DinoParts' Electronic Ignition conversion

Are you trying to cure a particular problem? I've no experience with DinoParts replacement system but ask only as the previous owner of one of my Dinos had changed the Dinoplex for a Lumenition optical system after being (incorrectly) advised that the cause of the car cutting out in traffic when hot was down to the Dinoplex being faulty. The cause of his troubles was more to do with worn camshafts and cylinder bores along with poorly adjusted tappets as well as an ageing alternator. Once those issues were dealt with I had the original Dinoplex, which thankfully had been kept, put back on the car and the distributor rebuilt. It now runs faultlessly as do my other two cars which are both running on their original Dinoplex system. If you are having problems they may well lie elsewhere as well. The engine is very susceptible to wear if oil change intervals have not been adhered to particularly in it's earlier life when oils were not of the quality/longevity they are now.

 

I would agree with everything Iain has said, however i am not so trusting of the Dinoplex unit. I replaced mine with the BSMpdi programmable unit and new distributor. If you want perfect ignition timing then this is the route to go. (subject to being set up correctly)

Most issues IMO are related to bad timing rather than carb set up.

Sorry i dont have any info on the dinoparts unit/ system, perhaps Adrian has something to add, he is the guru on these matters

Tony

 

I've had good reliability on my original Dinoplex on my Dinos and Stratos. You can have your original Dinoplex remade with MSD internals with adjustable rpm limiter.

 

Chris keep it as original as possible and if your Dinoplex is brocken replace it with Bosch parts.... inside the old original box
see www.dinoplex.org
http://www.dinoplex.org/PDF/Wiring_Ferrari_Dino_246_Bosch_Optical_Pickup.pdf

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276251

 

+246. I built this setup for 03666 and it works beautifully

 

I think the idea to exchange the mechanical advance system against an electronic one is a good one, but with the Dinoparts offer i am not so sure about the execution.
On the Dinoparts conversions i have seen the S125 body was milled out to fit a 123 ignition electronics board and pickup, unfortunately you won't be able to rebuild your precious S125 distributor back to the original configuration after such a treatment. See photo below of a Dinoparts conversion which stopped working after metal filings from the conversion process entered the electronics.

Putting management and power electronics in a distributor at >80ºC is another reliability issue. The BSMpdi system Tony mentioned does this much better by installing the electronic controller in a separate box. The BSMpdi setup is sold by Superformance, but was out of stock for some time now. It might become available in the future again from what i heard from Colin.
Nuvolari and myself are currently prototyping a similar system based on a reversible distributor conversion at the moment which we will make available if it works out to our liking.

Regards,
Adrian
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The original starter draws down a lot of current and often doesn't turn fast enough for the engine to catch. All it ends up doing is draining the battery and flooding the carb's as you keep trying to get it to catch. I replaced the starter with a gear reduction unit and installed a beefed up alternator and that cured the problem.

 

Chris

I had the same issues and as Iain has said the starter motor makes a big big difference, timing is another critical area too and so is technique / starting sequence. Each car has its own little quirks and it took me many years to learn what it wants.

Personally knowing what i know now i wouldnt pay the big price for the black Stallion system as you get no support from them. It took me ages to fine tune mine under a lot of trial and error tests, I also benfited from Adrain's help with coil settings as BS hadnt a clue as their advice trashed coils.

The conversion Superformance (and others) sell is just as good for a lot less money. The only thing the BS system has over the rest is that you get a much better disy than the original unit. Mine sits on the shelf having been retired after 40 years service, it deserved it!!

Converted it runs like a dream, no spitting, backfiring on deacceleration etc etc.

 

There is no doubt that the original ignition system has some fundamental weaknesses that can be cured with modern technologies offering reliability and power delivery that could not be dreamt of when the car was built. The problem is that all of the solutions so far for these shortcomings either butcher the original components (ie. the Dinoparts ignition) or they do not look original (ie. the Superformance setup with its custom distributor).

As Adrian indicated we are currently working steadily on an all new ignition system that would look 100% original yet would replace all of the un-reliable and difficult to adjust ignition components with modern tried and tested electronics from reputable manufacturers (no homemade specials here). The result will be a maintenance free distributor with modern electronic spark and a fully programmable advance curve that can be set to stock or tuned to optimize the available fuels in your area.

Just planting the idea just please don't ask me when it will be available. Once all of the testing is done and we are confident in a 100% good product we will post its availability. Our goal is for the 2013 driving season.

 

Oh no! You mean I spent all those weeks of rebuilding, testing, tweaking and reporting on the original distributor mechanical advance system for nothing ;-).

Seriously though, Adrian's conversion described above is excellent. It has so far been totally reliable, maintains the original look and is not that difficult to implement. No back firing, smooth running and easy starts even with an original stater motor. Couple that with the no longer need to continually fiddle with the unecessarily messy original R1 R2 point system is a real bonus. Adrian's online support and knowledge specific to the Dino also exceeds any that you are likely to experience from the other commercial options. One of the reasons for going for this option was just because of the less than helpful enquiry responses directly from MSD, Lumenition and others.

Having got the clumsy original mechanical system finally working like it was designed to (at best moderate)
http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224628&highlight=Distributor+advance
I'll probably stick with it until it needs wear correction. Then I may be greatful of an electronic advance system, so i am listening with interest. But only if it maintains the original distributor housing and there is no non-reversible butchering.

Kevin

 

Getting rid of the pesky advance weight system with all its wear points would be a welcome addition.

 

I assure you that the solution I am working on with Adrian will integrate into the distributor with zero modifications or fabrication. It will be true plug and play and totally reversible without destroying anything. The real advantage will be in the advance curve that will be digitally perfect all the time rather than an always deteriorating mechanical system that was imperfect on day 1 and gets worse by the mile.

 

I installed a Crane Cams Fireball system 9 years ago and have never had a hiccup. Fit right into the distributor with no modifications and the box is tucked away out of sight. No more points, no more condenser, starts every time. Kept the Dinoplex box in case a future owner really wants a show queen.

I also installed a GM alternator that's far more powerful then the original unit, and removed the shaft to the air pump, lowering parasitic drag on the engine.

Next is a gear reduction starter. It's all reversible.

 

Hi Steve- I put a gm alt in mine too but had problems with the pulley. I think I may have solved that now/ The pulley for US cars with AC has the more narrow "V" on it rather than the larger "V" on the standard GM unit. What did u do? Thanks

 

Chris as I posted earlier this is something that will only be announced as official when it has been tested and proven. What I can say is that Adrian and I have been in very regular contact and have been pushing this project along quite hard. Prototype parts have been made, static measurements on the engine have been taken, and several packages have gone back and forth between myself and Adrian sorting out the hardware for this application. Remember I am in Canada and he is in Germany so this is very much an international effort. Right now the electronics are being worked out with final dimensions on the machine parts being determined and then we will make the next round of prototypes and test on a running engine.

There will be no timeline for this project until we are sure it is 100% right and reliable. Dino's are no fun stranded at the side of the road and we will not make something that would lead to that.

 

Count me in when you guys bring this product to market. Knowing who's involved I'm sure it will be top notch!

 

Any further developments?

or has the discussion switched over to another thread?

Thanks

Simon

 

Wow I had not noticed how much time had passed since my last post on the subject. I suppose it is time for an update. Since the last posting we have finalized all of our measurements, made prototype parts, fitted them to a distributor, and run them on an engine on a test stand.

I will say that the initial impressions are better than we hoped for. The ignition offers almost fuel injection like starting with a rock steady idle, an incredibly clean exhaust, and very responsive acceleration. The next step is to put the engine back in the car, run in the engine while gathering real world road testing, and finally tune under load on the dyno to prove the worth of the system. The downside of all of this is time because the car is only now beginning final assembly which means it will not be until the 2014 driving season that the final fettling will be done.

So far so good but as I mentioned in previous posts there will be no promises made of when a final system will be available for purchase. Then again I figure most Dino owners would not want to be the guinea pig in our experiments.