Electronic ignition

[Fireman_Chris]

Hey Tenners.

I have a '73 2.0 that is stock except for the removal of the F.I. (Empi 40 HPMX) and that conversion's associated geegaws, SSI heat exchangers, and a very nice custom made exhaust.

The car runs great after some serious fiddling but my 914 comrades believe it could run better by putting an MSD ignition set-up on it. It breathes good and blows good but my wrench also thinks it needs a little more fire in its belly. SOOOO, I have a tech question for all of you.

My wrench (re mechanic) also suggested an MSD set-up but says he really hasn't messed with that stuff for almost ten years and he didn't know what all is out there anymore.

I looked around at here, at PCA, and the 914 Club and found there is a lot of dancing around but no hard advice and not a whole lot of recent stuff.

It seems to me there are, basically, five ways to go:

1) Stock with a Bosch blue coil

2) MSD 6A (6201) + Tach Adapter (8920) + MSD Master Blaster Coil (8207) + Plug Wires (3104) + Pertronix Points Replacement (PEL-PT1847V)

3) Compu-Tronix Points Replacement + Compu-Tronix RX1 Coil + Plug Wires

4) As #3 but with Pertronix components

5) As #3 but with Crane Cam components

I am currently using the car as my daily driver and loving it. I am planning on doing as many rallies as I can get into, e.g. the SnowBall Rally, etc.

The consensus is such a system will make it idle, start, and run smoother.

What is your wisdom mi amigos????

As always, thank you for sharing.

[80-911SC]

Your not gonna like the answer that most are going to give you ...

The " best " according to most is a stock well tuned FI ...

[John Rogers]

Since you live in Riverside CA, I would suggest meeting personally with the folks that have or still do work in 914s in the area from where you live to the ocean. That would include Ottos, NARW, Dave Bouzagilou (sp? sorry Dave) and others. This might mean taking a day or two to drive around the LA area to visit the shops? Remember that the advice you'll get here is what you pay for it and given by folks who also give advice for many things?

Since the car has been converted, the comment about the FI system is moot. A lot of $$$$ in a bunch of aftermarket ignition parts would ONLY complement another large amount of $$$$$ spent of hot cams, head work and so on when the engine is pushing 150+ HP and needs help burning the extra fuel. On my race car , both 4 and 6 cylinder engines, we used what you list as the second choice. But that was a race car. On my daughter's 2L FI engine, we used stock except for eliminating the points and replacing the plug wires every 3 years or so.

[Scrappy]

With carbs, a hotter spark is always welcome as they tend to foul plugs at lower RPMs.

It will, generally, start easier and idle more smoothly, as you don't have to deal with varying point gap (timing) and dwell (coil saturation). They also negate the same problems with a worn distributor.

Properly functioning FI is always way better, but you're stuck with what you have. So, listen to your wrench and purchase the system you can afford.

The Crane, Petronix, Permatune and Hot Spark all do the same thing. Addition of one of their "hotter coils" will give you more spark energy.

It's all just extra money spent.

And carry a distributor with points already set up ... they all have been known to fail, usually when you are far from a wrench or parts source.

Since John mentioned asking others, come to the G&R All 914 Rusty Parts Swap Meet and Animal Flesh Roasting Festival on May 6th in Riverside. You might find some of the systems used, but you can surely get all the opinions you could possibly handle. 2727 Kansas Ave starting at about 6:30 AM.

[flyn-hawn]

I had great luck with a complete MSD system. That included there billet distributor, 6AL box, blaster coil, wires, also rigged with a two step and line lock. Never had a single problem with ignition.

I always wondered why everyone ran the 44 IDF webers as they do not seem as tunable as the 48 IDA's which I ran.

I have been wondering if MSD is ever going to come out with a distributor for the 6 cylinder porsche engines. They make such a great hassle free product.

[larrym]

1. get a pertronix

2. do not use the blue coil - you can search 20 yrs of forum posts and learn it is notoriously WEAK

3. try that setup and see if it works to your liking

4. if then ya still want more fire, spend more and get an MSD-6 to co-hook with the pertronix

the msd makes multi-sparks under 3000 rpm - it's arguable whether that makes any difference in a well tuned engine as noted above

5. if ya want a KILLER spark (- I have a like-new Jacobs pro-team-ultra in oem box i can sell ya that i took off a 914-6 - it makes about a 3+-inch pencil sized spark - will likely kill ya for sure if ya grab the wire whilst standing on wet ground) ( it cost $300 new - make an offer via PM)