Roger H Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 There is an Oz (Melbourne) based company which is in the final weeks of development of a programmable ignition advance module for commercial release. It'll be a boon to the owners of Mini's to Jags. (I hope to be using one of the first by late August). The retail price is likely be just over $200(USD) and (at this stage) will work with Pirhana & Crane/Allison electronic ignition systems. It will also be able to be used with genuine 'high energy' coils. I will soon be able to pass on the contact info where you will be able to buy direct. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Sounds interesting! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jean Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 Roger does this mean you can discard the interior of the dizzy, to say the bob weights and the springs, and to map the ignition curve to your requirements, including a memory to monitor the ignition delay, cranking advance, acceleration and deceleration etc.... Very interesting indeed Jean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roger H Posted July 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 That's exactly it Jean. You can set two curves (for different fuels eg super/avgas/lpg) changed at the flick of a switch. To get the curves right, you can program in real time on a dyno. It has a built in rev limiter facility and can deal with advance/retard etc wrt manifold pressure (via sensor) or electronically. (It can also compensate for variations in coolant temperature for different fuels!). The unit which will suit my electronic ignition system (Pirhana optical type) is the one which will be available soon. It is available now for other electronic ignition systems. http://www.delta-digital.com.au/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cinnobar Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Roger, don't understand what the difference is between this and any other programmable ignition on the market. Look at RPI they do a unit which gives variable timing for LPG type useage and I've no doubt EMerald or any of the other units could do it. Most of these would dump the dizzy & give fully mapped ignition with a coil per plug as well. Seems to be a slightly halfway house between a fully mapped EDIS type unit and normal later type electronic units, most of which can have programmable maps anyway. Any idea of cost, Emeralds unit is circa £ 500 +VAT. Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roger H Posted July 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Jim - the unit uses your existing distributor and ignition (with points if you want!). Cost will probably be around £125 ex Oz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cinnobar Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Looks to be just a posh add on ignition system, why keep the distributor? You could trigger off a timing wheel on the crank and get far more accurate timing rather than a distributor with wear & gears driven off the cam with all the inacuracy that entails. Have a look at http://www.rpiv8.com/electrics-1.htm the A & R amp that RPI do, this does a similar thing and is UK priced at £ 125, speak to Chris there I'm sure it would trigger off any of the aftermarket units useable on a TR6. Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robgeev Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I thought the RPI advance by retard unit only shifted the baseline timing? Basically just like having someone under the bonnet twisting the dissy for you? Anyway, programming advance curves without a dyno must be virtually impossible-think I'll just stick to a good old fashioned vacume unit, and leave this sort of thing to those much wiser than me! Rob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jean Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Rob, no problem, but your old fashion bobweights and springs will never be able to cope with the modern fuels and future changes, while ignition mapping will do. No pinging and backfiring anymore and optimal spark position at any revs and load Jean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Looks to be just a posh add on ignition system, why keep the distributor? .....or for that matter, why keep the car? Why not just trot over to the BMW store and pick up a Z4 or second-hand Z3 and get all kinds of high technology? I'm with Robgeev - I like the antique fire-engine aspect of TR ownership. Anyway, I get no pinging or misfiring period with my points and Lucas dizzy. OK, it's been gone over by Racetorations and has stiff springs, but that's it. If it stops working I can fix it, too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 OK, it's been gone over by Racetorations Tom, You're on t'other side t'pond (N.America!) aren't you? Is Racetorations a US or UK company? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roger H Posted July 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 I may be a fringe dweller in this regard, but I have what feels like a primal obsession to make the car as good as it can be. After being an observer to a concourse restoration (National Winner), I decided not go that route, but tailored my rebuild to be "mine" (although it has been promised to my 14yo son in the course of time). The Lucas dizzy was rebuilt by Racetorations but was for a full race engine. As far as I know there are no OE advance springs available anymore so I've mucked around for hours with different spring types trying to get close to the 'book' advance curve profile more suited to a fast road setup. The process is imprecise and tedious. I learnt the long way that ignition timing is a huge factor in performance and reliability (engine life) and a programmable unit is ideal. All it is doing is replacing the springs and bob weights in the bottom of the dizzy but enables precise adjustment, which for the serious, is done while the car is on a dyno. It will also suit me to have the ability to switch between two curves so that the few times I trot around a track with 100+ in the tank, I'm feel that I'm getting some benefit out of the investment! I reckon a Z3 would be following a well sorted TR anyway!! :cool: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jean Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 No problem Tom, I have seen very few TRs with high compression engines that are not pinging under load, unfortunately the fuel, oil companies sell us is in no way suitable for our cars, no denial possible on that matter. As my car is powered by an EFI system since 98, without any electronic mishap, I have discussed this question with some people and they all say, : yes but in case of computer problems you will not be able to fix it. At the same time I have seen their cars being repatriated by AA or RAC. My question to them is in general,: how is your modern daily driver equipped and how often do expect it to brake down. This is mostly followed by a deafening silence Jean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cinnobar Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Overall, and I nearly said this in the first post. Given the elderly design of the Triumph lump, you'll struggle to reduce the pinking anyway. Lack of squish and the cast iron head will also contribute to this. Think in terms of the head being 1950ish design and you won't be far out. Lob the straight six out and fit a modern V8 and you'll probably resolve the issues :laugh: Thats what Stephen has done in our group with his. In fact a 350 Chevy & auto box..... Or this. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws....74&rd=1 Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
malcolm Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Now that IS an interesting TR6 :: Malcolm. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Jonlar, I guess you know by now Racetorations is on your side of the pond ( www.racetorations.co.uk ). I bought a " Low Advance " distributor for my TR250 with P.I. head, cam, tubular header/ Phoenix single pipe exhaust and triple Webers. This is by no means a race motor but is quicker than stock TR5 by almost 1 sec and 5 mph in the 1/4 mile. I wasn't too surprised that the performance was not noticeably better than my 13 degree dizzy with 100,000 miles which it replaced, though I'm sure there is no pinging/detonation now, and it should be good for another 100,000 miles. Kastner said 30 degrees max advance was suitable for street engines and 28 degrees max for full race. This is easy enough to set one's self although soft springs will let the advance come in too soon and give pinging mid-range. Anyway, I haven't seen a lot of difference in the performance due to advance characteristics when everything else was right with the dizzy. Roger, I agree that a quick TR will give a Z3 a run for the money - my colleague has a 2.5 and I can hang with it pretty well ( the TR has about a 700 lb advantage ). I wouldn't challenge a 3.0 however, nor obviously the M-type versions. :: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.