16 replies to this topic

[AustinStage1]

Hi i was wondering what was the best ignition coil was for a 998cc stage 1 Mini, i was lookin for one to buy as its my Mini's 20th birthday this year and wanted to know what was the best and fairly cheapest coil going.

Thanks a bunch

Edited by AustinStage1, 22 January 2009 - 12:13 AM.

[Retro_10s]

Best thing for your mini is to get the coil that's supposed to be on there. I would consider getting something like electronic ignition instead. If a coil's not broken... don't replace it

[markaboot]

can anyone recomend an electric ignition for a 1098 with stage 1 kit?

cheaper the better.

[mini_mission]

there are some good deals on ebay for leccy ignition.

A lucas gold coil is a good all rounder.

[markaboot]

there are some good deals on ebay for leccy ignition.

A lucas gold coil is a good all rounder.

forgive me if im being stupid. but do different electric ignitions have different timing setting for certain engine specs?
i.e. is one for say a standard 998 different than one for a 1098 with stage one kit? dont want buy the wrong bit.

[Retro_10s]

Please do asearch if you require information regarding electronic ignition, Dan posted up a very comprehensive post about this yesterday.

Britpart do a leccy 'nition kit for under £10 that is the cheap and works.

[markaboot]

Please do asearch if you require information regarding electronic ignition, Dan posted up a very comprehensive post about this yesterday.

Britpart do a leccy 'nition kit for under £10 that is the cheap and works.

thanks, i'll have a look.
i usually do search but it came up in topic so i asked the question.

[Dan]

A lucas gold coil is a good all rounder.

The Lucas Gold coil is not remotely an all rounder, there's no such thing as one coil that's good for everything. The Lucas Gold Sports Coil is very strictly for 12v ignition, if you fit it to a ballasted car (all Minis built after 1984 are ballasted) it won't work well at all. If you use it with an aftermarket ignition module designed for use with a standard coil (Magnetronic for example) it will damage the module.

If you want to know what the best coil would be for your car, you have to give a bit more information than '998 with a Stage 1 kit'. What year was it built for one thing?

[markaboot]

A lucas gold coil is a good all rounder.

The Lucas Gold coil is not remotely an all rounder, there's no such thing as one coil that's good for everything. The Lucas Gold Sports Coil is very strictly for 12v ignition, if you fit it to a ballasted car (all Minis built after 1984 are ballasted) it won't work well at all. If you use it with an aftermarket ignition module designed for use with a standard coil (Magnetronic for example) it will damage the module.

If you want to know what the best coil would be for your car, you have to give a bit more information than '998 with a Stage 1 kit'. What year was it built for one thing?

i have a 1978 1098cc mini clubman. didnt fit the coil myself but it is gold so im assumin it is the lucas gold.
firstly is this the right ignition kit for my engine eBay, im unsure of which dizzy is fitted. if it helps the cap clips on and doesnt screw.

will it damage anything if i change to electric ignition?
thanks

[Dan]

Someone linked to this kit yesterday and the problem that occured to us all was the rotor arm. The rotor arm is a service part of a dizzy and can need repacing every few years but in this kit the trigger wheel and rotor arm appear to be a single unit. You would have to buy another unit from the seller in order to replace the rotor arm, he may sell just the arm as a spare but I can't find a listing for it. Also I don't believe anyone makes a Lucas rotor arm as well as Lucas do, other ignition kits have a seperate trigger that allows you to keep a standard rotor arm.

I doubt this kit would work well with a ballast but that doesn't affect you and your '78 car. What would affect you is the Gold coil. This is just the type of kit that tends to be made for standard coils and is designed to get the best out of a standard coil. It doesn't say in the listing whether it's designed for a Sports Coil or not but it would be safer to assume it isn't. You don't need a Sports Coil with electronic ignition anyway, most electronic systems can get a lot more output than a set of points can from a standard coil. An increase from 3,000 to 25,000 volts is not unusual. Most electronic ignition manufacturers produce their own sports type coils that work with their systems rather than designing the system to work with commonly available coils like Lucas Gold.

I'd be interested to know about the 'high quality silicon' that the kit comes with! What is it? What's it for?

Oh by the way, if your car has a tacho it might well not work with electronic ignition. On the face of the dial you should find a code of three letters somewhere that will tell you what type of tacho it is. Some work with electronic and some don't.

Edited by Dan, 22 January 2009 - 12:18 PM.

[markaboot]

Someone linked to this kit yesterday and the problem that occured to us all was the rotor arm. The rotor arm is a service part of a dizzy and can need repacing every few years but in this kit the trigger wheel and rotor arm appear to be a single unit. You would have to buy another unit from the seller in order to replace the rotor arm, he may sell just the arm as a spare but I can't find a listing for it. Also I don't believe anyone makes a Lucas rotor arm as well as Lucas do, other ignition kits have a seperate trigger that allows you to keep a standard rotor arm.

I doubt this kit would work well with a ballast but that doesn't affect you and your '78 car. What would affect you is the Gold coil. This is just the type of kit that tends to be made for standard coils and is designed to get the best out of a standard coil. It doesn't say in the listing whether it's designed for a Sports Coil or not but it would be safer to assume it isn't. You don't need a Sports Coil with electronic ignition anyway, most electronic systems can get a lot more output than a set of points can from a standard coil. An increase from 3,000 to 25,000 volts is not unusual. Most electronic ignition manufacturers produce their own sports type coils that work with their systems rather than designing the system to work with commonly available coils like Lucas Gold.

I'd be interested to know about the 'high quality silicon' that the kit comes with! What is it? What's it for?

cheers dan, im assuming the silicone is to help seal up the cap once its fitted.

[lrostoke]

Those ebay kits look the same as the Britpart unit that is actually a bit cheaper.

Fitted it to my sisters 998 ballasted ignition, and works a treat, with a standard coil.
Like Dan says the rotor being intergral to the trigger wheel is the only downside of it, but at around £8 for a complete kit, its probably cheaper in the long run to buy a couple and keep a set as a spare.

On the point of fitting Gold coils to ballasted ignition systems it can be done, you just remove the 2 wires from the positive coil connection (tape them up) and run a new 12v feed from white wire on the fuse box.

I can't say whether the cheaper kits work well with sports coils not fitted one, but I did fit a Gold sports coil to my 998 fitted with an Aldon Ignitor, this kits almost identical to the cheaper versions but cost £70. Aldons site says this, hence why I fitted a sports coil to mine

With the ignitor there are 30,000 to 35,000 volts available. Normal range on (OK) standard systems range from 26,000 to 27,000 volts. The 'ignitor' can be converted to a high energy system by the installation of a high energy coil and silicon HT leads. The Aldon 'Flame Thrower' coil or Lucas sports coil have both proven to be very compatible with the ignitors.

Edited by lrostoke, 22 January 2009 - 12:32 PM.

[Dan]

On the point of fitting Gold coils to ballasted ignition systems it can be done, you just remove the 2 wires from the positive coil connection (tape them up) and run a new 12v feed from white wire on the fuse box.

Well that's not fitting a Gold Coil to a ballasted ignition then is it? That's fitting a new standard 12v ignition system! The two wires you would remove are the ballasted system. There is a Lucas sports coil for ballasted systems but it hasn't been around long and I don't know if it's any good.

Fitted it to my sisters 998 ballasted ignition, and works a treat

That's interesting, how long has it been running? It usually takes about 8 months of normal use for a ballasted system to destroy a Magnetronic module or 65DM type dizzy.

but I did fit a Gold sports coil to my 998 fitted with an Aldon Ignitor

Yes Aldon say their Ignitor 1 module will work with any points type coil and will work at any supply voltage from 4 to 16 volts. Interestingly, Pertronix (who actually designed the Aldon module and sell Ignitor in the US) state categorically that the module must be run on 12v and doesn't work with a ballast. They still say it will work with any points type coil. The latest Aldon Flamethrower coils say 'NOT FOR USE WITH IGNITOR 1' in very large letters so I guess they're different!

[Retro_10s]

On the point of fitting Gold coils to ballasted ignition systems it can be done, you just remove the 2 wires from the positive coil connection (tape them up) and run a new 12v feed from white wire on the fuse box.

But that means you're not running the ballast system anymore doesn't it? Converting to 12V.

[lrostoke]

That was my point, you can fit a gold coil to a car which originally as ballasted ignition, but you have to convert, I know the two wires are part of the ballast system. It isn't just a blanket no you can't fit them.

My sisters cars probably covered around 4000 mile since we fitted it, trouble free appart from the dozy cow running out of petrol a couple of times.

The Aldon ignitor seems pretty forgiving. When I originally fitted it a misread the instructions and ran it off the ballast wire so not 12v for about 12 month (8000 miles). Then I saw something about it being wired to 12v, checked and changed it, so run it at 12v now for about 12 month (8000)


http://www.pertronix...or/default.aspx

They actually say on there website the following

System is designed for use with most point-type coils, optimal performance achieved when used with our Flame-Thrower® 40,000 volt coil.

Also they state this

Operating Voltage: 8-V to 16-V DC

would 8-v fall into the range of a ballast system, not sure what normal voltage is on the ballast ??

On Aldons website the Flamethrower says this

Flame Thrower Coil for 4/6 cylinder used mainly for road or fast road use. Not suitable for race use. THESE COILS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR IGNITOR 2 APPLICATIONS.

It seems its the ignitor 2 not the Ignitor 1 that doesn't like the Flamethrower coil. !!

Edited by lrostoke, 22 January 2009 - 01:32 PM.