anyone using the maplins ignition amp on their engine, ideally crossflow, want to make comments?

I intend to fit one simply becuase having twin 40s on 1300 engine, there is not a lot of room to get at the internals of the dizzy (reckon I may need to remove the carbs in order to remove the capacitor).

This is my amp assembled in a metal case, AB12, again from Maplins. A few modifications were made to the side so the cover will fit over the circuit board.

I soldered spade connectors onto the ends of copper wires, from chunky T&E cable, and into the board. This required making holes for them in the base part of the box. There is a plastic spacer to keep the circuit board in place when the leads are pushed onto the spades.

The two photos should explain it all.

Isnt that amp just a diy version of the old sparkrite systems that amplify the signal and allow a fatter spark? These were common in the 70's. Not sure how effective they were.

If you want a more reliable dizzy why not fit a simple electronic set up. On the pinto this is taken from early sierra's etc. I think the xflow can be upgraded with the valencia setup. At least with electronic ignition you dont need access under the dizzy cap as often. Might need a right angle dizzy cap though so it doesnt foul the twin 40's.

After that you are into ditching the dizzy altogether and going for EDIS4 and megajolt which you are already looking into.

quote:

---

Originally posted by DarrenW

After that you are into ditching the dizzy altogether and going for EDIS4 and megajolt which you are already looking into.

---

I think that both devices reduce the spark that appears across the points. This is normally caused by higher voltages produced by the inductive load of the coil colapsing (i am an electrician).
This means that only a small voltage appears at the points and therefore they do not erode as fast as normal.

It also means that the surface of points no longer pass enough energy to self clean - also it still leaves the major problem with contacts points (Fords particular;y) of wear on the copntact heel causeing the gap to close up.

Systems of this type are really just away of introducing another thing to go wrong. If you want rid of points but aren't ready to go to an ECU system fit a Fiesta/Escort Valencia distributer. But take the coil from the same care and the wiring harness between the two parts.

[Edited on 15/2/06 by britishtrident]

I had one of these on my 4 pot landie. It blew up a lot of components for no apparent reason leading to very poor running until I sussed it was dead. I didn't notice any improvement. It was replaced with an Aldon Ignitor unit that is a hall effect pickup with built in amp that all lives inside the dizzy. It is very neat and helps starting and running no end particularly if you have any wear in the dizzy spindle or the cam that operates the points. They cost about £65 so may or may not be cheaper than a second hand electronic set up, make sure you get one without the vacuum line to the electronics box, they are useless for go faster applications as they are part of an economy system!

Caber