BBI ignition

My Bbi wouldn’t start and I sent the permatune box and coil to permatune to test

they say both are smoked or the coil is bad and the box erratic which sounds strange

they say they can’t repair the oils permatune and the new system requires me to send them the distributor to go fully electronic and of course buys new system

what alternative ignition systems are you all running

I still have the old system which worked when replaced 10 years ago as a precaution

 

See if the Old system can be fixed

 

MSD has been the most popular replacement hands down.

 

Good day Sean,

The Boxer distributor already has an electronic pickup... and so how much more can you go . The best and least expensive solution is to use a MSD replacement module with your existing distributor sensor. You can simply create an adapter plate between the MSD mounts and the existing Dinoplex mounts and then very slightly modify the original 6-pin harness plug to match MSD's wiring. or... if you want the the full OEM look, you could gut your existing Dinoplex and retrofit a MSD unit within it.

As for Pertronix... my experiences have not been overly positive. Pertronix's tech support leaves a lot to be desired, as they had no interest with answeringany of my technical questions. MSD, on the other hand, recognized that my question was beyond what the initial tech support agent could answer and promptly escalated my question... to one of their design engineers who answered my questions in great detail.

As for coils... if you go the MSD route, you can use an inexpensive MSD Blaster coil that can be mounted in any orientation (not all coils can do this). The MSD coil diameter is smaller than the original Marelli coil and so you need to make a "sleeve" so that the factory coil holder/clamp can grasp the MSD coil like the original. If you go this route let me know and I can send you a 3D printed rubberized sleeve that I made for this purpose.

The benefit of using an off the shelf MSD unit... is that if you have any issues, you can pickup a replacement at your local auto parts store and so no need to send items back, etc.

Cheers,

Sam

 

I run MSD including Blaster coil on both my BBi and Dino 246 and never had any issues.

Best, Peter

 

Sam thank you for the feedback. What do I need to do to modify the pins so I can plug into the msd?

which msd unit do I need

 

I'm stepping backward into the abyss working to re-install the Dinoplex AEC104 for concours reasons. I have an MSD now that has been a powerful beast for ~20 years. The spark from the Dinoplex is awesome. The complaints of not perfect reliability are not-awesome. I wonder how many / if any Boxer owners use their Dinoplex ignition boxes without issues? It could-be reliable? Maybe?

On my Dino, the AEC 101 had two problems in 30 years (but not very many miles). The main coil wire actually burned up where the radius got tight, and the thyristor failed which was straightforward to sort out thanks to Adrian! While in there changed a few other components which are known to give up. The Boxer's AEC 104 unfortunately is much more difficult to service due the entire unit being a giant epoxy potted blob. If the AEC 104 failed, I think I wouldn't repair it.

 

mine never failed we just replaced it as a precaution.
I guess one option is to put tge original box back maybe after 10 years on the shelf it still works
Then I need a coil and to undo the different permatune coil wiring so the stock coil works.
I guess I need to do that even if I go msd

 

When my original ignition failed a few years ago, I "cleaned out" the aluminum box and sent the empty box to Sam Saprunoff. Sam fitted a MSD unit it and added a circuit board the the new box sounds just like the original. Car runs great and ignition box looks and sounds original. Sam was great to work with.

 

Sam how can I get in touch with you

 

Good day Sean,

I just sent you a message.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Fwiw: The rev limiter failed on mine. Flaky,, then just kaput. if you unplug this, you're left with the AEC 104 basic units which follows similar circuit architecture to the AEC101, which I'm pretty fond of. The spark produced by those singing units is nothing short of incredible! I do like the whole 30º of crank rotation provided by the MSD, but the Dino runs fantastic at 8,000 rev's with that MM box.

And thank you Sean for that supporting info. I think there's still quite a few cars running around with those original units.