cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,580
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Apr 24, 2019 21:09:59 GMT
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Thinking i should maybe upgrade my Escort mk3 1.1 (valencia) from points to electronic ignition seen as its my daily and it seems a bit lumpy/pinking. I had it tuned up the other month but they didn't do the points as i mentioned they had been changed last year (come to think of it they didnt do that great of job). I'm now thinking as its still a little rough maybe i could upgrade it to electronic ignition and buy a timing gun to check the timing once fitted. Any advice on this? I'm itching to buy a timing gun to check my capri too so it will get used again.
main questions are:
1) Is this a good plan and what benefits will i see?
2)) what electronic ignition kit manufacturers are the ones to buy?
I've heard a few stories of electronic kits braking down over points and i know the points have been in a right state on this car before but its continued to drive. any advice will be listened too!!
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eternaloptimist
Posted a lot
Too many projects, not enough time or space...
Posts: 2,578
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Why not just change the points?
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XC70, VW split screen crew cab, Standard Ten
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cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,580
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Apr 25, 2019 12:12:50 GMT
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I did 8000 miles in it last year and just wondered if it would be worth the upgrade.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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Apr 25, 2019 20:15:16 GMT
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Is there not a Ford application to use - a Mk2 or possibly early Mk3 Fiesta?
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,192
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I've seen modern points fail more, things like the heel melting down and closing up the points gap, with condensors being unreliable.
Getting decent quality point is now hard to do IME.
It's worth doing, and keeping a known set of points in the glovebox. I never had to use my spare set of points in the 'B or the MG Midget.
As for your Qs:
1)It is a good plan. IME, they are better with cold weather starting, and you'll eliminate one point of wear in the system.
2) Alot of people see success with the Accuspark and Powerspark units, which are sold cheaply. I've had the Piranha, Lumenition & Britpart kits with good results, the latter being similar to the cheaper ones.
However, electrionic ignition may not solve your pinking issue. That could be down to a number of things including:
1)Static Ignition timing incorrect ; This can cause it to upset things if this is too advanced. You may need to back off Ford's figures by two degrees, unless you decide to run Super Unleaded 2)Poor Ignition advance mechanism: If this is sloppy and worn, the car can also pink; Nomrally, the distributor will spring if you try to turn the shaft. If it is very loose, it's worn. Again, a timing gun can also show this.
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If you want reliability do NOT use Accuspark - they use cheap curse word components and I've known more failures than sucesses over the years. Stick to a decent brand like Aldon. They do a kit that fits in your std dizzy and looks OEM - Burtons will sell them
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-( 10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily 03 Import Forester STi - Sold 98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-( 99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold 02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX 88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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I would recommend Petronix or Luminition for electronic ignition both very good systems and have had experience of both on Ford in line and V engines of my own over the years.
They are expensive but reliable and with electronic ignition systems you get what you pay for.
If you pay monkey nuts for it you will get monkey S**t in return.
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Last Edit: May 2, 2019 17:14:01 GMT by peteh1969
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Ive had lumentation on my elan for the 25 years I've owned it and it was far from new when I bought the car. Whether the ones they sell now are still made in the UK to the same quality I can't answer.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,192
Club RR Member Number: 170
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If you want reliability do NOT use Accuspark - they use cheap curse word components and I've known more failures than sucesses over the years. Stick to a decent brand like Aldon. They do a kit that fits in your std dizzy and looks OEM - Burtons will sell them I've found them to be a mixture, but I did prepare to have them ready to die on me mind you. I've had two Britpart kits on cars before. One on the MGB and another on my MG Midget. Both ran better than when they were on points, and both once ran new points, even when they were adjusted using the 'dwell angle' method. That said, I was prepared to have them die, but they were fine ; the MGB setup ran for years like that. But I did hear that the phasing of the rotor arm-to-cap was off on the Britpart kit, although mine seemed to run fine. Here's a boring video of my now sold MG Midget on one: But admittedly the 'Accuspark based kit I had fro H&H didn't work. In their credit, they gave me another one! It still didn't work! So that car went back onto points with me. The Pirhanha system on the Stag was fine, as was the Lumenition Magnetronic system on the Dolly Sprint. With the latter, I had no choice ; Being a 44D4, only Lumenition made a kit to work with the factory cap and rotor arm. Yes, I could have converted it to a 45D4 as others have, but I remember the neverending issues Rob had on his Sprint until he went to the stock setup. I admit, mine came with the Lumenition. On the Merc, I also have little choice. Bar going custom like Nodiz, no one makes a cheap setup in the UK for one. So I've gone a little OTT. This is how it will change Old Setup | New Setup | Battery | Battery | Points | Pertronix Ignitor II Ignition | Transistor based Ignition box, with two Ballast resistors in series to the coil | N/A | Factory Bosch 0.5 Ohm Coil | Pertonix Flamethrower HV E-Core Coil |
Mine's been randomly losing spark despite having 12V at the coil and and earthing point in addition to the plug wires being fine. It hated the new cap, which is where the car refused to start, and then it wouldn't start on the old cap, and would randomly cut out once running a couple of times. It's been fine since, but it's not what I want driving to France in it. Suddenly the Pertronix system seems quite cheap, especially with what it would cost to rebuild the factory ignition box, albeit the purists would prefer that.
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Last Edit: May 2, 2019 21:04:20 GMT by ChasR
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djefk
Part of things
Posts: 844
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May 20, 2019 14:34:16 GMT
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If you’re still thinking about this, IMO the cheapest, yet most reliable way forward for what you need this car to do is just to find someone breaking a slightly later model escort or fiesta with the electronic ignition setup fitted from the factory and swap over all ignition components to suit; these were made by Bosch so very durable.
Anything aftermarket that’s affordable will come with Chinese reliability....
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madmog
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,153
Club RR Member Number: 46
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Jun 14, 2019 16:44:24 GMT
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Surprised nobody mentioned this but if you're handy with a soldering iron, a Velleman kit is a cheap option. It still uses the points but as a switch using minimal current so won't wear (very very little wear). The condensor isn't needed but you can leave it in place and switch back if the Vellemann packs up.
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