Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing And back to points.....

That sounds really cool but you need the PIN, you don't want to be thrashing down the motorway when the clever kid in the car you are overtaking changes the timing curve do you?

Being serious, if you are spending that type of money I would take another look at the cheaper ignition only ECU's, MS, Nodiz etc. What ever you get I would want a 3D timing curve for that money.
I know I'm biased towards an ECU but a good system is far more reliable than points as there is nothing to ware or adjust once it's installed and setup.
But at the end of the day you need to buy what your happy to look after.
Cheers,
John.

Yeah, I did look at a megajolt style system (trigger wheels do a complete xflow set up for about £440) but it's completely alien technology for me so I'm out of my comfort zone with regard to fettling and tuning. I don't want to have to book in to a rolling road.

All the systems I'm looking at don't use points/condensor - all fully electronic..

TBM, as you might expect I am entirely in tune with your thinking on points, having spent many a year digging my heals in as the world rapidly turned it`s back on the mechanical and went digital, though the basis for my arguments was that the mechanical could be repaired and modified where the digital ever required replacements of kit and that kit would more than likely be out of date and thus unserviceable in jig time, with the sad tale that you just need to buy a new one..!

All the above makes not a bit of difference to those who paid others to service and repair everything, however self reliant types found it ever more difficult to access information, more so in the early days, thus were kinda squeezed out with excuses the likes of intellectual copyright, or overtly expensive interrogation hardware... Yeah well business is business I guess.

Points are easily understood as is the whole system of their operation, you can see hear and feel their operation in a variety of ways whereas in the case of digital kit, without the ability to plug in and access the codes it can all be a tad too tricky, even for experts it seems..?

There is no argument from me relative to reliability efficiency and logically performance improvements thus associated with digital kit when it all works as it should, it is when things go wrong that the credit card and flatbed are required, whereas a pair of pliers a screw driver and a basic mechanical understanding got me home on many an occasion... Changed days..! Yeah just grumpy old man..

Just to finish off with an example. A replacement chromed plastic speaker grill in a LR Evoque.... How much..? £20 perhaps..... Nah, nearer £1k..! The grill is not available as a separate part, one has to buy the whole door card complete...!

Just thinking...err...grumbling in type..

Yeah - although my Corsa is really reliable it has a few electrical niggles - a couple of dash warning lights stay on when the igntion is off and drain the battery. I've looked at the solution and there's about 3 hours of plastic removal before you can even start. Most stages require special tools and levers to remove the host of different clips and pins. I changed the pads and discs a while back and had to buy a set of special sockets to get the calipers off.

Current thinking is that when she eventually dies, I'll get an MGB GT - I have all the tools necessary to keep her running and also understand how all the systems work!

Update:

Option 1 - Lumenition System (about £400 including Dizzy)
Option 2 - Aldon Ignitor II with Coil (about £450)
Option 3 - 123 Distributor (£399)
Option 4 - H&H Complete dizzy, with in house electronics mapped to my engine spec, including electronic coil (£215)

Arwyn and SimonH have also both recommended the H&H so we may have a winner......

I've been using a 123 for ten years. No problem.

Thousands in use and readily available which may be an advantage.

Decided to go with the H&H......

a) It's the cheapest, but appears to use latest modern electronics (as opposed to Lumenition/Aldon which may be decades old?)
b) I only need a relatively standard spec, as my engine is not really modified
c) It comes complete with a jazzy big fatty spark Dry Cell coil
d) They've got a very good rep, especially amongst the competition crew
e) Aftersales/warranty seems really good - read about free fix/repairs many years after purchase.
f) It's the cheapest

H&H Ignition fitted, along with a dry cell coil. Removed the ballast system.

All running fine so far, and very easy to set the timing - there was always a slight/occasonal flutter with the previous dizzy and this one seems to run very steady.

Coupled with the electric fuel pump, starting is much easier/quicker.

does the upgrade use a distributor with an optical switch or magnetic reed switch?

does the new distributor use advance weights or is it electronic

do they refurb your old dizzy or send you a new one?

Magnetic Switch - for my basic requirements it's vacuum advance. For more modified engines they design a curve based on the level of tune.

I bought a dizzy/coil combo outright, but I believe they also offer refurb.