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Back in the 1990s I pick up a Sun 504 Distributor Machine, mostly
to deal with Ford V8 Distributors.
But, of course, I did run a few Alpine distributors.
Compared to the Ford units, the Alpine parts were down right
impressive!
I could run an Alpine Dist up to the RPM limit of the 504
with Solid point control!
So I had a strong opinion of the standard Alpine Distributors.
Recently, I used up the points in the Weekend Racer and decided
to make the jump to Electronic.
Through the years, I ended up with 2 New Pertronix units,
a LU-142A Ignitor (for std typ 25 Alpine) and a 9LU-143A
Ignitor II (for a later typ 43/45 Lucas unit).
Seeing I was using a typ 43 (41404) centrifugal only Distributor
in the WR Alpine, I installed the new Ingnitor II.
It would not start!
The best it would do is fire once with a big time period
to the next fire.
I concluded the Distributor was in fact firing the coil
a grand total of 1 time for every one turn of the distributor shaft.
NOT GOOD.
I thought maybe it was the ballast resistor, so I by-passed it with
no change.
I thought one of the few possibilities could be the Magnetic ring
was faulty, so I attemped to use the magnetic ring from the typ 25 unit.
No Go, it wouldn't fit the 43.
BUT, in this process, I found the Magnetic ring was a VERY BAD Fit
on the original points cam!!
WOW, I didn't expect THAT!
I checked the fit on Both Pertronix Kits.
Both had the same bad fit on their respective units!
Jarrid has been beating the drum about how BAD the Pertronix units
were with timing errors from one cylinder to the next.
But with these LOOSE fitting magnetic rings, I can't see any way to NOT
have the timing change from one cylinder to the next!
Yet again, I thought about the MSD world, But I didn't have a suitable
Tach to use in the Alpine to use with the MSD.
And I didn't have enough spare MSD wiring to install a unit on the Alpine.
Also, I was not thrilled to have to cut some very Small wires in the MSD unit
to make the rev-limiter work with a 4 cylinder.
So I circled back to the Pertronix, how about the typ 25 unit?
I installed it into the first 25 Distributor I found and did a quick Bench test and it WORKED!
I installed it in the car and it fired right up!
Quickly, I realized to use this distributor, I Needed to address the advance curve.
I pulled it apart and removed one of the springs.
It still needed a reduction in advance travel but at least I could get a quick read on how it was
all working.
I set the Max timing and took it for a test drive.
The quick test drive was very encouraging!
AND, the Tach seemed to work better than ever!
I ran out of day, and Now have a yet LONGER list of things to do.
More later.
DW
to deal with Ford V8 Distributors.
But, of course, I did run a few Alpine distributors.
Compared to the Ford units, the Alpine parts were down right
impressive!
I could run an Alpine Dist up to the RPM limit of the 504
with Solid point control!
So I had a strong opinion of the standard Alpine Distributors.
Recently, I used up the points in the Weekend Racer and decided
to make the jump to Electronic.
Through the years, I ended up with 2 New Pertronix units,
a LU-142A Ignitor (for std typ 25 Alpine) and a 9LU-143A
Ignitor II (for a later typ 43/45 Lucas unit).
Seeing I was using a typ 43 (41404) centrifugal only Distributor
in the WR Alpine, I installed the new Ingnitor II.
It would not start!
The best it would do is fire once with a big time period
to the next fire.
I concluded the Distributor was in fact firing the coil
a grand total of 1 time for every one turn of the distributor shaft.
NOT GOOD.
I thought maybe it was the ballast resistor, so I by-passed it with
no change.
I thought one of the few possibilities could be the Magnetic ring
was faulty, so I attemped to use the magnetic ring from the typ 25 unit.
No Go, it wouldn't fit the 43.
BUT, in this process, I found the Magnetic ring was a VERY BAD Fit
on the original points cam!!
WOW, I didn't expect THAT!
I checked the fit on Both Pertronix Kits.
Both had the same bad fit on their respective units!
Jarrid has been beating the drum about how BAD the Pertronix units
were with timing errors from one cylinder to the next.
But with these LOOSE fitting magnetic rings, I can't see any way to NOT
have the timing change from one cylinder to the next!
Yet again, I thought about the MSD world, But I didn't have a suitable
Tach to use in the Alpine to use with the MSD.
And I didn't have enough spare MSD wiring to install a unit on the Alpine.
Also, I was not thrilled to have to cut some very Small wires in the MSD unit
to make the rev-limiter work with a 4 cylinder.
So I circled back to the Pertronix, how about the typ 25 unit?
I installed it into the first 25 Distributor I found and did a quick Bench test and it WORKED!
I installed it in the car and it fired right up!
Quickly, I realized to use this distributor, I Needed to address the advance curve.
I pulled it apart and removed one of the springs.
It still needed a reduction in advance travel but at least I could get a quick read on how it was
all working.
I set the Max timing and took it for a test drive.
The quick test drive was very encouraging!
AND, the Tach seemed to work better than ever!
I ran out of day, and Now have a yet LONGER list of things to do.
More later.
DW
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