All,
After a lot of research, I decided to fit a Pertronix
"Ignitor" electronic ignition in my 1974 TR6, and report
that it works fabulously. Without making any other
modifications, the car starts faster, idles much more smoothly
(I had to drop the idle about 150 rpm) and appears to pull
much more smoothly throughout the rev range, and especially above 5000 rpm.
The units fits under the distributor cap and looks stock.
I bought the unit from Roger Bolick for $63; cheap at twice
the price. The installation is very easy, and should take no
more than a few minutes.
"A few minutes" if your name is not Shane Ingate, that is...
There is a story behind it all (much mirth at my expense).
I asked Roger to send me a unit and it arrived FedX a few days later,
complete with very careful and comprehensive instructions for fitting
it to the TR6 from Roger. "Mmm, looks easy enough said I.....".
I checked the timing (engine warm) before removing the points and
then mounted the Ignitor. I had to use the dremmel a bit to enlarge the
mounting hole on the Ignitor base plate. Double check the wiring and start
the car. Nothing. Had I shorted the Ignitor? Popped in the points and it
ran fine. Popped in the Ignitor and nothing.
Roger was very quick to help me out, and we checked coil
voltage, etc. After a few days of email between us, he sent me a new
Ignitor out of his own car, one that he knew worked.
I installed the new Ignitor unit and kicked the motor over....
Nothing. I HAD to the doing something wrong. I went over everything.
I traced every lead and figured that I was doing something really stupid.
At this stage I was paranoid that I had shorted the 2nd Ignitor. So
I said "the electons go from here to here to here to....wait on,
how do the electons from the coil to the plug wires when there
is no rotor in the distributor....." Oooops.
Popped in the rotor, the engine started as soon as I touched
the key. I swapped in the original Ignitor, and it works like a
charm. I lowered the idle about 150 rpm, and it idles better than
ever. Adjusted the idle (no vacume) timing to 12 degrees, and it runs
fabulously. I'm stoked. Of course Rogers directions clearly state
to pop on the rotor before closing up the distributor cap.
I have a Lucas Sports coil from TRF waiting to go in, but
I want to run with the Ignitor-only for a while - to make it a more
controlled experiment. I have the Lucas "bumble-bee" spark-plug leads
on backorder from TRF, so I will have a truely good ignition system.
Now about that brain transplant special from TRF.....
Shane Ingate, Dreaded Current Owner (DCO) in San Diego
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