[Spridgets] Electronic Ignition

Chris King cbking at alum.rpi.edu
Thu Mar 19 06:22:33 MST 2009


I have to believe there is am emissions control component to the
adoption of electronic ignition. GM HEI showed up in cars as cheap as
the Vega and the Chevette in 1975 or so. The BL cars sold in the US got
electronic ignition (remember those OPUS units, you 1500 guys) in 1975
as well, while the UK kept points up to the end of production. Why would
BL (or GM, for that matter) put a more expensive component into the car
unless they absolutely HAD to? 
 
I agree it was an evolution - first the electronic switching and the
hotter spark for the leaner mixtures for better emmisions. Then
electronic spark control, and then electronic fuel control (computerized
carbs, TB FI, and later muli-port FI). The by-product of this was
eventually more power while still cleaner exhaust.
 
That said, I am running an electronic ignition on my 1500 - it's the CEI
black box and 45DM4 dizzy that was the warranty replacement for the
failing OPUS units. The thing is 30 years old and works flawlessly.
 
Just my 2 cents.
 
-=Chris

Chris King
http://home.comcast.net/~kvcbk/ 

 <-----Original Message----->

 	  	 From: Dean Hedin [dlh2001 at comcast.net]
Sent: 3/18/2009 9:53:29 PM
To: spridgets at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Electronic Ignition 

Fine, I am all for arguing the quality of a given aftermarket electronic
ignition system. 
If Pertronix Ignitors fail more often than points do then its a serious
problem that should be 
talked about. Maybe it was only the earlier versions that had a tendency
to fail. 

But I do believe points belong in the museum right there next to knife
switches, spark gap transmitters, 
and Lucas generator regulators. 

I can understand how someone with a concours vehicle may want to stick
with a correct distributor and points. 
But I don't believe that type of car is driven very much on the street. 

And no, electronic ignition in your car today is a result of the
evolution over time as engineers 
realized they could get rid of the mechanical matinence of points. Only
later did they put the ignition under 
computer control for emmisions purposes. 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Billy Zoom"Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Electronic Ignition 


>>>> virtually all modern cars have electronic ignition 
>>>> WITHOUT POINTS. 
> But REAL electronic ignitions...NOT Pertronix, and they have it so the
> computer can control ignition to lower emissions. Pertronix doesn't
improve 
> performance, and it can fail. It's just an electronic switch that
replaces 
> the points. Regular points work fine up to around 9000rpm. If you
frequently 
> exceed 9,000rpm, then you definitely need something more adequate than
> either points or Pertronix. 
> BTW, it there a name for a phobic fear of contact points? 
_______________________________________________ 

. 


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