Ignition Upgrades

[Tproject]

I have a BJ7 with a lucas sport coil and intend to now upgrade the ignition system. I have chosen to go with the Petronix Ignitor in my DM6 distributor.

Based on the wealth of experience on this forum please suggest;

Ignition wires - magnecor, bumblebee, cobalt, other?
Distributor cap?
I assume a Moss premium rotor?
Any other upgrades?

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Tproject,
I did this same mod about two years ago to a 58 BN6. Used the bumblebee wires with standard dizzy cap and believe used just a standard lucas rotor. Never had any problems and pleased with the results. Like the look of the bumblebee plug wires.
Regards,
Mike

 

[David_K]

I would suggest sending your distributor to Jeff at Advance Distributors for a complete rebuild. https://www.advanceddistributors.com/

He can set you up with anything you want and he sources the best quality parts available for Lucas Distributors. Turnaround is usually one business week. IMHO best $100 you can spend on your Healey.

For wires I bought a length of Bumblebee wiring and did the plug wires myself. Only problem is I can't use the garage opener with the car running!

 

[Frankenhealey]

Consider a 1-2-3 ignition. Pete Farmer (UK Healey doyen par excellence) normally wouldn't touch anything more sophisticated than something he could adjust with a hammer but he rates these highly.

1-2-3 Distributors

Also I got a Pertronix 2 kit for my Mallory twin spark and eventually had to send it back due to all sorts of problems with misfires and wandering advance.

Cheers,

Ian

 

[Randy Forbes]

MSD. I'm using a Mallory D.P. (with only one__1__set of points connected) as the trigger, but if I had bought the MSD unit first, I would've been just as happy keeping the original distributor (the Mallory pre-dated the installation of the MSD by a couple of years).

MSD 6AL-2 allows my car (with 3 x 45 DCOE side-drafts) to idle along in stop & go traffic without loading up on fuel (and fouling the plugs). I could never get away with that using the standard ignition and Sports Coil.

 

[Tproject]

Thank you all for the great input!

Now I can research Randy's MSD system. Mike and david locked in my decision for bumblebee wires.
David, I am now digging out my spare bj8 distributor to send for a rebuild after checking out advanced distributors.

Tom

 

[tahoe healey]

Pack the dizzy cap in bobble pack separate from the dizzy body when shipping. Bakelite plastic is very fragile. Jeff did such a good job on mine (still using points) that I haven't had to touch the points gap in 3 years.
TH

 

[98Redline]

I will have to 2nd Randy's recommendation on the MSD ignition.

It made a world of difference in my BJ8. The car idles smoother, does not foul the plugs and will start and idle with no choke (even after sitting for a couple of weeks).

For my app, I got rid of the mechanical points and used a Crane Cams optical trigger to fire the MSD.

 

[jcw67spitfire]

Interesting thread and points made. I got a group called electric upgrades of all sizes and will sent out some invites if anyone interested.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Interesting thread and points made. I got a group called electric upgrades of all sizes and will sent out some invites if anyone interested.

I've been using a Mallory Unilite in my 100 for about 15 years. Last year I had to replace the ballast resistor as it somehow cracked. Otherwise the system has been faultless.

I agree that Jeff does nice work and is very knowledgeable and reliable.

 

[AUSMHLY]

I have a BJ7 with a lucas sport coil and intend to now upgrade the ignition system. I have chosen to go with the Petronix Ignitor in my DM6 distributor.

Based on the wealth of experience on this forum please suggest;

Ignition wires - magnecor, bumblebee, cobalt, other?
Distributor cap?
I assume a Moss premium rotor?
Any other upgrades

Another thumbs up for Jeff...I would suggest sending your distributor to Jeff at Advance Distributors for a complete rebuild. https://www.advanceddistributors.com/

Do not use solid core spark plug wires with PerTronix.
Use suppression or carbon type spark plug wires.
I think Pertronix's spark plug wires are carbon.

 

[jcw67spitfire]

That was my suggestion too - just go with Pertronix wires - I think I had already gotten new wires from Moss before I put my Pertronix on.

 

[BobHaskell]

Folks haven't had any issues with the carbon spark plug wires and the original DM6 distributor cap with the piercing screws? I understood that to be not a good combination.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I tried suppression wires on my BJ8 for, well, RFI suppression. My car developed a high RPM miss/stumble. I put the stranded core wires back on and miss gone. The suppression wires seem to work for some, but I do think it's a matter of time (or luck). FWIW, except for that experiment, I've put about 130K miles on the car with Pertronix and stranded copper wires, and I have the same setup on my BN2, but with only a few hundred miles.

I'm not an EE, but know that stranded wire has essentially zero impedance, whereas suppression wires have considerable (thousands of ohms per foot or so). I've always run my cars with resistance plugs--they typically have about 15K ohms--and sometimes with resistance plug caps. I can't think of an electronics reason for suppression wires, as the coil should effectively isolate the Pertronix from the secondary ignition. Pertronix coils, sure, as I think they have a bit more resistance than OEM Healey coils. Both my Healeys have OEM Lucas coils; the BJ8 coil has about 205K miles on it.

 

[John Turney]

.... I can't think of an electronics reason for suppression wires, as the coil should effectively isolate the Pertronix from the secondary ignition. ....

I run a Crane system with an optical trigger, Sports Coil, bumblebee wires (metal strands), resistance plugs. The only negative about the bumblebee wires is that a dial-back timing light won't work. I have to substitute a resistance wire for #1 plug to make it work.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

My advance meter works with copper wires, but the case is metal and 'hot' to the chassis, so I have to be careful to not touch the body anywhere. It seems like some work with copper, some don't; I had a Sears meter with a plastic case--the 'bargain' model--and it worked good and I didn't have to worry about letting smoke out, but it got itself stolen.

The mechanic who overhauled my BJ8's engine took the Pertronix out and put points in it to static time and do a break-in. When I installed the engine it barely ran and backfired like crazy--he'd forgotten to re-time for the Pertronix and it was running about 20deg retarded from where it should be.