a while, which was traced to overheating in the infrared module that monitors the pulses. The Lumenition type has two infrared elements, an LED emitter and a detector, with the rotor breaking the beam between them. Instead of shelling out for a new one, it turned out to be possible to rebuild the circuit into the same mounting bracket casting, using very 1970s matrix board and through-hole rather than surface mount components for improved heat dissipation.