Ignition

[Zvoiture]

Thank you, that helps alot. And finally! A vote for engine management!

steve77

[SER240Z]

Sorry it took a while to reply, but as Ben says, the HI6 will run an engine with any ignition, but they recommend EI. It ends up running in connection with the EI. The 700 does the optical pickup and tells the HI6 when to trigger, and the HI6 triggers the coil. Hope this helps even if it's late.

[Zvoiture]

From doing some pretty heavy research the past couple of days on each of their respective sites, I have made some deductions:

The Luminition looks like a VERY NICE system. Looks very simple to install and has all the bells and whistles. Also easy to add programmable management to, and easy adaptation to lots of additional do-dads like a/f mixture meters timing and boost controls. Unfortunately, it is also the most expensive ($3-400) and is made in England. Perhaps, though they have done something to 'Luminate' the 'Darkness'. Ouch.

Comparing the 6AL, Mallory Hyfire VI and Crane HI6 (funny they all have the same name) it seems MSD is WAY behind on the technology curve. I suppose this is why you can buy 6A's for under $100 and AL's for a bit more. The other two are digital, and the MSD is analog.

It is just an interesting observation the Hyfire and HI6 only come with rev limiters built-in, while with MSD, you must choose a different unit to get this option (6A/6AL). Not a big deal, but interesting from a marketing/progression standpoint. Also the former two do not require chips to set rev limits.

From studying installation procedures on the Crane unit, it APPEARS to this ignorant soul the ONLY reason to keep the OE EI control is to maintain the OE tach. An aftermarket tach runs directly off the CD unit.

At first the Mallory and Crane units seemed prohibitively expensive compared to the MSD. It seemed you could burn up almost three 6AL's for the price of the others. But JEGS currently has a deal where you get a HI-6 and a LX92 coil for $199. That's more like it!

I have plenty of ZX parts laying around and as of this moment think a well-operating ZX dizzy and aftermarked tach combined with a Crane Hi-6 unit and coil will be a solid way to go.

Corrections welcome.

steve77

[Ben]

You do not need to go to an aftermarket tach even if you completely altered the ignition system from standard.

Any instrument workshop wuill be able to retro-fit a compatible circuit-board to your OEM tacho. I've recently had this done to my 240Z inductive tacho to suit the tach-output of the MSD. Cost was $180AUD. I now have a calibrated digital-compatible OEM tach.

[2ManyZs]

One thing on the rev limiters.. yes, the MSD 6AL may use a chip, but they seem to be the most accurate.

One of our members recently put a new system in his IT car, and set the rev limiter that is built in to the unit, and it was cutting in much lower than what he had it set for....

Depending on its useage, sometimes the "old style" like the MSD are better, as they are a proven combination, and as such, sometimes can be much more reliable.

Some of the newer units don't like vibration, heat, or won't operate with fluctuating input voltages.

Just something to think about...

[justaZcarguy]

Currently I am running a dual point Mallory on my '74 with no vac. advance and I see no advantage so far from the stock setup. Am I on drugs or should I notice a difference? And yes, the advance is set at 34 degrees at 3k RPM... I have not tried the stock setup but plan on it...

As far as a rev limiter goes, I have never understood this concept, I for the most part know from "the ear" where the engine is needing to be released of some RPM's. I have never bought into the idea of a rev limiter based on the "old school" way of thinking...

Am I off base on this? (Not to open a can of worms on myself...:classic: )

Have a safe new year!

~Brian