Re: Electronic Ignitions with Spica

["Paul Irvine" <kcabpilot@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I went with the modified Bosch ID405 distributor from Centerline on Project
Alfa which is a '72 SPICA injected Spider. I got this suggestion from a guy
that Wes Ingram referred me to. It's basically just a magnetically triggered
pointless distributor with a specially modified advance curve for the Ingram
HP SPICA pump. I was told to use the original Marelli red coil and not the
Bosch blue coil. There is no module or any other electronic crap involved.
The only thing I didn't like about it initially was that the way it is keyed
the rotor doesn't point forward at #1 TDC like the original Marelli did.
After owning the original points driven system for so many years that
alignment had become something very familiar to me.

Anyway, Project Alfa is still in the testing and break-in phases. I have
completed the seating of the rings portion and am very close to the final
dial in adjustments of the SPICA. I'm doing them the old fashioned way, like
I've always done, which requires a deft ear and lots of road tests with
minor adjustments in between. It's tedious but I really enjoy doing it.

So I haven't got the gross miles on the engine yet (only 39 so far) to
really wind it out for a test (I've been trying with great difficulty to
hold it below 4k rpm) but today I let it go a couple of times and man, it is
soooo sweet. When it gets over 4000 it just rockets to 6000 with no sense of
any intent to let up and it sounds like a turbine - smooth as friggin silk.
I should probably mention that I had all my balancing done by Sammy Hale in
Novato and the head porting was done by Norman Racing in Berkeley (Alfa
Parts)

So, for right now, I'd totally recommend this setup. I'll give more details
in a couple of days as tomorrow I'm taking it out for a long steady run to
get some miles on it and after that I plan to give it a regular Alfa
thrashing which we all know is the best thing for an Alfa engine.

Have fun out there - enjoy.
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