Now that Crane Hi-6 is Installed

[Dave Bell]

Just thought I would give an update on the operation of my car after installing the Crane Hi-6 multispark ignition.

Mounted the Electronics box, the PS-91 coil and the tack adapter to the firewall.

After I got all the wires cut and hooked up the unit started right up no problem. I check the timing and there was no change.

The little, "beep, beep, beep... chirping of the high voltage going through coil was annoying!!!... the firewall was acting like a sounding board so I removed the coil off of the firewall and remounted the it to roughly the position that the original coil was at.... that quieted things somewhat. I still have the back padding off of the firewall in the passenger compartment from some earlier metal repairs... will put it back later and should get even quieter.

Performance improvements.... nothing to write home about. Idling is a little smoother but perhaps not worth the investment. More power anywhere in the band?.... I did not feel it... but then I did not expect any... so lacking any dyno measurements, it would have to be a significant improvement before I would chalk it up to anything other than a psychological improvement. It did not do anything to solve my residual hesitation during the first minute or so of engine warm up.... probably due to some sort of initial lean condition I have not yet solved?

On the plus side.... the unit looks real cool and the retard control line is just waiting for me to hook up some type of Turbo system should that day come..... Sam are you listening..... With the tach adapter, I did not have to disconnect the condensor, therefore, if I was every stranded by an electronics failure, I could reconnect the wires on the road to run a standard ignition scheme.... although I don't expect that situation from the Crane unit.

I also had a quieter muffler installed by a local no-name muffler shop this weekend and had them put an O2 sensor, from CB performance, into the pipe. Next project is to install the fuel/air meter and hook up the wiring.

Did some driving up the Angeles Crest Highway this evening.... pure pleasure..... but near the end I came across a downed biker surrounded by folks + someone calling 911. It reminded me of hitting my own patch of sand coming around a corner on a bike many years ago and why I now prefer my 4-wheel toy.

Happy motoring guys.

- Dave