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Re: [T3] Ignition alternatives


<x-charset iso-8859-1>Well.. its not that simple!

You cant just drop a distributor in and expect everything to be well, while
we all know the .009 is the wrong curve for just about every setup most dont
know that the advance curve is matched to many things in the fuel and
mechanical systems and the 1.9 watercooled is no where near what you d want
for a T3... the vanagons are curved for much more torque for starters.

Its true that the solid state systems will help enormously with radio noise
the effect of more power over a properly matched stock system that is
WORKING PROPERLY is minimal.

An other thing to be aware of is if the curve is wrong it could cause
detonation at certain RPM's and that is really bad news... and something you
might not hear.  Hows the gas mileage??  this is an indication of how thing
should be... often the engines can seem to run pretty well but be too rich
or too lean and have a life span of less than 50Kmi

Keith

>
> I've been eyeing some of the points-less setups on the market and keeping
> an ear out for peoples opinions.  Then on Friday I was at the local
> pick-a-part yard, and had a flash of inspiration when I saw the '85
> Vanagon.  I came home with the Vanagon's distributor and associated
wiring,
> the module (which I actually grabbed from a Jetta) and coil.  Set me back
> about $35.
>
> The distributor is a dual-advance with vacuum retard and the Hall-effect
> system, AND it fits the aircooled engines.  The wiring harness is a bit
> long, so I shortened it (and took out the plugs for the FI's idle
> stabilizer) and cleaned up a bit.  The distributor dropped in place like
it
> belongs there, the module mounted to one of the coil bracket screws, and
it
> fired right up after I set the timing.  The biggest sticking point in the
> installation was looking at the new setup on the ground, looking at my
> engine and thinking "Is it really *that* simple...?"
>
> I am in love with this setup.  My car now fires on the first crank EVERY
> time, and it idles, winds up and runs smoother than it ever has.  The
> lag/hesitation I always had with the 009 is gone, the little crackle in
the
> stereo is gone, and my mileage has increased.  And I haven't hooked up the
> vacuum advance yet!  I can't wait to see what *that* does for me. =)  And
> find more stuff to put this setup into the Fastback...
>
> So I've been doing some thinking and research about this over the last few
> days.  First, all the parts are standard later-model VW, which makes for
> easy replacement.  The particular distributor I used is from a 1.9 WBX, so
> the advance curve should be well suited to our engines (same stroke, same
> rods).  The module, coil and Hall unit are the same on a lot of the
> watercooled VWs (I checked part #s).  The module is a little black thing
> about the size of a (small) box of matches, screwed to a large-ish
aluminum
> plate.
>
> If anyone might be thinking about trying this for themselves, the sticking
> point may be the distributor.  I'm not sure of the whole range of years
> that this was used, though I'm sure of '83.5-'85 (the 1.9 WBX).  '86 and
> later Vanagons are no good, the distributor has no advance mechanism (the
> curve is controlled by the FI computer).  The module, coil and wiring can
> be grabbed from any watercooled VW with the Hall-effect system, with the
> wiring shortened (or lengthened) as needed.   The module is hiding under
> the black splash-shield under the hood.
>
> Maybe this will inspire someone... <cackle>
>
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