Electronic Ignition

[Cyril]

Hi
I have been reading recently about modern conversions of Morris Minors/Travellers, one being the conversion of the ignition to an electronic one.
Is converting to an electronic ignition a good thing? and if so is it an expensive/complicated undertaking?
Best wishes
Mark

[bmcecosse]

My view is - stick to good old points....... At least it can be fixed when it goes wrong. But if you must - the easiest way is to buy a complete new 45D dizzy from accuspark or simonbbc (search ebay) - with electronic conversion already fitted....... Just plug it in and drive away..

[charlie_morris_minor]

difficult not really.. can be as easy as swapping a distributor.

good points when set correctly there are no points to re gap and replace every so often, especially important with the current quality of some parts.

bad points when they go wrong they can give some very odd behaviour and a simple points swap by the edge of the road to get you home is impossible.

as for price, they range from very little if you go down the straight distributor replacement to the very much more expensive megajolt system which for a standard A series engine is probably over the top.

around 20 years ago i went down the electronic ignition route and forgot about the distributor until i sold the car 10 years later. About 2 years back I went down the electronic route again but went for a cheaper option, i changed back to a standard distributor in January this year.

[Cyril]

Thanks Charlie and Bm
Its not something I am thinking of doing at present its just I have been reading about it quite a bit especially on Morris Travellers that have had a complete modern make over. They are always advertised as having electronic ignition stating therefore one would not have any problems with daily drive as with non electronic ignitions!
I did find this on ebay for £59.00 (thanks bmcecosse)[frame][/frame]

[M25VAN]

And keep the old distributor as a working spare in the boot if things go wrong.

I see you can get programmable electronic ignition now from the people at accuspark...

http://www.accuspark.co.uk/Blackbox.htm

[dalebrignall]

i have got the accuspark system cant fault it .

[minor65]

Nothing wrong with points, just replace them at the first signs of missing.

[lambrettalad]

nothing wrong with points ,but 100% (?) of modern cars use electronic plus me very happy with it

[aupickup]

i have accuspark and would not go back to points

[Cyril]

Do electronic ignitions like these have no condenser to worry about?

[M25VAN]

Correct, points and condenser are replaced by the electronic module. I've had a Lumenition kit fitted for over 10 years now. Bought before the newer accusparks etc came on the scene which are much less expensive.

[bmcecosse]

Modern car ignition is a very different beast to the accu/simon sytems....... They just replace the points and condenser. There is no significant increase in the HT, or performance , or economy. My Trav will be staying with points for the foreseeable future. Many seem to be very happy with these new dizzies - but when/if they go wrong you had better have that old dizzie in the boot to get you going again......

[lambrettalad]

Here we go again as this question will go on for ever .(This discussion should be a sticky)

all systems can breakdown

I would wager that electronic (sic) breaks down less than the poor quality points and condensers around presently

also the chances of me changing a condenser on a cold wet windy dark night are zero ,better to sit in the warm awaiting the RAC

If you carry a spare dizzy (I do ) why not carry an electronic one

[Cyril]

Here we go again as this question will go on for ever .(This discussion should be a sticky)

I think we are getting into an area of Morris Purist views vs non purist. And it depends on what level of purism you are at.
I was reading an article where a Morris owner was saying that he simply would not compromise the feel and sound of the original ignition in favour for and electronic version, he described how it took away the soul of his Morris.

I am a film maker and I am very purist about the use of 16mm film in favour of digital, so I can understand the purist view of the Morris enthusiast. Even though digital film its much easier to produce, there is a certain loyalty as a film maker to help preserve the art of 16/35mm film.

However; as I use my Traveller daily, I am in favour of making any modern modifications to make the car more reliable and compatible with modern traffic. I am all for retaining its beautiful exterior and original features. Call me shallow!! I will be having the electronic ignition fitted next year, however, I have taken advice on board and will certainly keep the old dizzy in the boot for emergencies.

regards
Mark

[Hubert]

I would wager that electronic (sic) breaks down less than the poor quality points and condensers around presently

That is the point, I am astonished, nobody has mentioned it before. Of course there is nothing wrong with points, but the quality of those available is gradually decreasing. I exchanged the points which had been in the car when I bought it after about 2,000 miles, there hadn't been any problems with them. The next ones I fitted lasted 400 miles before they completely failed, the next ones had interruptions after 500 miles. The condensor was always exchanged together with the points. I asked the garage that sold them for the reason of the poor quality. The answer was: "Until a few years ago they were labelled 'Bosch - made in Germany', now they are only labelled 'Bosch', and you can guess where they are produced." As all modern cars have an electronic ignition there is no need to produce greater numbers of points, so the production is reallocated to countries with cheap wages.

That was the day I decided to get an electronic ignition. No, there is no increase in power, the engine runs as it used to run with points. But the electronic ignition has given absolutely troublefree service for over 5,000 miles now. And I personally prefer that to purism, but everyone may decide individually.

By the way, my ignition works with a hall-sensor and was produced and fitted by a small local company http://www.laubtec.de/ for just 60 pounds, including an engine tune up.

Cheers
Hubert

[Cyril]

But the electronic ignition has given absolutely troublefree service for over 5,000 miles now

I Like this
Question! What do the guys from accuspark mean when they say "Fits any Morris, negative earth"??
Cheers
Mark

[DaisyMayFozz]

It will fit any Morris providing it is negative earth, rather than positive, you can check by finding out which side of the battery the earth lead goes to.

[MOGGIEMOS1@]

Hi guys you may find this unusual but ive just purchased and fit and new distributor to my mog only to find I couldn't get it to work for some reason or other so am going to refit my points distributor back on with new points etc.....my question is can I convert the new electronic distributor I bought to a points system hence having a new distributor in the process and having 1 for spares....oh by the way I assume the new distributor i bought wouldn't work because i have a 25D in my car but tried to fit the 45D. Thanks any advice would be much appreciated

[panky]

I found I had to make a big alteration to the timing when I fitted an Accuspark dizzy. So much of a change that I needed to move the leads round 90 degrees in the cap to get enough adjustment, works great once I sorted it out though.

[Chipper]

+1. When I fitted an Accuspark to my existing (25D4) dizzy, I had to turn the dizzy body by quite alot (20-30 degrees or so) to even get it to start, then adjust the timing from there.