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123 Electronic dristributor

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Jayrz

Jayrz

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Has anyone tried one of these yet? they look to be a very nice distributor with advance curves, 16 of them, built into the electronics that you can select by a simple twist of a selector on the base. $388 isn't too bad either for what you get as I hate points with a passion.
 
I have not invested in the 123 because I'm too cheap and I don't think my engine would benefit from it. I drive like an old lady.

However, I've corresponded with Marcel Chichak about all his distributor work over the years. He developed the 16 curves in the 123 for the company that manufactures it. A number of my Mini acquaintances have purchased the 123 and they all swear by it.

In the Triumph forum of this board there was a recent thread about the 123 for the 6-cylinder engines. Someone there posted a link to a YouTube video showing how stable the spark is from the 123 when compared to Pertronix and to points. You can easily find the video by going to YouTube and searching using the keywords "123 ignition" it will be the first or second hit.
 
That distributor came about to fit Renault 2cv's as the orginal ignition systems are crap and nothing was availiable.

$400 for a street dist might be overkill as will 16 different advance curves...to say nothing of the cost.

Only one curve is needed....the right one for your motor. Knowing which one is needed based on engine parameters and then curving the dist for that curve and your there.

To get the corect curve, whether the dist has one or a hundred built in curves you need to follow someone that has been there or if your motor differs from that someone then you need some dyno time to optimize the curve that you need.
 
Both are correct. $400 for a distributor is a lot of money. However, the 16 curves built into the 123 for the A-series were not arbitrarily programmed and your driving experience will tell you if you've selected the best advance curve for your engine.

Dyno tuning to get the optimum curve for your engine is the traditional and best method for distributor tuning. Marcel has been racing A-series cars for years and owns both his own dizzy machine and dyno. He developed the curves programmed into the 123 based on various common levels of engine build. It's my understanding that the 123 literature (and/or the TDC Engineering web site) include suggestions for which initial advance curve to select. Your driving experience will tell you if the curve you selected is a good choice or if you need to change to something more (or less) aggressive.

You could spend the time and money having multiple dyno sessions and having a pro re-curve your mechanical distributor. In the end however, the 16 curves of the 123 will likely address your particular engine's needs and cost a bit less.

Visit Marcel's site for more information:
https://www.tdcperformance.ca/index.htm
 
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