Very Cool Ignition Upgrade

[zKars]

Nothing better than knowing you're not alone! Thanks for the quick response, Mike. I'll let Ed know directly so he keeps on top of the problem. I'm sure he'd like to know why the drive end is all ground up if I ever return it for waranty work!

Mine was purchased in the last 3-4 weeks.

[grannyknot]

Jim, now that you mention it I do remember having to force the distributor in somewhat using the bolts. I then removed the 123unit and did some measuring and found that the oil pump drive tang(male) was not seating to the top of the slot on the distributor, but enough to make me comfortable. It is working fine with no problems but now it occurs to me that the sealed bearings inside the 123unit will be stressed as they are being forced up from the friction fit.

The anal retentive in me says "I should pull it now and fix it", the realist says "It might prove to be a problem a 100,000 miles from now".

Ed, I would say you just have to skim a bit more out on the sides of the slot and chamfer the edge on the entry a little more.

Great product though, I love it.

Chris

[Zed Head]

That mount or adapter is the piece that 123 USA (probably ED0 had designed and manufactured to make the 123 distributor a bolt-in piece. Prior to that, not too long ago, they suggested that people build their own.

Ed probably got a minus tolerance, or worn, shaft to use for his dimensioning and they made a bunch of minus tolerance pieces.

[123ignitionusa]

Thanks Guys I will go 12.5 to 12.6 mm with each one before it goes out. Previously I was at 12.46 to 12.48. You have a great group of hobbyist, it's a pleasure working with you.

[zKars]

Ed and everyone.I just got in from the shop. I know what the problem is, and its NOT too small an ID!!! The rectangular slot in center is TAPERED narrower as it goes deeper in the body of the dizzy. The tang on the spindle that engages it is NOT tapered, so depending on how much your particular tang is tapered from wear, it may or may not fit in.

I have 7 spindles here and NONE expect one fit. I measured and measured sizes and all were identical. But two of them fit better than the rest. Once I saw what the difference was, ie one had a very worn (and hence tapered) tang, the pieces fell into place. I ground one tang down to taper it toward the tip on both edges and it slipped right in to complete engagement depth.

Ed you have to re-machine that tang slot so it stays at the same width the whole way down.

Those of us with dizzies have to pull the drive spindle and taper the tang. Reducing the width by .05 at the end compared to where it end being cylindrical is all it will take.

BTW every one of the 7 spindles had an identical .4885 OD to the cylindrical section. The dizzy was already .4950 or better ID, so it was never the problem.

Here is the picture of what I had to do the tang. I'm pretty sure t'is more of a taper than I needed to create.

This is the best spindle I have for comparison (center). Note how straight the sides are.

The one on the left has a badly worn left side taper. I just about went all the way in with no pressure. The straight sided one would not engage the slot AT ALL.

Edited June 10, 2014 by zKars

[grannyknot]

Jim, well that is an easy fix, a 10 min. job.

Thanks for sorting that out.

[123ignitionusa]

It was almost imperceptible until I took the calipers to it. Jim nailed it. 0.018 difference from top to bottom. Easiest fix for now is slight taper of 0.010 per side. To put it in perspective that is about the thickness of a business card. Thanks Jim

[mdec]

zKars - thanks for the feedback. I got lucky & did not have any fit issues with the Dizzy. However...since installing the 123 my motor has been plagued by a really annoying 'miss' issue. The 'miss' seems to occur totally at random, perhaps 1-3x every 30 mins & does not appear to be dependent on engine load or temp. Have checked the dizzy hook-up, replaced the coil, plugs & leads & no improvement. Am running a MSD6AL with Accel 1.4ohm coil. I now have a new dizzy from 123ignition & will be trying it out in the next few days. My sense is that it may be something funky going on with the msd/dizzy combo, but I believe MikeW is running a similar setup & he had no issues. I will be interested in finding out how close a match you guy's had with your timing lights once you had completed your setup. I was way off at idle. ~ 15 deg programmed v ~ 7 deg measured. Rotating the dizzy a tad fixed the error, but I was surprised how far it was off. My timing light is pretty accurate. Any thought/help on this one will be appreciated !. Finally, I would like to mention that Customer support from Ed on this one has been exemplary - he supplied the replacement Dizzy with a minimum of fuss & I feel no pressure from him to return the original until I

[mdec]

am ready !

[Zedyone_kenobi]

You guys are awesome

By the time I get around to spending more money on the Z this will be an old and well understood mod. My Z's mallory is running so well, I will have a hard time pulling it.

Any chance 123 makes this ignition for the 2000 roadster?

[123ignitionusa]

What does the business end of the 2000 dizzy look like. The end that goes in the block.

[123ignitionusa]

Additional machining is being done to correct the problems. Jim I thought you would like to know I appreciate your detective work. All tolerances are being re worked.

It was almost imperceptible until I took the calipers to it. Jim nailed it. 0.018 difference from top to bottom. Easiest fix for now is slight taper of 0.010 per side. To put it in perspective that is about the thickness of a business card. Thanks Jim