123 ignition

"Geoff Mackenzie" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

They're a Dutch firm, and their first product was 2cv ignition. They then moved on to other Citroens - DS, SM etc - before the ubiquitous Lucas distributors - so, yep, I've heard a fair chunk about them.

Basic opinion? Very, very good. 2cv-wise, they're the standard to judge by - and their main competition is from rip-offs of their design. The D & SM crowd swear by 'em, too.

Lucas/Jag-wise? No idea. But whenever I've spoken to them, I've had the opinion that they're not the kind of people who'd release a product unless it was _right_. Some of the early 2cv systems started to have reliability issues - but they seem to have nailed those quickly, and were very good on replacements.

Their manuals are online, too, if you want to have a look before purchase.

I've got a programmable unit from Jaycar for sale. You can dispense with the mechanical advance completely if you wish - or modify the existing curve. Can be triggered from pretty well any sensor including points. Nothing like 252 quid. Even got the knock sensor upgrade.

See here for details:-

Ideal for a carb car - I've gone down the MegaSquirt route which is a combined fuel injection and ignition unit.

Seconded. My brother fitted one to his 2CV years ago. It's been great.

Mike P

Personally, I think I'd be making sure its not running lean at the top end first.

I can't help with information about 123, but you do have the option of running on 5* fuel

looks like someone has tried and failed to hack the website, but the main data is still there) I use Tetraboost in my PI (normally with V-Power). It allows me to use the handbook ignition timing, and the car seems to have more "go" than any other additive I have tried (it has not had the unleaded conversion

- it's not worth it for the mileage I do!).

Jim

Thanks, Dave, but I won't take you up on your offer. I'd rather go for an all or nothing approach, and uniquely I've not come across any negative comments on the 123 on any of the websites I've looked at. So I've ordered one, and should fit it this week ready for Goodwood.

Good luck with the MegaSquirt - sounds like a major undertaking!

Geoff MacK

Fair comment, but it's very difficult to tell. I'm working on the principle that there can only be two things wrong - carbs or timing (barring potentially catastrophic things like valve timing) so assuming the 123 does what it says that eliminates one source of problems in one swell foop. I'll keep you posted.

GeoffMacK

I used to use Millers VSP with four star, but pre-rebuild I switched to V Power or Optimax and found it perfectly acceptable at 8btdc with no pinking and no apparent loss of power. Not had an unleaded conversion either - opinions vary widely on whether it's worthwhile. Currently doing about

10,000 miles a year - much reduced from when I used it as a company car - but an embarrasing amount is at the top end of the rev range. Well, it doesn't half sound nice.

Geoff MacK

It's almost certainly no more sophisticated than the Jaycar - assuming you lock up a standard distributor first. And *a lot* more expensive. If I were spending that sort of money I'd want a distributor free solution.

Doing it bit by bit. Finally got the O2 sensor fitted today which was the major headache.

Forgot to add - do let us know how it performs.

First impressions - much improved mid-range, no trace of pinking. That's on "factory setting" of curve no 4. Lumpy tickover, though. Will enjoy the Goodwood thrash, settle it down a bit and try a spot of fine tuning. Should emphasize that this is purely subjective - no times against stopwatch, no rolling road etc - but after 35 years ownership you do get to know how a car "feels" pretty well! Experimenting terminated when fuel pump decided to pack up.....

Geoff MacK

Oh dear.

It should be possible to get it to run better in every way - mechanical distributors are notorious for not giving an accurate curve after some use

- if indeed they did when new. And to add to that, modern petrol is very different to the stuff which the car was designed to run on - and not just the octane rating either. So an entirely different curve might prove necessary.

I think you need to go to

Hope this helps with your problems

Hmmmm - five OT and moderately insulting posts around midnight last night - got a hangover this morning, have we?

Geoff MacK

More likely he managed to get into the office in the secure unit.