falcoln0014

I'm looking for some good prices on the ignitors for the project...i'd really like to just not use the 20 year old ignitors...rather buy 3 brand new J109's...but I can't seem to find any...where the best place to buy them...or...well...really anything GOOD...if I can get something just as good for cheaper...tell me



The coils I'm definitely getting off E-bay...found msd blaster 2's rated at 45,000 volts for around 30 bucks or so



DLIDFIS

I was reading the info from this page I found on another post

IF anyone has more information...helpful tips...and whatknot...tell me before I get too deep into this



I got some 1/8" alluminum plate outside that I can use for making a heatsink



uh uh uh....hmmmm

I guess thats really all I need right now...like to get started on this in a week or 2...depending how long it takes for junk to get here...but I need to know where to get all the crap first

falcoln0014

Hm...been reading a lot about people using the GM HEI ignitors for this purpose...I'm going to be in little rock on friday...so I'll see if I can get some fairly cheap...just one question...is there really much difference in the "high performance" ignitors...such as flamethrowers...and say a cheaper wells or something



If I was running just one...on...the whole engine...then sure i'd go with the largest ignitor I could find...but since I'm going to be running 3 of these bad boys I didn't know if it would make much difference...well...except in my wallet



Ok...so say I get 3 of the wells HEI ignitors or whatever...ehm...COILS...I was looking at the MSD blaster 2's...and now i'm looking at some of the Pertronix Flamethrowers...really its going to cost me about the same for either coil...going to order 3 at around 35-40 bucks a pop I believe...the MSD's claim a 35,000 volt spark while the Petronix claim a 40,000 volt spark...I know its probably about the same...uhm...but which would be better for the cheaper ignitors (if thats the way to go)



I'll get the rest of the crap coming before the coils and ignitors...wire...ehm...pure silver thermal compound for the ignitors heat sink...I just love that artic silver that I use here in my computer...great stuff



Uhm...nothing else at the moment...just waiting for someone to verify that this isn't a crazy idea



And i read a lot of stuff that said it would make my 1st gen sound more like a second gen...something to do with the change in the ignition...does anyone have a sound clip that could prove this??...i'm really curious as to the difference

falcoln0014

Hmmmm...I feel as if I'm just talking to myself...but anyway



I found a "WELLS IGNITION MODULE" at autozone...model DR100...Its only 15.99 for this specific one...and I found it mentioned on several conversion pages...so I'm assuming it would do what I need it to do



and if those will work...I need coils...good coils...HOT...but cheap...and something that won't blow up on me...i've already blown up a set of coils in the rex...leaked oil everywhere...my car was running like CRAP



someone...quick...give me advice...while I'm still feeling creative

Jeff20B

You're not crazy.



As for the types of ignitors and coils you should use, all I can tell you is I've had excellent results with stock and OEM replacement coils (Diamond, Bosch, Hanshin). I've used J-109s in all of my vehicles and installed three HEI ignitors in a 13B powered B2000 last year, also with 1st gen OEM coils.







Here is a link to the thread if you're interested in the rest of it. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/index.php?...pic=38120&st=0&



Edit: I'm working on some sound clips to let you hear the difference. They'll be ready eventually...

Jeff20B

Here are three sound clips of an old style ignition system.

falcoln0014

That all looks rather...simple yet...confusing...have a wiring diagram I could gawk at?



I saw one earlier using the GM ignitors...but I can't seem to find it anymore



hmm...I also see 3 gm ignitors on that board...does that mean I totally bypass the stock ignitors...or do I still need to use them for the signal?

Jeff20B

Well on that particular setup, one stock ignitor had burned out a long time ago and then the other died on me while I was driving it. We then swapped in a known good one to get it to my place where I then gutted both the dead ones to act as signal pass-throughs for easy access to the pickup signals. If you can see the other pics of the engine bay, you may notice there is still a stock-looking 1st gen wiring harness near the dizzy. It fortunately had one of the early harnesses with seperate B+ wires (black with a white tracer) for each ignitor B terminal at the T shaped connectors on top of the ignitors. That later ones Y'd both B terminals together to save on the cost of one 10AWG wire, thus making the wire run from the dizzy over to the coils a little lighter and thinner. Luckily I could use what was already there.



The wiring diagram you saw earlier was someone's attempt at modding my original DLIDFIS diagram, only they substituted HEI ignitors for the (not very accurate looking) J-109s that I had drawn. Same idea, different terminal locations.



I honestly don't remember which pickup wire goes to the W terminal of the HEI ignitor. You'll see what I'm talking about if you choose to go with HEI ignitors. I had to figure it out with a spare dizzy and cross referenced it with a speaker (you know, the fun way to test coils and ignitors? ). Perhaps 83turbo will know.



Another thing to watch out for with two HEI ignitors in parallel is it might require a faster spinning starter to trigger them due to the pickup signal's splitting into to ignitors. Does that make any sense? My own testing on J-109s showed that if the battery has enough life left in it to crank the engine over, it'll be enough to trigger both ignitors. As for the HEIs, I think it requires slightly more speed. On the B2000, it hasn't been a problem (its Holley has always been cold blooded regardless of ignition system, so it;s impossible to tell since this is the only HEI setup that I've ever done).



It only looks complicated because I over-did the wiring. I used 10 guage wire and looped it a daisy-chain configuration to try to reduce the resistance as much as possible. A bit of overkill, but that's ok. The same setup could be done with half as much wire (it would look a little less complicated too).



Here is another old style ignition clip. you may have already noticed the put-put nature of the exhaust note.

Jeff20B

Here is a clip of a newer (direct fire) ignition system. You'll notice that even though it doesn't run perfectly smooth at low RPM (big porting and a large single turbo on an FD), it still sounds smoother and less put-put-ish than an old style ignition.

falcoln0014

My starter is pretty much brand new...and the battery is ultra beefy...so I don't think it would be a problem



The exhaust clips sound similar to my 84...but they're not nearly as deep...you can hear my exhaust clip in the downloads section...it used to be really tinny sounding...but after we slapped on the reworked carb with large jets it dropped the tone some...also the glass pack seemed to drop it some more



hmm...10 guage...I may go with that...much larger and you can't find connectors for it...might actually have to go with 12 instead...but I"m not sure...i'll see what I can find



I've never heard of testing them with speakers...altho I have gobs of them laying around...mostly old rx-7 factory speakers that I just can't seem to throw away

falcoln0014

do you have a clip of that direct fire on a FB perhaps?...and without music and stuff in the background?