E12-80 question

[NismoZ]

well the fumes is mostly from outside the car...if widows are up i don't have fume issues...i just want the most complete burn possible..i guess ill pick up the summit street strip ignition since its really cheap...as for the e12 80 dis it is magnetic pickup right?

I think it is worth it. I seem to remember that I got better mileage with it, and I had a friend to back to back dyno runs with and without MSD and picked up 8 hp with it. I can't speak to the exhaust fumes, but I think that's probably a hatch seal issue or a leaky exhaust.

I would suggest the 6AL or equivalent from Crane or Summit. The rev limiter is a nice function to have.

Edited January 14, 2009 by NismoZ

[jmortensen]

Yes, magnetic pickup.

[NismoZ]

ok one more question...is the red wire pos and green wire ground on the Dis?

[jmortensen]

You're talking about the pickup wires, right? I don't recall, but I do seem to remember that it didn't matter which way you hooked them up on the MSD. It was just looking for the signal.

[Carl Beck]

I would think it would be the same .0039-.0043" that the manual states. If you're running an E12-80 distributor you don't need a resistor as an electronic ignition uses the full 12 volts.

I thought resistor plugs were specified to redue radio noise. The voltage delivered to the plug is a function of the coil or CD unit.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[Carl Beck]

73 views and not one answer?

If your engine is within factory spec's for tune (fuel/air, timing etc). If your ignition system is within factory spec.'s electrically - then you would see very little difference going to an electronic ignition or a full captive discharge system.

The problem is - very few 30+ year old cars are running perfectly within all factory spec.'s. Valves leak a little, rings wear and engine oil gets diluted with gasoline. Compression goes down a few points.. a little current is lost in old wires, spark plugs begin to foul and at times misfire...

The 280Z/ZX electronic ignition replaces the old mechanical points - this keeps the dwell within factory spec. and over time shows a significant improvement because it does not get out of spec. as quickly. As far as 0-60 times - a perfect original ignition ran once, will give all but the same performance as an electronic ignition. Run them both for 6K miles in day to day use - and the electronic ignition will win hands down.

Captive Discharge is used to greatly increase the strength of the spark at the spark plug gap. This really does two things. 1) allows the use of far greater plug gaps for a "fatter" spark to ignite even a poor air/fuel ratio and 2) the larger gap is keep cleaner, with less resulting fouling.

The bottom line is that both electronic ignition (either light or magnetic field triggered) and the CD systems really improve total performance of the ignition system over a far longer period of use.

It is worth it? Depends on the use you put your car too. If you drive less than 3K miles per year, you might as well enjoy twiking the old mechanical points as part of the original Z experience. If you drive a Z daily and do more than say 10K miles per year, a full CD ignition system is most likely an enjoyable investment.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Edited January 14, 2009 by Carl Beck

[NismoZ]

If your engine is in factory spec's for tune (fuel/air, timing etc). If your ignition system is within factory spec.'s electrically - then you would see very little difference going to an electronic ignition or a full captive discharge system.

The problem is - very few 30+ year old cars running perfectly within all factory spec.'s. Valves leak a little, rings wear and engine old gets diluted with gasoline. Compression goes down a few points.. a little current is lost in old wires, spark plugs begin to foul and at times misfire...

The 280Z/ZX electronic ignition replaces the old mechanical points - this keeps the dwell within factory spec. and over time shows a significant improvement because it does not get out of spec. as quickly. As far as 0-60 times - a perfect original ignition ran once, will give all but the same performance as an electronic ignition. Run them both for 6K miles in day to day use - and the electronic ignition will win hands down.

Captive Discharge is used to greatly increase the strength of the spark at the spark plug. This really does two things. 1) allows the use of far greater plug gaps for a "fatter" spark to ignite even a poor air/fuel ratio and 2) the larger gap is keep cleaner, with less resulting fouling.

The bottom line is that both electronic ignition (either light or magnetic field triggered) and the CD systems really improve total performance of the ignition system over a far longer period of use.

It is worth it? Depend on the use you put your car too. If you drive less than 3K miles per year, you might as well enjoy twiking the old mechanical points as part of the original Z experience. If you drive a Z daily and do more than say 10K miles per year, a full CD ignition system is most likely an enjoyable investment.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Thank you Carl..

[jmortensen]

Captive Discharge is used to greatly increase the strength of the spark at the spark plug gap. This really does two things. 1) allows the use of far greater plug gaps for a "fatter" spark to ignite even a poor air/fuel ratio and 2) the larger gap is keep cleaner, with less resulting fouling.

Exactly. You can have a 50KV coil on your E12-80 distributor, but that doesn't mean you're getting 50KV to the plugs when the car is idling. As you put more load on the engine the resistance at the plug gap increases and then the voltage at the coil jumps up and you might get closer to the 50KV rating on the coil. With MSD the coil gets 460-480V instead of 12 like you'd get from the E12-80 distributor. Even though the dwell time is shorter, that huge increase in voltage soaking the coil means a hot spark every time, and the reason they drop back to one spark above 3000 rpm is to allow for enough dwell on the higher rpms.

[sblake01]

I thought resistor plugs were specified to redue radio noise. The voltage delivered to the plug is a function of the coil or CD unit.

FWIW,

Carl B.

I thought he was talking about a ballast resistor.

[Carl Beck]

Reviewing - I think you are correct. My error, as I had spark plugs in mind from the discussion of the gap...Sorry for the confusion..

Carl B.

[NismoZ]

Thanks for all the help guys...can one of you tell me what the red and green wires are in the distributor...i know its for the mag pick up but which one is -ground or +pos..can i even use these two wires for direct hookup without the e12-80?

Edited January 16, 2009 by NismoZ

[jmortensen]

Thanks for all the help guys...can one of you tell me what the red and green wires are in the distributor...i know its for the mag pick up but which one is -ground or +pos..can i even use these two wires for direct hookup without the e12-80?

If you're looking at a 6A they have a Ford magnetic trigger pigtail on the side of the unit, I think the wire colors are purple and lavender or something like that. This is a separate pigtail from the one that has the wires that connect to the + and - sides of the coil, etc. You can connect the green and red wire directly to the MSD at the Ford pigtail without the need for the E12-80 module. I ran mine with the module and then later figured out I didn't need it and cut it out of the ignition system. I kept it in the car and figured if the MSD ever took a crap I'd just hook it back up. I can't answer your question about which one is the pos and which one is the neg, but I'm not sure there is a + or - wire there. They're just wires that go to the pickup coil of wire in there. They aren't powered.