Replacing the ignition wire set.

[david.avrahami@]

1987 Carrera 76,000 mile... Just a few questions about maintenance of my ignition...
cold start is good and starts with over 1000 rpm's slowly reducing to approx 7500 at idle and slightly rough until car reaches its normal temp. level and idle becomes steady at 8800 rpm (approx.).
My plugs and valve adjustment were done approx 8000 miles ago but my OEM ignition wire set are still the original...or at least for the last 15 years. I am led to believe that it is time to replace them, so I got a new set of Magnecor kv85 from Pelican.
1. Should I change them at this stage?
2. If yes, Do I need to bring the distributor to TDC prior to its removal and the rotor removal (i got new ones as well...)
3. Can I install the wire set without removing the AC compressor?
Any other advice is well appreciated

[emac]

Dave pull one zero off you idle numbers, I would change the wires always a good thing to do. I don't understand why you would pull the dizzy to replace the rotor no need for that. I don't have air but I'm sure you can do it
Ernie 81sc

[Rich Gas]

Hey guys... When changing mine:
You can just pop the distributor cap off and replace the rotor. Just remember the orientation of the old rotor and replace.
You can replace them with AC in place.
Changing the wires made little difference in how my car runs.

Your current description of how your car starts and runs sounds normal.
I've changed all my ignition pieces, injectors, filters, coil, cap, rotor, plugs, fuels lines etc.
My car starts and runs just as you describe.

Rich

[JAR0023]

Already been said. No need to remove the distributor. Cap comes off with push and 90* turn of the two "screws" on the side. Rotor is a press fit. It only goes on one way.

You don't have to remove the A/C compressor but moving it out of the way (no need to disconnect) is helpful if you want to replicate the factory wire routing on the right side. Tape a folded towel to the right quarter and you can set the compressor out of the engine bay and not mess up your paint.

Toughest part is keeping the wires in proper order. With the convoluted factory wiring it's easy enough to mix up 4/5/6 after you get then tucked under the A/C compressor. -J

[Rich Gas]

David... What usually is the problem with these cars is the oil gummed up fuel delivery system.
I made the mistake of cleaning the throttle body plate on the car.
It's easy to take off the AFM and give it a good cleaning.
Clean the ICV.
Run some Swepco 503 through the gas tank.
It'll smoke a little, then purr like a kitten.

[wrxnofx]

On my '87 I personally found it easier to remove the AC compressor and top bracket from its mount in order to change out the ignition wires. The right bank ignition wires are mounted to the engine in 4 locations. One bolt location is directly underneath the AC compressor. Hence, it's way easier with the compressor out of the equation.

It's a simple job. Just loosen the 3 bolts and 1 nut holding the sliding compressor bracket down. Once those are loose, loosen the tension screw and nut on the right side (make sure to first mark with pencil the washer locations on the bracket so you can get the same belt tension back when re-installing), and slide the bracket to the left. Then remove the belt from around the compressor pulley and remove the nut and 3 bolts. As another poster said, you can now move the compressor out of the way.

On the left bank I found it easier to remove the round, black engine blower pipe, too (the one running from blower output). This gives you much easier access.

Also, when you think you have all 14 wire ends pushed onto cap, coil, and plugs sufficiently, give each of them another push just to make sure.

[david.avrahami@]

Thanks guys for the valuable info

[scarceller]

I rerouted all my wires and shortened them. The setup looks like this now and works great. Used Magnacores.

[Rich Gas]

Scarceller... Looks nice...MAF working good?
Like to thank you, you're instrumental in helping me select new injectors. You did some great research awhile back. Went with the 360s. You also helped me with tuning the mixture using the O2
Etc. (you and Steve W).

Thanks for your hard work...

[scarceller]

Rich,

Thanks for the kind words.
The MAF has exceeded my expectations, I've been developing the system plus the custom software for it in the chip for 3+ years now. I have 2 cars running the solution.
But to stay on thread topic I wanted to share how I shortened and cleaned up the Magnacore wires.

Originally Posted by Rich Gas

Scarceller... Looks nice...MAF working good?
Like to thank you, you're instrumental in helping me select new injectors. You did some great research awhile back. Went with the 360s. You also helped me with tuning the mixture using the O2
Etc. (you and Steve W).

Thanks for your hard work...

[david.avrahami@]

Thanks for the picture....but now I am curious about your the replacement of the air box and others with a slick looking system...can you plese elaborate on what have you done and to what type of performance results? is this being offered as a package deal by somebody?

[emac]

Dave I would start with your first post. Change the wires, rotor, filters etc. not trying to be an ass but I feel your mechanical skills are limited and this is a very easy start to learning the ins and outs of your car. As you learn then you could focus on getting a slick looking system, by doing it yourself and not having to go to the bank to pay someone.

[david.avrahami@]

I can still be curious and question an item that I have not seen before...The question was directed to SCARCELLER who posted the picture...
And by the way, i have done, personally, lots of work on my car and acquired knowledge from reading from various sources and getting answers from pelicans of lesser egos...so if SCARCELLER can respond it will be well appreciated.

[emac]

As I stated I did not want to come across as a ass. I have no ego in this game I was just trying to help. I only said what I did because you asked if you have to remove the dizzy to replace the rotor, my bad I should have known you knew what to do.

[scarceller]

Dave,

As for my MAF conversion you can't just buy it. I developed the solution over the past 3 years. It's not a simple drop in system as it requires DME wiring changes and my custom developed chip where I rewrote the entire fuel air delivery portion of the software. I'm a EE by education and a software engineer by trade. I have thought about marketing the solution but the price point would be near $1800 as it really needs to be installed by me and the DME also needs converting.

Don't want to derail this thread so that's about all I have to share on this thread.

Originally Posted by david.avrahami@

I can still be curious and question an item that I have not seen before...The question was directed to SCARCELLER who posted the picture...
And by the way, i have done, personally, lots of work on my car and acquired knowledge from reading from various sources and getting answers from pelicans of lesser egos...so if SCARCELLER can respond it will be well appreciated.

[david.avrahami@]

Thanks for clarifying...it does look amazing...

[Rich Gas]

It is his thread... Please... Keep going.

[scarceller]

Rich,

The MAF system I developed is a true MAF conversion, it's not a MAF pretending to mimic the AFM. A MAF device responds to air flow changes about 100 times faster than a mechanical barn door AFM. For this reason alone you can never make a MAF mimic a stock AFM. Also a MAF does not require any IAT temp corrections to calculate fuel mixture because it measures Mass of Air not volume (like the AFM). MAF device also automatically adjusts for altitude changes and thus keeps fuel mixture on target regardless of altitude. The stock AFM uses a simple altitude sensor that closes at 1000 meters and then the DME removes about 6% fuel but the problem is that it only does this fuel adjustment at exactly 1000 meters. While the MAF by design keeps fuel on target at all times regardless of altitude or IATs. Bottom line the MAF is just a far better measuring device than the stock AFMs from the 1980 era.

What caused me to design the MAF solution was simply that my AFM was old and faulty. The stock AFMs are very hard to find and they cost in $800 range! The MAF I used is a basic Ford Racing MAF and they come individually flow benched with exact calibration specs for the MAF. I then enter the MAF to voltage values into my new DME program and calculate fueling needs via the new software.

Do I think it improved WOT performance? not really because even the stock AFM is not a restrictive device.

But it did improve these things notably:
- Cold start
- Altitude correction, like going up a mountain area.
- And most important throttle response is notably better.

I have two 3.2L cars running the system and I figure it needs to sell iin the $1800 range for it to be a worthy marketable product. I tried locating some 3.2L cars in my area to do a few more prototype cars and even offered reduced pricing and I have no takers. Bottom line is the solution is simply expensive. Just parts alone are in the $700 range plus the custom work required to the DME or for me to provide a DME with the solution. Add in my time to install and tune and the the costs easily merit the $1800 price.

And I can't yet install it in a car with AC because it won't fit with all the AC stuff in the engine bay. I'm sure I can overcome this but not going to spend any more time on it at this point.

Originally Posted by Rich Gas

It is his thread... Please... Keep going.

[Rich Gas]

scarcellar,
I applaud your effort. You are a rare breed. I'll be watching you. You have helped me on more than one occasion.

Thanks for the info,
Rich

[david.avrahami@]

+1 and more....Thanks for your great response to my curious mind.