Philippi Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Try to improve ignition of my 1963 TR4 and to keep it stable. Anyone experience with for instance Pertronix-units or 123-ignition? And what are the pro's and con's? Thanks from the south of a sunny Holland. Charles Philippi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
67_gt6 Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 Try to improve ignition of my 1963 TR4 and to keep it stable. Anyone experience with for instance Pertronix-units or 123-ignition? And what are the pro's and con's? Thanks from the south of a sunny Holland. Charles Philippi I recommend the Aldon Ignitor (Pertronix). It is possible to buy it from a USA website http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/ where it is cheaper. It will probably be delivered from the UK warehouse. Easy to fit and very reliable. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianhoward Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I have recently fitted the Pertronix complete with their epoxy filled coil to my 5... AThe timing required resetting and very straight forward. Took the car out today for a 150 mile drive and it perfomed faultlessly and is possibly a little more economic. Regards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MadMarx Posted March 16, 2007 Report Share Posted March 16, 2007 I do use the Pertronix. Trouble free unit. Advice....glue the magnet pot onto the distributor cam with a little silicone because the pot does move a little on hard usage and will alter the ign. timing. Cheers Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
67_gt6 Posted March 17, 2007 Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 Try to improve ignition of my 1963 TR4 and to keep it stable. Anyone experience with for instance Pertronix-units or 123-ignition? And what are the pro's and con's? Thanks from the south of a sunny Holland. Charles Philippi If your timing is unstable it may be that your distributor needs a rebuild. The 123 ignition has the advantage of being a whole distributor package however you would have to use an electronic rev counter with it. I personally went for a rebuilt distributor from Martin Jay http://www.distributordoctor.com/ and the Aldon Ignitor from vintageperformance Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 I have been running with a Piranha (now called Newtronic, I believe) system on 4VC since 1993 - works very well and, once set, doesn't go out of adjustment. It uses a light beam and a 4-bladed chopper as the trigger. Just wipe the inside of the Distributor Cap occasionally, to remove graphite dust from the rubbing of the centre post on the top of the Rotor Arm. If you have a later "Lucas" Rotor Arm, throw it away! I've had two of these fail without warning in 14 years. Buy a couple of quality Rotor Arms (one as spare) which are now available from Martin Jay (Distributor Doctor). Ian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
North London Mike Posted March 21, 2007 Report Share Posted March 21, 2007 If your timing is unstable it may be that your distributor needs a rebuild. The 123 ignition has the advantage of being a whole distributor package however you would have to use an electronic rev counter with it. I personally went for a rebuilt distributor from Martin Jay http://www.distributordoctor.com/ and the Aldon Ignitor from vintageperformance Philippi I have to agree with 67_gt6, its the way to go. Aldon Ignitor is one of the better ones and as fitted on my TR4 has proved very reliable and discreet (fitted inside the cap) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
i8pig Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I may be a bit late with this but I have only just returned to the forum (if you are anything like me you won't have done anything yet). I have recently fitted a 123 unit to my TR4. It is fairly easy to fit. Mine is "tuned" to setting 7 which gives about 30 degrees of maximum advance at 4800RPM (if you buy one this will mean something, if you don't it won't matter). I also run 8 degrees of static advance which is about 3/8ths of an inch from the hole in a standard crankshaft pulley and I've opened the plug gap to 30 thou. The engine starts much easier and runs like a clock, it is a Revington fast road spec unit with an alloy head. I am very pleased but it's the expensive alternative and early days as yet. Hope this helps. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Hi Steve, how have you got over the mechanical tacho drive problem? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
i8pig Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Hi Steve, how have you got over the mechanical tacho drive problem? Hi, I don't know of any mechanical drive problem, my version is a solid state distributor and simply fits in place of the standard item. The tacho drive is not touched. My Tacho is as erratic as it ever was but I don't see why it would change as the drive is not altered by the fitting of the ignition unit. If anyone out there has a decent tacho head for sale (curved glass, I can never remember which is convex and which is concave) I may be interested. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Hi Steve, I thought the 123 and 16? point calibration came only as a complete new dizzy which didn't have the mechanical tacho drive, which was why I asked. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
i8pig Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Hi Steve, I thought the 123 and 16? point calibration came only as a complete new dizzy which didn't have the mechanical tacho drive, which was why I asked. You are correct in that the 123 is a complete new Dizzy but it is a direct replacement for the original jobby. The drive shaft and gears are not touched so the tacho remains as original. The drive is not taken off the dizzy, it's from the shaft that drives it. My tacho is still machanical and cable driven. You may have trouble if you have fitted some kind of aftermarket electronic tacho which would be driven from the impulses from the dizzy but I wouldn't know for sure. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 (edited) Hi Steve, many thanks for the clarification, definitely worth going for then as I hadn't realised they had the mechanical drive. Edited April 19, 2007 by jonlar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graeme Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 (edited) Hi Jon, Are you confusing this with the TR6 Distributer which has the tacho drive built into it? The 4 Cylinder engine has a seperate pedestal into which the distributer sits and the tacho drive comes off the side. Graeme Edited April 19, 2007 by graeme Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonlar Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Thank you Graeme, what a dummy! - Yes, you got it in one. I've got a brand new Piranha electronic ignition kit (bought for my old Landy - 1974 2.6, overhead inlet valves, side exhaust valves, but never fitted) which I was intending to fit to CR1548-O's dizzy, but did rather fancy one of the 123, as they're so easy to experiment with. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marvmul Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 Hi Steve (i8pig), You say you have an alloy cylinderhead : I'm interested because I bought a secondhand unit and intend to use it on a race engine. Did you experience any headgasket trouble? May I ask what kind of gasket is fitted (plain copper, steel shim,...)? Do you think it has advantages over a cast iron cylinderhead? Marcel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
i8pig Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Hi Steve (i8pig),You say you have an alloy cylinderhead : I'm interested because I bought a secondhand unit and intend to use it on a race engine. Did you experience any headgasket trouble? May I ask what kind of gasket is fitted (plain copper, steel shim,...)? Do you think it has advantages over a cast iron cylinderhead? Marcel. Hi Marcel, Now, the reason I have an alloy cylinder head can be a long story. I sent my iron head to Neil Revington for "unleading" that head was cracked so I went for an alloy one. As I was replacing the head I decided to uprate the exhaust and camshaft as well (I now have an engine that cost more than the car) so I have "Fast Road" spec components but the engine remains unbalanced and will need further work to become a true Revington engine. The original dizzy was worn so I went for the 123 as a replacement rather than get the old one rebuilt. I assume the gasket is a standard one, the only advantages for my purpose is that I had to do something and this avenue provided me with a new unit. I had none of the worries that a second hand unit or a repair might cause. I'm sorry I can't be more help but maybe one of the race boys will read this and give you the info you really need. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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