Don't thank me-
Kudos to Chichm, (Marcel Chichak, in Canada) he was the first to do it. He's also the brains behind the 123 dizzy.

His website is http://www.starchak.ca/
enjoy!

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

So, a pulsar dizzy is not suitable for an A-Series engine?
What about a 123 dizzy?

I don't totally agree with Spaceboy's comment, it depends on what state of tune your A series is in.
Most Pulsar dizzys have a total centrifugal advance of 14 or 15°, a lot of A series Lucas dizzys have this or more, including a Cooper S.
If people don't believe me, I'll list the dizzy numbers.

The only problem with a stock Pulsar is if you over advance it, but the same happens with a Lucas....


Yes a 123 dizzy IS designed for an A series. Only reason I don't use one is the $$$.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The benefit you get with the 123 distributor, and the reason you pay more $$$ is that it is programmed with four major advance curves, each with four variations, making 16 total settings. You choose the basic major curve for your engine type (e.g. smallbore, worked smallbore, bigbore, worked bigbore) based on volumetric efficiency and then fine tune it until just before you detect pinging under load. That then is pretty much the best curve for your specific engine.

You can get a better matched advance curve for your engine with a Lucas dizzy, but you need a dyno... and then it's only great until the points or the rest of the dizzy wears out. At least with the 123 (or Pulsar, for that matter) once you've got it right, it stays that way. This is where the money is well spent, in my opinion.. especially those of us without a Graham Russell on our doorstep

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

To curve a Lucas dizzy correctly you need a dyno, and also a distributor machine, and a selection of Lucas springs. The latter are now NLA. Makes it hard, don't it...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Damage? How? If your answer is detonation due to over advance you have no idea what you are talking about.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure you will ) but too much advance will eventually damage your engine. When I was fitting my 123 distributor, I misread the static timing instructions which meant I had a constant 15 or so degrees more advance throughout the rev range than I should have.

The engine felt wooden, sluggish and crucially ran much hotter than it should have, due to the fuel being ignited too early. Had I left the timing like this (not that that would have happened, because it ran like crap) the result would have been certain damage to pistons, head or both.

The lesson here is put the wrong distributor on your engine and give it too much advance, and you will cause damage.

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

Correct.

But you see there is a common miss belief here on Ausmini that Pulsar dizzy's are dangerous.

They have the same if not less total advance than a Lucas dizzy, depending on model. So if you set one up at 10 degrees BTDC on a N/A engine at about 500rpm you'll be fine.

Spaceboy very obviously hate Pulsar dizzy's but for those of us who like them he could at least not create a false illusion of danger (I wonder if he's ever tried one?). And accept that some of us enjoy moving towards towards the modern technology at an affordable price.

I think the 123 is the best option appart from coil pack maybe, but you can get good spark, low maintainace and an decent curve for around $50 plus time at home.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Side by side comparison, I found the Pulsar dissy to be LESS effective than a std Lucas dissy(good condition) The lucas pulled harder. Don't ask me why, but it did. This is what I found, so the only way to make your mind up id to try it. I personally won't use a pulsar again as it just didn't do what I had been told. Mods to the curve by GR will make them work in an a Series, but really what is the fun of having a mini if you don't run points.... may as well drive an excel.

EDIT: I forgot to add i think that the pulsar WILL perform better than a lucas, if your old lucas is worn badly, the talked about effect of spark scatter is real and you will loes power, so yes an alternative a pulsar is an option. Saying that, it ISN'T a performance mod, in my mind

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Spaceboy is talking out of his arse. There are a lot of experienced blokes here that are running the Pulsar dizzy and one lone voice that keeps popping up bagging them.
He claims that any Lucas dizzy will not hurt an engine but a Pulsar dizzy will.
If a Pulsar dizzy has a similar advance curve to a Cooper S dizzy wouldn't that make a Cooper S dizzy just as bad?
How do you know that your Lucas dizzy has the correct advance curve to match the spec of your engine? There are a lot of different Lucas curves but as soon as you change the cam you should change the curve. So if you are running any sort of cam it is likely that the curve will be wrong in your Lucas dizzy.

Well,it looks like I may be the only one so far, running the Honda dizzy. I inherited it with the cluubie when I bought it and was a little lost when it started playing up but fortunately I was introduced to TME at iss 4 so know exactly what I have. After fixing a faulty connector in the ignitor module plug, it performs admirably, no pinging . As drmini says, the DR83/5 dizzy is easier to fit so will search the local Jap spares for one for the 73 'S'

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1964 998 Cooper , 1968 Morris 1100

Yep, exactly. I think it's totally fair enough that you didn't like it, but you gave it a go. Making your opinion worth at least 2 cents in this discussion.

Gotta try before you bag!

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

aww man, you could have at least made is 3cents which would be rounded up to 5cents, but 2cents... man that gets rounded down to nothing

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With risk of arguements, ill jump in here.
I blew my motor on the M2 about a week after throwing in the stock D4R85 Pulsar dizzy.

Yes, motor was already tired, etc etc... but I was only able to kill it because I was able to rev more... which ultimately blew head gasket and then made for a cooked A series.

I think the consensus is this:
Pulsar Dizzy IF modified is excellent in the A series (998, 1100 or 1275)
I run a modified one in my hot 1132... cant complain at all about it!

Throwing it in stock straight from the wrecker I dont recommend anymore... Its only about $30-$40 to get GR to mod the curve, etc...

Peter.

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Click here for the Turbo Conversion Thread!

So if we'd disconnected your tacho, the same thing would have happened?
KB

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