Ignition Amplifier relocation kit

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,781
356
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piece of glass, water, sandpaper, time

I can't believe you never had to deck the head of some crusty 2 stroke bike
 

luckyjoe

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2004
455
118
New Jersey USA
No, not the insulator. The shaft that the rotor rides on is not insulated in any way from the shaft that goes all the way down, but this little plastic thingy is supposed to keep the rotor shaft from sliding up far enough to disengage the mechanical advance.
I started looking at the distributor replacements - DUI is $600 and lead time is three months. Ordered myself a stock replacement, so I have one around for three Classics.

Speaking of spark coming out of the coil but not out of distributor... It can easily be distributor timing way off.
Commonly referred to as the Top Hat Piece. Royal PITA to replace.

V8_Rebuilt_Kit.jpg
 
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p m

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 19, 2004
15,617
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La Jolla, CA
www.3rj.org
Well... Updates on converting the ignition to GM HEI-style amplifier:
in short, negative so far.
A couple of weeks ago I swapped one in my son's 95 LWB. The engine started and ran beautifully. He called me back from different part of town later in the day and said the truck wouldn't start.
I came over and reconnected everything to the factory amplifier - everything back to normal. Did some Google fingerwork on Pertronix HEI ignition modules and decided it was a dud. Also, I thought it may have burned from ignition being on while the engine was off, with a factory 0.7-0.8Ohm primary coil.
Last Saturday, I decided to assemble another set, using a brand new 3Ohm-primary coil. I had another amplifier sitting on the workbench, but I wanted to test the old one.
Remarkably, the engine started on a dime, ran beautifully - until it warmed up and ECU lowered the idle. Once the idle went below 800 rpm, the engine would die. It happened several times, and no fiddling with other stuff helped it.

Not to blame the "Flamethrower Ignitor III" - I suspect the factory pickup coil output is on the low side. Since the amplitude is speed-dependent, it could simply not trigger the module when the idle drops below a certain speed; strangely, it started every time (at even lower speed) - maybe it has something to do with the ignition module running in multi-spark mode at a start-up.

Stay tuned for the updates.
 

Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
Well... Updates on converting the ignition to GM HEI-style amplifier:
in short, negative so far.
A couple of weeks ago I swapped one in my son's 95 LWB. The engine started and ran beautifully. He called me back from different part of town later in the day and said the truck wouldn't start.
I came over and reconnected everything to the factory amplifier - everything back to normal. Did some Google fingerwork on Pertronix HEI ignition modules and decided it was a dud. Also, I thought it may have burned from ignition being on while the engine was off, with a factory 0.7-0.8Ohm primary coil.
Last Saturday, I decided to assemble another set, using a brand new 3Ohm-primary coil. I had another amplifier sitting on the workbench, but I wanted to test the old one.
Remarkably, the engine started on a dime, ran beautifully - until it warmed up and ECU lowered the idle. Once the idle went below 800 rpm, the engine would die. It happened several times, and no fiddling with other stuff helped it.

Not to blame the "Flamethrower Ignitor III" - I suspect the factory pickup coil output is on the low side. Since the amplitude is speed-dependent, it could simply not trigger the module when the idle drops below a certain speed; strangely, it started every time (at even lower speed) - maybe it has something to do with the ignition module running in multi-spark mode at a start-up.

Stay tuned for the updates.
Thanks for the update. Look forward to see how it progresses.
 

luckyjoe

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2004
455
118
New Jersey USA
been a while since Ive looked at one torn apart. can you adjust the air gap?
Not really. I adjusted it as tight as I could without reluctor wheel hitting the coil due to the play in the shaft.
Ordered myself a new baseplate so I could compare.
Yes, you can adjust the air gap!

It's worth checking to see what could be "loose" and causing play. In my case the top hat bushing disintegrated, but I've read of others having disconnected spring weights or even loose pick-up module securing bolts.

Note: if you move/reposition the pick-up module you must reset the gap. 1995 RRC WSM states the Air Gap should be 0.20-0.35mm. I had a difficult time finding non-metallic feeler gauges so I used a strip cut from a single-use plastic water bottle (tried a few, and checked thickness with calipers).

Below is a photo from my distributor rebuild (with cheat notes).

RRC_Distributor_Guts.jpg
 
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