Rebuilding a Dinoplex AEC103A

A couple years ago my mechanic replaced my MSD 6AL with the Dinoplex AEC103A box containing the MSD Street Fire guts (the 6AL guts wouldn't fit). Has worked like a charm and has the original factory appearance required for concours judging. I believe there was minimal modification to the AEC103A box internals.

 

Is there a source for these stickers? I have a unit that has the sticker in poor shape, and about to fall off.

 

Thank you, I'm there now.

Is the two wire device a thermal sensor and where did you mount it or let it float?
This is the one red wire/one white wired to the single device in the left center of your image (right center in my image) and was attached with heavt thermal grease.


PS - Best price I found on this was with coil and bracket: http://www.ebay.com/itm/201209306044

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Thank you, that makes sense it is a power diode as the original install would be too far away from a heat source. Strange thay did not mount this on the circuit board though, I'll secure it to the case.

I've only just received the unit but am preserving both the thyristor thermal path and the toroid cooling pad and thermal conductor block. I have some large stock to bridge the thyristor's thermal gap to the case heat sink and will use the original insulation pad and backing bar but screwed from the inside. I'll set the board on stand-offs to secure it.


How is the AEC label oriented on the case when in a Dino, isn't it upside down as viewed from centerline?

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You know why it matters, I'm thinking of attaching the thyristor heat sink bar to the Marelli case side and the two fasteners might be seen in one orientation.

This setup is amazingly simple.

 

Hi Matthias,
With Adrian's design did the top of the dizzy shaft have to be altered to take the Lumenition components?

Thanks in advance

Chris

 

The MSD 6AL2 can take three types of igniter inputs without additional circuitry; electrical points, optical or magnetic.

 

Correct!



I set the rev limiter to 7800, chose the points as the electrical input trigger, and then heat capped off the unused terminals; mag input, Hall effect, and Rev Limit 2.

The stock Marelli AEC-103a electrical connector has four terminals which fit perfectly for this setup, these MSD wires attach to the back 4 connector;
- a single white wire for the points electrical input from the distributor
- the two coil output wires Orange and Black
- a single gray wire outout to the tach

I secured the power diode to the case, laid down an insulating pad, and even included the original coil insulation pad and heat sink bar. I then built a spacer heat sink to conform to the interior geometry while preserving the thyristor heat path using the original backing bar and silicon insulator pad.
No new fasteners needed.
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Thank you

Mine is an E series Dino and I see the original car wiring to the four pin Marelli connector as:

1) Yellow is +12V input
2) Blue is distributor input
3) Red is the coil + terminal output
4) Brown is the Tach output

Again, this is from the car side
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Test wired the new unit, substituting only the old, trusty MSD.
Started right up with no discernable difference in idle speed or exhaust tone
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Very nicely done Scott.

 

Thank you, painted the coil and added the sticker
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Folks,
I've been lurking on this forum for some time. I do not own a Dino, nor is it ever likely that I will, but the Dino's ignition system has a personal interest for me. I've wanted to test an AEC103A to see how it performs on my test rig, but was unable to source one at a reasonable price, so I managed to find a aec103B (red label for 4 cyl). It was supposed to be working, but in fact it was failing and completely died after 5 minutes on the test rig. It was self triggering which told me the SCR was bad and then the SCR shorted completely. In those 5 minutes I was able to determine that its output voltage was extremely high and that is probably what finally led to the SCR failing. This one produced in excess of 50 thousand volts on the test rig while self triggering. Too bad it was potted or the fix would have been really simple and some over-voltage protection could have been added at the same time. It fired negatively like it should on the initial strike, but the spark was truncated part way through the positive voltage swing which limited the energy transfer and duration. It still produces a very powerful spark regardless because of the wicked voltage stored in the capacitor. Current draw was about 3 amps at the self triggering spark rate which I estimated to be about 2800rpm on the test rig. That isn't great, but it's not bad either. I don't know how this ignition compares with the Aec103A found in the Dino, but I'll bet it is almost identical, if not exactly the same.
So, since the unit became a brick, I've followed the directions, almost to the letter, on removing the old potting and unobtainable connector and I'm going to put a modified version of my own ignition system inside at some point in the future. I've already done so for one Dino owner that sent me his beautifully restored case. It should provide many years of good service, and it is not potted. I hate potting! The connections are exactly the same as the original aec103A connections. No extra wires out the bottom or anything like that. Points triggered only I'm afraid (or Pertronix, but that is a poor substitute for points). See the pic, Fred Winterburn

 

Here's the picture I promised of a retrofit alternative. There are no new holes drilled in the case. The circuit board assembly is attached using the existing mounting points. The power transistors for the power supply are mounted to an aluminum plate fixed to the bottom as a heatsink. The necessary power resistor for the points trigger circuit is heat sunk to the case at the very left side. Fred
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Thank you, several heat cycles show this performs similarly to the prior installed MSD 6200, easy startup, quickly captures idle and no changes to the tach circuit.

 

Fred,

As one of the first Dino owners to use your unit, I'm really glad you posted your latest development here. I am really satisfied with the performance of your early unit (not encased in Dinoplex housing). After seeing the photos of this latest unit in a Dinoplex housing I will eventually want you to do the same for me! The performance from the Winterburn CDI, I can't say enough good things about. Instant start, instant idle, instant hot restarts and keeping the stock points. Fred, thank you! It is rare that the creator of a product is personally accessible and passionate about what their customer thinks of their product.

A loyal Winterburn customer!
Freeman

 

And as the owner of the retrofitted module in question, I can say I'm very, very happy as well. Completely original look and way better performance.

 

Mark,

I've had the Winterburn CDI in my Dino for about 7/8 months with great results. Adrian was the one who pointed me in the Winterburn direction when I was adamant on keeping the stock points distributor. Adrian was also a great help in creating a wiring diagram on the Winterburn application for the Dino for me. All my vintage racer friends including Tom Shaughnessy said "Keep the points"! It is much easier to problem solve because you can see if it has spark or not. Also it has the added advantage of switching to straight coil to points if need be like the original Dinoplex. Fred has been fantastic support. A straight forward "better" Dinoplex. Of note, I use the NGK Iridium plugs as once recommended by Corbani.

Freeman

P.S. Fred's "day job" is writing operating procedures for a nuclear power plant. Fred's dad, Lloyd Winterburn created the very first commercially available CD ignition in early 1962.

http://www.capacitordischargeignition.com
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_discharge_ignition
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