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l26 ignition help


L26VW

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Hey,

New here but been a long time Datto owner, i was born into it pretty well haha

ive got issues with my L26 in my off road buggy, i think ive narrowed it down to ignition but still unsure as ive never dealt with one as modified as this myself 

the motor in question is a 260z l26 that i built a few months ago coupled to a Vw Transaxle and Irs, the flywheel is also very light being a chomemolly VW one with the datsun center

its got an shaved e88 head with bigger valves, balanced bottom end, new tripple 45 webers on a lynx manifold and set of 6-2-1 headers virtually straight out

the cam is unknown specs but does have some lope and a noticeable power increase at 3k rpm

it still has the l26 points dizzy and coil though 

now what happens is the motor runs smooth but slightly underpowered until 5500rpm then just hits a wall, no more revs and its not floating the valves like my L20b used to do at just shy of 8K

but occasionaly ill be tearing along it will take off and spin the tires in 3rd, ill look down and see it in the 7k rpm range and then itll die, drop back to 5500rpm and sound weak like a stock motor, and wont even pull 3rd up a rise

Should i be looking at a electronic dizzy? if so a stock zx one or a petronix one, would i be better off spending a few more $ and get a 123ignition one?

or would it more likely be in the webers tune/ fuel starvation, it hasn't been on a dyno and the carbs are the generic jetting from lynx, if so ive posted in the wrong section

(would post some photos but cant find how too)

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It could be your points if they are out of adjustment or are worn particularly if your feeding full 12v through them.  I get rid of points as fast as I can.  I use Pertronix modules and have found them very stable and ‘set and forgot’ in comparison to points.

 

I normally check the following when I am diagnosing ignition problems:

  • initial timing and behaviour of timing advance
  • ignition coil
  • ignition leads
  • spark plug condition, gap and heat range

 

Your cam may be limiting performance also.  I run a hotter-than-mild cam, Pertronix, MSD 6AL and plenty of fuel delivery verified by my WBO2 and experience the ‘hard wall’ just over 6500rpm....but that is intentional by design.

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On 8/14/2018 at 5:13 PM, L26VW said:

Should i be looking at a electronic dizzy? if so a stock zx one or a petronix one, would i be better off spending a few more $ and get a 123ignition one?

Petronix if your existing distributor is in good condition (no shaft wobble). Also if you want to retain the look of the "stock" distributor..

A stock ZX 1, I'd only bother with a rebuilt unit (can get them on eBay US). Since many are stuffed by now as photo above shows.

123ignition would probably be ideal there was also someone offering similar for Datsun's in Australia recently.

Refer to here.

Here is the company that makes those CAS based distributors.

https://www.facebook.com/OneSixIndustries/

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the help guys,

put the timing light on it again and checked how the advance moves with the revs

starts out at about 14deg and smoothly increases into the low-mid 30's (guesstimate past the indicator)

when its been held steady at any given RPM though the mark is jumping around quite a bit, only occasionally settling down and staying steady 

haven't had a chance to pull the dizzy apart and have a look at that plate yet though

Does anyone know somewhere in oz that stocks the pertronix kit? cant seem to find any, only from the states or RB30 onesXwwTosf.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks heaps for the help guys

Ordered a pertronix ignitor kit #1761 and matching 3ohm coil, went with the 60,000v option thinking bigger's better (guess ill find out if its not haha)

I disassembled the dizzy fully, inspected and cleaned all the old dried grease out of the advance weights and re-lubed it all before installing the pertronix unit, also locked out the vacuum advance mechanism as it was recommended not to be used with the webers and the motor never sees a "cruise" situation anyway

Tigged up a fancy new aluminium bracket for the coil too

And now the best part! the motor started well, i set the timing and the advance weights come out much quicker now thanks to the fresh lube, the timing light actually flashes regularly at idle and through the rev range which it didn't before indicating that its firing every time now. No more cough and splutter when the throttle is opened either and far more responsive

Tested it out in the um... "extended driveway" and it drives so much nicer now, can take off and grab second without it spluttering straight after the gear-change even gets instant wheelspin in 2nd when you open it up

Taking it out over the October long weekend, should be a massive improvement over last time! will hopefully get some footage of it in action too

KQQpk5D.jpgstreICf.jpg

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