xmas engine quiz

[Ian Faulds]

Morning, whilst browsing ebay I found a gt6 for sale, heres a pic of the engine bay, I wondered whats in the box arrowed, I thought cover for coil or sparkright electronic ignition but surely it would've made the coil hot and same for sparkright if that.  any ideas?  Sorry theres no definitive answer.

[Clive]

That looks like the std coil position, so I reckon it may be one of those sparkrite(?) ignition thingies that clips onto the coil? 

[NonMember]

Clive is right - it's an electronic ignition (booster) module. I had one on one of mine, many years ago (possibly even on the GT6). Up at the top of the box there are two small orange lights - power and coil telltale - and on the top there's a switch to select between standard points, electronic, or ignition disable.

[JohnD]

 "electronic ignition (booster) module."    What that then?

Found this video review of a similar (?) black box:

 

But surely making an ignition spark more powerful (whatever that means) will only be useful if you have tuned the engine to be very difficult to ignite - very lean, or something.    If the ignition booster gave more power of itself, the the reviewer above would have been blown off his chair, at least!

 

On the original pic, that the DPO has added HT lead extensions, by strapping on extra pieces with insulating tape, then using more tape to tie long lengths of other leads together, so that they will cross fire, doesn't fill me with confidence about their knowledge, expertise or judgement in ignitorational matters.   So choosing that 'booster' may be as wild a decision.

JOhn

[dave.vitesse]

John,

I agree with the other feedback as it looks like one of these. A Sparkrite electronic ignition unit. Still uses the points but at a lower current, it boosted the energy to the coil and as a result increase the spark voltage. Sold in the 1970's/80's.

Dave

[johny]

Think the main benefit of that Sparkrite was to extend the life of the points contacts greatly by pretty much eliminating burning. You cant 'boost' the spark exactly because youre just collapsing the magnetic field thats built up in the transformer (coil) as the current stops when the points or, in this case, electronics open the circuit.

However the quicker you can stop the current flow the greater the voltage that will be developed on the secondary side of the coil (HT side) and this is where electronics have an advantage because by eliminating contact arcing the current is stopped almost instantaneously....

[JohnD]

Ah, so it's a lowvolts transistor switch, triggered the points.    Big deal.

adding the capacitor to the original Kettering system points extends their life from 1000 flavour 6000 miles.   Spend ?£40 to make a £2.50 part last longer? No thanks!    

sorry thread diversion - nice idea for Xmas!   Spot the weird part!    I'll see what I can find!

John

[dougbgt6]

[Mad4classics]

Anyone remember the PE Scorpio ignition units? I remember building one  from the article that appeared in Practical Electronics. It used an inverter to charge a capacitor which then discharged into the coil - produced a fearsome spark and the points lasted ages.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRACTICAL-ELECTRONICS-Magazine-November-1971-PE-Scorpio-Car-Ignition/162387183527?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574933636%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5336728181%26customid%3D%26mpre%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eebay%2Eco%2Euk%2Fitm%2FPRACTICAL-ELECTRONICS-Magazine-November-1971-PE-Scorpio-Car-Ignition%2F162387183527%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1787507978680%26rvr_ts%3Dc1f70e451670a9c47784f6e7ffe5a545&_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1&ul_noapp=true

[dave.vitesse]

25 minutes ago, Mad4classics said:

Anyone remember the PE Scorpio ignition units? I remember building one  from the article that appeared in Practical Electronics. It used an inverter to charge a capacitor which then discharged into the coil - produced a fearsome spark and the points lasted ages.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRACTICAL-ELECTRONICS-Magazine-November-1971-PE-Scorpio-Car-Ignition/162387183527?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574933636%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5336728181%26customid%3D%26mpre%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eebay%2Eco%2Euk%2Fitm%2FPRACTICAL-ELECTRONICS-Magazine-November-1971-PE-Scorpio-Car-Ignition%2F162387183527%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1787507978680%26rvr_ts%3Dc1f70e451670a9c47784f6e7ffe5a545&_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1&ul_noapp=true

The Sparkrite stored extra energy in a capacitor, using an inverter, then dumped it through the coil when the points operated. It was known as a capacitive discharge ignition. Later they made an Inductive discharge ignition unit due to problems with the capacitor breaking down, usually in very hot conditions.

Yes I remember the PE-Scorpio. - A lot of us car nuts built our own, but the problem was finding a high enough voltage capacitor where the  dielectric didn't break down. You needed Mill spec stuff, generally not available.

Dave

[SpitFire6]

The Sparkrite one pictured was a very nice bit of kit if you only had points. From memory and not off the boxed ones I keep buying from eBay:

Electrical contacts had zero wear on the points so timing stayed better. The output voltage from the HT coil was much higher. Also of longer duration, as it was not a CDi unit.  Reactive discharge..Bigger improvement if you had a six cylinder.

I had the kit version and can remember swapping out the capacitor and the SCR for more expensive ones. It destroyed weakened HT components. My HT leads "glowed" when it was damp.

The static timing was easy to set with the inclusion of a lamp. Neon?

Cheers,

Iain. 

 

 

[poppyman]

59 minutes ago, Spitfire6 said:

The Sparkrite one pictured was a very nice bit of kit if you only had points. From memory and not off the boxed ones I keep buying from eBay:

Electrical contacts had zero wear on the points so timing stayed better. The output voltage from the HT coil was much higher. Also of longer duration, as it was not a CDi unit.  Reactive discharge..Bigger improvement if you had a six cylinder.

I had the kit version and can remember swapping out the capacitor and the SCR for more expensive ones. It destroyed weakened HT components. My HT leads "glowed" when it was damp.

The static timing was easy to set with the inclusion of a lamp. Neon?

Cheers,

Iain. 

 

 

The one you gave me is still working fine   And like you say no wear on the points. Thanks again.

Tony.  

[yorkshire_spam]

Go here: https://www.oreillyauto.com/

Find p/n 121G

Enjoy!

 

[dave.vitesse]

I agree a good piece of kit. Yes as said, it will seek out any dodgy HT parts of the ignition system and cause interference on your MW/LW radio if the suppression is not right! But the engine does run smoother and the MPG is improved.

An alternative was the transistor assist with a sports coil. But that never seemed to have the same kick! 

Dave

[dougbgt6]

You need a flux capacitor.

db