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I think you are getting a little too anxious over this. I was a little myself for many reasons but I just kept reading. I read/watched how ignition systems work, learned what each component does and why it's needed, and so on. Then I found a few different walkthroughs that I liked and started combined the best parts of each. Some used FC ignition parts but I read various back and forths about longevity and whatnot. I didn't feel comfortable with conflicting opinions especially when there were other accepted methods. Some use MSD boxes, I figured it wasn't economically the right move for me and didn't know where I'd mount it so scrapped it. Anyway, I landed on a list of parts and begin planning, then execution. Were there any surprises? Yeah, my plug wires where too short so I needed to solution for that. but the actual wiring everything up went basically as planned.
By far the most scariest thing for me was moving the trailing cables to the leading posts. I still don't understand how sends the signal at the right moment but it does.
I agree with this post 100%! It eventually sinks in and makes sense. Clever people here!
I wanted a system that would have easily attainable replacement parts and then the better spark. My car always ran well on the J109's, but damn, it cold and hot starts beautifully with the direct fire setup.
I was trained as a chemical engineer. It was drilled into me to gather as much info, do tedious calculations, document them in a way that someone else can easily check, and then make multi million $ decisions. And the only thing I know about electricity is you can't see it, and it is very dangerous.
I'm crap at creative concepts, design, and building something. When I got my bachelor's a high end calculator was attached to me as an appendage.
how about mounting the ignitors on the right side directly to the car body where it is flat?
then run wires across the left side to the coils which are mounted across from the spark plugs. of coarse remove the paint so the ignitor has good thermal conductivity.
the right side of the engine bay has all kinds of room, and it felt cooler than the left.
While it may work that seems like that long of a run may introduce opportunity for delay and signal degradation (whether it be noise or just resistance.) I'm probably being overly sensitive though.
Here are some photos of how I did mine per @t_g_farrell method in his signature
Two new coils mounted on a bracket and using existing bolts on the strut tower, 2 HEI's on the heatsink aluminum plate, thermal paste underneath them
Connection at the distributor, used shielded audio cable
Looking the other direction, labeled components
When using this method does your RPM Gauge still work? I thought the RPM gauge was fed off of one of the igniters? I could be wrong though. Can someone explain?
Right now im running 1 HEI in place of he leading Igniter
When using this method does your RPM Gauge still work? I thought the RPM gauge was fed off of one of the igniters? I could be wrong though. Can someone explain?
Right now im running 1 HEI in place of he leading Igniter
If I'm not mistaken the tach signal comes of the trailing coil negative....I might be wrong...
ignitor = acdelco d1906 it goes on a CORVETTE ! ! and it's a 4 pin
coil = Nkg 49034 it's JAPANESE !
the aluminum was oxidized so I had the grind it off to get a good HEI's grounds. aluminum is a better heat conductor than steel. the coils are on 2 steel everlast double ended speed bag mounts. leads from the distributor are 2 12-10 electrical fork terminals that are bent to make good contact.
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 07-17-21 at 10:45 AM.
Lookin good! That wasn't so hard was it? And those NGK coils, nice touch. I may use those when I go back to coil pre leading. Right now I've been using 2G coil for both leadings. I can safely say it will work but its not as strong as the coli pre plug I had before.
the rx-7 is my dd/beater, so I have to get everything right the first time
for maximum DFI benefit, it needs to be run off the battery through a relay? a 30 amp Bosch 0 332 209 150 should be good enough because a ignition coil draws 6 amps. And 2*6=12amps ?
later professionize things with wire loom and water proof it with liquid tape, and wire the bad ingitor from 1996 to plug into the distributor and dump those jerry-rigged 12-10 fork connectors
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 07-18-21 at 11:50 AM.
I gutted a bad j109 ignitor and soldered wires to make connections, the car ran better with the jerry rigged fork 12-10 connector terminals half assed-italy stuck in the distributor. I checked the j109 soldered connections with a continuity tester, and it was GOOD.
Is there cross talk because the red and green circuits are so close to each other in the gutted j109 connector?
is there a real spade connector that can be used to make the connection out of the distributor?
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 07-20-21 at 04:24 AM.
Using a gutted J109 is a great way to connect to the distributor. Make sure you have the polarity correct. When you had the 12-10 connectors going to the W and G terminals and it worked well, make sure the red/green wires match the WG they way you had them before. In some posts I've read, it runs but not as smoothly if they are reversed.
Also, it's possible the 12-10 connector spade you used was thicker and might have connected well but also slightly wedged open the dizzy side of the connector. Compare the J109 spades to the 12-10 spades to see if that could be true. Inspect the dizzy socket for a solid electrical connection.
ZOOM ZOOM ! ! >>>---> the connectors weren't crimped on right. I hate this crimper!! Should I spring for a more $$$ one?
ps: got the moderna 2 shot, it knocked my on my ***. Worse than a collapsed lung, hemothorax, mononucleosis, bronchitis , and an alcohol binge hang over....all together. That covid must be a real bitch! Even worse than the chick that I got the mono from.
no zoom zoom, after I changed the water pump. So I disconnected the DFIS, and went back to OEM with just the leading hooked up. It worked!
And I sweet talked a neighbor into soldering the old gutted j109 igniter. I think my 1/2 assed attempt at soldering completely shorted out.
Question--->can I use a functioning j109 OEM, to signal the spark to the GM ignitor, which signals the coil when to spark? Thought I'd ask here 1st instead of risk mucking the ignition up.
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 08-19-21 at 04:58 AM.
1>changed the water pump
2>DFIS----> sputters, but worked before
3>OEM----> works OK
4>DFIS w/fork spade terminals plugged into dist----> sputters. Doesn't matter how plugged in.
5>DFIS w/gutted J109 and soldered inside, dist----> sputters
6>higher RPM----> runs better + slight sputter
Logically, changing the water pump did something. And the way I have it plugged into the dist should REALLY matter.
Is this the culprit? and the trailing oem was arcing so I disconnected it.
Last edited by midnight mechanic; 08-20-21 at 08:19 AM.
Hmm, sputtering when using the new coils and clean running on the OEM, even with the arcing on the trailing? It sounds like some sketchy stuff going on. I would step back and confirm everything to do with the DFI setup including your high tension leads, which look iffy in this shot.
And since your NGK coils have high tension posts and the OEM coil has socketed, did you make up new high tension leads for the DFI coil or did you buy them? Either way worth testing them for high resistance and for good, solid clicking onto/into their high voltage connections.
the spark plug wires are BOSCH 09077, top of the line kevlar reinforced...etc. So I am not worried about them. Maybe I should be? The sparkplug wires are tightly crimped on to the NGK coils.
What I am worried about is that connection high lighted by the white background. I think it is some kind of ground for the OEM ignition circuit.
The timing strobe light flashes like the coils are sparking like they should. (clumsy english)
It depends on the coil connections, some are innies and some are outies. Where's the boot on that connections anyway? You should have a straight or 90 degree boot that positions the conductor into the coil connection and also seals it off as well.
07-10-21, 08:09 PM
