Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Ok. I decided to heat the tip and unscrew the contact point from the porcelain. I noticed lots of a loctite type sealer extending down into the copper electrode. Cleaned it up and screwed it back on. 0.03 Ohms now and problem solved. Live and learn. It may be as you say, when they fire and heat up f...

Since I had nothing better to do last night, I decided to change the plugs in my hillclimb car in prep for an event. Old NGK BP7ES plugs came out. Checked their resistance out of curiosity. Very low, under an Ohm with continuity test beep. These are non resistor plugs remember. New box of same plug....

stealth wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:59 am Man... I bet those with any type of pacemaker near by really appreciate all the EMI..

Hahaha. Ok. Now I see your argument and agree.

Walter R. Malik wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 10:05 am

AC sports wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 10:48 pm
Race cars don't have radios.

Lots of race cars have data acquisition and two way radios.

Let me rephrase that Walter
...Historic race cars dont. Not in my class anyway.

Setting up the dizzy to compensate for latency isnt as easy as it sounds. It's always going to be a compromise I'm finding out.
Either too much timing mid range if you set up to compensate for high rpm retard, or set up the midrange max advance and settle for reduced timing top end.

F-BIRD'88 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2024 6:00 pm None of this will make you go faster. Solid core wires and non resistor spark plugs just create electrical NOISE. for you and everyone else around you.

Not asking if itll make me go faster. Asking if itll work reliably. Like I said, dont care about noise. Race cars dont have radios.

As most of you have gathered from my previous HEI thread, I'm trying to get the most out of what I've got. The HEI ignition used in the Fiat/ Lancia Marelli distributors generally run a rotor with a resistor between its centre electrode and the dizzy cap contacts. My question is why? Can it be repla...

Part of my problem I think is the high rpm the engine runs. Up to 8000 even though I try cap it at 7750

The engine in focus is the classic fiat twincam as found in various 124/131 & Lancia models. I've welded the stops to limit advance. It now has 15* static and 35* max. Measurements at crank degrees. I've been re thinking of the Jenkins solution, and now suspect it might not work in this case. Hi...

I've been reading the Jenkins solution....which I'm pretty sure he came up with in the early 80s. I can see it working, but very fiddly and time consuming to set up. I guess I'm going to give it a go since I need to stay period in modifications.

This too is a FIAT marelli ignition system running HEI as standard

Ok. Thanks for the reply. It goes back to my original question, which was, is it the module or magnetic pickup that's pulling timing. I suspected it was the pickup rather than the module also. I guess I wont be wasting money on a flash hi po module then.

The original GM electronic ignition--early-to-middle 1960s, option K66, I think--used to advertise that the timing retarded 1 degree per thousand RPM. My distributor machine--testing HEIs--shows that to be an approximation. It's not exactly 1 degree per thousand. And of course it's completely "...

Observed with a timing light on dyno. Also when free revved in neutral. If I reset high rpm timing for max power on the dyno, I get mid range detonation. Those 3-4 degrees make a difference.

So it's the module? Not the magnetic pickup causing this? Module is mounted on a heatsink, with the coil away from the engine. Any recommendations? I tried an accel branded one years ago but it barely lasted a couple of months. All wiring, pickup, rotor, cap are new. Voltage always below 14.4v. If i...