Coaching on switching to electronic ignition in my ‘68

[tdskip]

Going to call Mark Allison today and see what he suggests. I have a couple days before the wheels are back from being powder coated, new tires are in, want to knock out as much as a can so I can start driving her!

[SanJoseSteve]

I installed a Crane Cams XR3000 in my 1972 Spider after my 1st year of ownership in 2001. It has a little LED lamp/trigger that mounts inside your stock distributor cap. Also has a little control box about the size of a desk stapler that I mounted up on the firewall inside the car near the heater valve. (I ran the wires along the firewall loom and through the firewall behind the coolant overflow bucket. You cant see any of it looking under the hood. Appears completely stock. Car starts noticeably quicker / easier.

Fast forward 18 years and 40,000 miles later. Leaving a dinner party late Sunday night, I get to a stop sign and "BANG!" A loud backfire and dead motor. No spark. Got towed home. Found the little control box under the dash had died. Went to buy a new one and found that the name of the company had changed to FAST. $115 later I received the new one, plugged in the new control box in and it started right up. Left the original optical trigger in place. A week later, I bought a 2nd unit. Wrapped it in a piece of foam and stuck in my trunk in case it ever happens again. We waited almost 3 hours for a tow that night. Took me less than 2 minutes to swap out the control box once I had it. My wife said no more trips out of town unless I have a backup in the trunk. Ha! -Steve

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fst- ... bJEALw_wcB

[tdskip]

How easy/hard was it to mount what was needed on the distributor?

Glad it was an easy fix!

[baltobernie]

I too think the Marelli Plex is the way to go. Not only do you lose the mechanical points, but the advance curve offers better performance. Having said that, I've had no issues whatsoever with the Pertronix module for the last ten years. If going this route, ensure your old distributor has good seals and bearings http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10400. Add a Bosch blue coil, and you're good up to 6,000 RPM. I've measured ≈40kV at the plugs (14mm jump). Check the cap and rotor for excessive wear with each plug change and enjoy the car.

[tdskip]

Thank you for the reply.

[SanJoseSteve]

Installing the crane cams bits under the distributor cap was easy. I think there were just 3 tiny screws. Took longer to mount the brain box as I really didn't any of the modification to be visible. The only reason I didn't replace the under the cap bits when I got the new kit was because my eyesight isn't what it was in 2001 and it would be challenging to align the optical trigger with the plastic shutter that rides under the rotor. At least for me w/o a giant magnifying glass. Ha!

LEDs last a long time...... the only maintenance I've ever done under the cap has been to replace the rotor and wipe that LED trigger with a Q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol once every Spring. I don't fear it breaking, but I could see the light getting obscured with grime and not seeing the slots in the rotating shutter that triggers the spark. -Steve

[canadiancastro]

Hello, I'm new here and I've been sniffing around the Electronic Ignition posts....This one seems quite valuable.

Any thoughts on simply dropping this into the car: https://spiderroadster.com/7783.html

It seems more economical and reliable than keeping an extra XR3000 in the glove box, but that's my second choice so far.

I haven't ordered anything from Vick or Autoricambi yet....Just got the car a few weeks ago. I had a '69 VW and a new Electronic Ignition was the first thing I did to it...Best thing I did as well...I'm in Ottawa and we can easily swing in temperature 25 degrees (F or C) in a day; that's my justification at least.

I'm still going to price the same 'kits' from Vick and Autoricambi...Anybody have any Canadian shipping experience?

[canadiancastro]

Well almost two years later and I'm back! I've been sidelined with a blown head (and two young children), but I am eager to get rolling again!

I required a new head and was gifted one from what feels like heaven (which, suprisingly, turns out to be a little further up the Ottawa River). Unwisely I expanded my scope to include an EI upgrade. I did get the kit from: https://www.spiderroadster.com/7783.html and while everything seems to be there it didn't come with instrucions. Some questions:

1. Do I simply pitch the old coil and capacitor and plug the brown (to tach?) and green (from ignition switch?) into the (-) and (+) terminals?

2. The heatsink doesn't seem to fit in any way to the new module...I can drill new holes, but I'm not positive what goes where...My guess is metal to metal with the included silicone to help things and then it can all mount somewhere close by through the holes in the module (and new holes I make through the heatsink)?

3. Then the other terminals on the module go to each side of the coil with a jumper wire each?

If anybody has pictures that would probably be best....As always I appreciate anything and everything any body can offer.

Thank you,
Phil
canadiancastro@gmail.com