Stupid timing question

[pruyter]

Ah..I did not know that. Thanks I have learned something!

 

[Tom H]

It all depends on how you interpret what Van said. If he simply connected the + and - leads on the coil backwards the Ignitor would not be damaged, but, as Peter said, it would have a weaker spark. But I suspect that what he is saying is that the coil was wired correctly, except the 12 V power was connected to the wrong end of the coil, i.e. the power was applied directly to the wire going to the Points or Ignitor. That would apply unlimited battery power directly to the semiconductor switch inside the Ignitor. I think such a mistake might even damage Points, with so much current passing through them. Note that the Ignition wire circuit in our Alpines is not fused. I have seen on this Forum many times, and have seen first hand several cases of the White ignition circuit wires with melted insulation. I wonder how often this was caused by someone making the same mistake that it seems Van made. In his case, maybe he was fortunate that the error caused his Ignitor to act as "fuse" and maybe saved his wires!

Tom

 

[Eleven]

When I was rebuilding my motor I obtained one of the billet timing covers from the guy who makes them, so I bought the balancer with lip seal surface (I traded a nackered old Judson Supercharger that I no longer needed for the billet cover - a good deal, I think).

Kevin,
Do all Alpines have the two part balancer/pulley? Wonder if my rough idle is caused by that. Checking TDC is tough because the marks are barely legible.

 

[puff4]

Tracy, all SV Alpines had a balancer consisting of a hub and outer ring (with timing marks), bonded together with rubber. I doubt it's the cause of any rough idling, however - the balance, even with a slipped balancer, wouldn't be so bad as to cause rough idle. However, the timing may be off (due to setting it using the slipped - and therefore inaccurate - balancer ring), which could indeed cause rough idling.