Hi all,

I have a 2.1 Pinto from Vulcan which is a a bit difficult to start. At the moment the ignitioin system uses points. Is it worth upgrading the ignition system to improve starting and if so to what? I am not majorly mechanically minded but willing to have a go!

Thanks for any comments.

Andrew

Are you sure its an ignition problem?
Have you looked at other possibilitys like valve clearances or timing or fueling
Points are not the best thing since sliced bread but properly set up will work well.
Not being funny but sometimes we can get an idea in our heads and miss the real cause,
Steve,

quote:

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Originally posted by Moose
Hi all,

I have a 2.1 Pinto from Vulcan which is a a bit difficult to start. At the moment the ignitioin system uses points. Is it worth upgrading the ignition system to improve starting and if so to what? I am not majorly mechanically minded but willing to have a go!

Thanks for any comments.

Andrew

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hi,

as PeteW says really, i would say megajolt is the way forward with a pinto, perhaps have a word with Ray Ward on this forum if your thinking about the megajolt route...

cheers Tom

I agree that Megajolt is a worthwhile upgrade. Mine was.

Especially as I paid less than £100 but just sold it on eBay for £170

You need to explain what the problem is though as MJ will not sort a starting problem tht is not ignition related. It's only benefits are a better spark and better timing control.

Is your motor turning over fast enough?
Is the fueling correct?
Are the plugs clean and gapped correctly and are they the correct heat range.
Does it start any better when cold/warm?
Is you timing set correctly?

Many people remove the vacuum advance and them try to compensate by advancing the static timing. All this does is give to much advance on cranking and gives very low cranking speed.

Sorry, more questions than answers but if you can answer the questions you may well find the cause of your problem.

I found the points pretty bad on my pinto, only lasting around 1500 miles till I could notice the idle speed reduce and before long the car was difficult to start.

Don't know why they deteriorated so quickly as I had the ballast resistor & yet buggies never seem to need doing.

I have an electronic dizzy from H&H Ignition Solutions. They will set it up to your engine spec, and even modify it again for you for nowt if you change it. Seems to work perfectly. I bought one on the recommentdation that points on a reasonably well tuned engine are not a great idea. Plus with an electronic dizzy you get the right shape advance curve and total advance if its been set up properly by people who know what they are doing. Plus there are only 2 wires to connect, one to the positive and one to the negative sides of the coil. Easy as that!

http://www.h-h-ignitionsolutions.co.uk/

David

quote:

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Originally posted by flak monkey
I have an electronic dizzy from H&H Ignition Solutions. They will set it up to your engine spec, and even modify it again for you for nowt if you change it. Seems to work perfectly. I bought one on the recommentdation that points on a reasonably well tuned engine are not a great idea. Plus with an electronic dizzy you get the right shape advance curve and total advance if its been set up properly by people who know what they are doing. Plus there are only 2 wires to connect, one to the positive and one to the negative sides of the coil. Easy as that!

http://www.h-h-ignitionsolutions.co.uk/

David

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Megajolt

Running on dellorto's, 5 pumps on the throttle starts first time hot or cold

As previously said, you may as well try getting it starting properly first before throwing money at electric ignition systems.

My midly tuned pinto (45s, Fast road cam, ported and flowed head) starts fine even from cold, just give it a couple of pumps of the throttle and your away.

If your having trouble starting buying a electric ignition system may not fix or even hide the problem your having.

If you get it running properly then you can upgrade to make it more reliable.

Find out the ignition timings and curve from vulcan so you can see if that is correct first. Have they given you a decent dizzy or have you sourced one yourself.

Let us know what the symptoms are and Im sure we can help you get it going.

Mine was a bugger to start when the timing was out.

As said before i dont see how electronic ign will sort bad starting. It should only improve long term reliability. I have electronic, no issues so far, going to megajolt but only cos i love techy bits. Well set up points should start car up easy every time, its just that they may not be optimal for fine tuned performance.

Thanks for the comments:
OK the symptoms. From cold it needs lots of coaxing to start. Has twin dellortos 45s. have to give it a few pumps on the throttle and then turns OK (does appear to turn slow-but then - what is slow?). Tends to flatten the battery before it starts so have to use jump leads. After a few turns it tends to stop turning (or get verrrrry slooooowww) and then need to put foot down to get it to turn and then lift off again. Once started runs no problems - does not even need nursing for the first few mins.

From hot its nearly impossible to start. Engine turns over much faster but only way to start it appears to be foot to the floor on the thottle and even then I am lucky if it starts. Engine was put in by someone else but apparently timing was set to 12 degrees (as recomended by Vulcan) - I have no equipment to check it.

Cheers guys
A