Which Ignition kit for 1972 Spitfire MkIV ?

[John L]

No failures for 2 years then two come along in a month with 2 failures of Accuspark (kit 10).

So I am considering changing to another brand and would appreciate folks experience of which kit has worked well for them & good reliability ?. 

Ideally I want to use something similar in terms of fitting under extant distributor cap ( I have found it easy to change in the event of a failure) but I am open.

Appreciate not an exact science but any views ?

Many Thanks

 

 

[Pete Lewis]

club sell aldon units  

used them for 20 years without failure , cant say the same  of accuspark which ive never bought but 

have found sufferers dead on the drive ,even a 123 that died , 

the 2000 has lumenition since 2015 and its also faultless

maybe you get what you pay for ????

and there again  points cost £5 and last 10,000 miles 

Pete

[Peter Truman]

You pays your money and take your chances!

I have Accuspark in both my Triumphs (Vitesse (Lucas) and Spit Mk2 (Delco)) and the originals have been there over 15 years all OK, but at their cheap price I assumed they would fail more frequently so I carry a spare unit in the glovebox of both cars just in case, they have different Accuspark units. At under 30 quid at the time it was cheap insurance.

I used a Luminition Magnetronic in the Sprint a well made unit brought from the club shop and it was 8 years old when I sold the car it was the only unit that fitted under the distributor cap. Accuspark made a kit but required a new dist cap which fouled the manifold nuts & with cables coming out the top made them too close to the bonnet? I wasn't happy so didn't stay with the setup, & Accuspark weren't very helpful! The Magnetronic was 3 times the cost of an Accuspark.

I originally had the Luminition Optic on the Vitesse, but didn't like the separate module box and wires everywhere so replaced it with the Accuspark unit. I gave the Optic to a friend with a Stag, he's had 3 failures of the Optics module box, and there expensive to replace, The Stag has twin points so the Optic was his best choice.

[Dick Twitchen]

15 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

club sell aldon units  

used them for 20 years without failure ,

Same here.

[John L]

Dick, Pete I see the TSSC sell 

"MAGNETRONIC DOL 1300 1500 SPIT 1500

Measuring only an inch, the whole system is easily fitted INSIDE the distributor. Using the Hall Effect, it's a sure fire way to simply improve on the old points and contacts while maintaining an untouched look in the engine bay."

Is this the Aldon Unit you are referring to or is it listed somewhere else on the club shop portal ?

Thanks

[Pete Lewis]

seems many do not now show aldon's of recent .

Lumenition is magnatronic

you can get aldon form their own site or places like demon tweaks etc.

its all down to preference /cost  ,  cheap chinese copied units dont seem to last 

seem good value on the face of it but life is proven very variable 

Pete

 

 

[dougbgt6]

I've had a PerTronix for 10 years which I think are Aldon? I inadvertently pulled the wires clean off the sensor, I won't say how  but contacted the factory in the USA and got a spare. Cheaper than the eyewatering price of a complete new system.

Doug

[Colin Lindsay]

6 hours ago, John L said:

Is this the Aldon Unit you are referring to or is it listed somewhere else on the club shop portal ?

Thanks

Probably they're all the same design. I used the SimonBBC units for many years, no problems with any of them. He sells on eBay a lot, search for Powerspark or Electronic Ignition and look for the red units.

[Pete Lewis]

in general Aldon use a magnetic  impulser and magnetron/luminition  use and optical one 

Pete

[johny]

I cant add anything about quality but an interesting point for me is the diameter of the different triggers as I believe the larger they are the more accurate the firing point is likely to be🤔

[Peter Truman]

What is the dia of the triggers, is it the dia of the ring that fits over the distb spindle? 

[sulzerman]

I've given up with electronic ignition, back on points and condenser. 

Had a pertronix  on my saloon lasted under 2 years and a accuspark on the spitfire about 8.

Points last for 2  to 3 years on the mileage I do and the cars seem to run very well!

[SpitFire6]

Hi.
I no longer have a distributor. If I did I would fit a Sparkrite 2000 module on the coil.
Popular upgrade in the 80's. Works fine with points and condenser that last years.
The onboard switch allows full bypass. 
One on eBay:
eBay item number:176392612617

All for electronic triggering if done correctly & only for triggering an external switch.
Cheers,
Iain. 

 

[johny]

18 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

What is the dia of the triggers, is it the dia of the ring that fits over the distb spindle? 

Yes the further the magnets, metal trigger or optical cut outs are from the centre of rotation the less difference errors in their installation position should make to the firing timing. We set the timing correctly for cylinder 1 but if the trigger is poor who knows when the other cylinders are firing...

[Pete Lewis]

way back there were reports of the cheapo options the magnetic triggers were not equi spaced so each cyl ended up with a different timing

on the subject of diameters , not related but many triumph engines have a TDC marker on the flywheel 

more use on production as you wont ever find it with the clutch hsg.  fitted 

unless you attack witha hole saw !!

the bigger diameter the more accurate .

Pete

[johny]

Think Ive said before but I tested my accuspark timing on cylinder six as its uses same TDC mark and it was a couple of degrees different☹️

[JohnD]

jonny,

Those timing marks on the crank pulley are on the "inertia ring" of the damper that is built into the pulley.  Triumph considered that this was required when their four cylinders did not because the long crankshaft of the sixes would suffer torsion vibration at a rev range within recommended use.      The heavy ring is bonded to the hub by a rubber band, that provides the damping effect.

During the fifty or so years since it was built your damper has been exposed to the heat and oil of the engine bay, and like tyre rubber the ring deteriorates.  It swells and cracks, or becomes stiff so that it can no longer act as a damper.    This exposes the crank to potentially damaging vibration stress.   Worse, the rubber can lose adhesion to the ring or hub, allowing the ring to turn on the hub.     This means that the Timing marks no longer correspond with TDC, by an unknown and variable amount - you cannot time the ignition accurately.

On yours, you say that true TDC is a few degrees different from the markings.  This is a sign that the inertia ring has shifted and may do so more and more.  Certainly it cannot be damping the torsion vibration any more.

I suggest that you get a new crank pulley, as soon as possible to continue to protect the crank!  Apart from the timing problem and lack of damping, an inertia ring that has lost adhesion has been known to come right off and ricochet around the engine bay like an armour piercing round!

John

[Pete Lewis]

we   found the "adjustable  timing marks on our 1600 many years back 

you could turn the damper ring by hand ,, should have kept it for Johns test rig but it got binned .

Pete

[johny]

Hee hee no Im saying John I checked my timing with a strobe using no1 spark lead and then did the same using lead 6. The spark for each was coming at slightly different marks on the pulley - if the electronic ignition trigger was accurate they would be the same😁

[John Harris]

Never had a failure on a 123 Ignition, two cars, Spitfire 1500 - all the way to South of France and more, MGB GT V8 - Vienna two years ago 3500 miles over 8 days, Sicily, Corsica last year over 8 days too. Used them since they came on the market. 

[micklewis]

go aldon , others don't even get close for reliability ,   regardless if used in automotive ,marine .aeronautical or on industrial equipment .

 

mick