HEI control modules

[James Seabolt]

>Thanks for you reply on the HEI use. Obviously the HEI is a popular setup
>becuase it seems that most of the list is dedicated to it. It's too bad
>that it most likely wont work on a watercooled engine.
>	I guess I'll have to do more research on other alternatives.



Seems like you guys have a great list going here so forgive me for barging
in on this subject. I been reading some of those posts concering the HEI and
ESC ignition systems and thought I'd give some input. Forgive me If this has
nothing to do with what your talking about. 

My car uses the same control module found in HEI distributors but the
control module is not located in the distributor.

The car is a 1980 Fiat spider. Back in 1979, Fiat went to electronic
ignition by modifying the dual point distributor. They removed the
points/condensor and cam lobe, installed a rotor where the lob was and a
magnetic pickup where the points went. Then they ran a 2 foot wire from the
pickup to a finned unit that mounted on the fenderwell which contained the
ignition coil and behind the coil they located the control module. In fact
the original control module had GM engraved on it and Magnetti Marelli
stamped on it.

Then they called it "electronic ignition". Although this system is simple
and get's the job done, I don't feel like it produces anything near a hot
spark like what some people are talking about. I've seen cases where the
sparkplugs on a Spider were just slightly fouled (from running too rich) and
they wouldn't fire and I've seen plugs that were badly oil fouled on my
Father's 57 Ford tractor that would fire just fine. Can't explain that.

The ignition systems on the Fiat X 1/9s use the same system that rabbits use
which are made by Bosch. The control modules for those cars run over $100. I
have always wondered if this control box went bad if I could just connect
the ends of the pickup wires to a GM control module and install the same
finned unit as on the Spider. Sounds simply. But does the pickup and the
control module need to be compatible? What I mean by this is, if the
GM/Marelli pickup has a certain impedence and the Bosch has another
impedence will they work together? Or does it matter?

If this person is bent on installing an HEI control module on a VW, then why
not buy a GM/Marelli pickup, remove the rivets from the mounting plate and
mount it to the Bosch pickup plate? Would this work?

Also I have been talking to a guy with a 1985 Chevy pickup about the ESC
system used on this truck. There were several of these systems used on GM
cars/trucks throughout the years but on one model (I believe his), the
control module has an extra prong but will apparantly fit where the original
HEI module would go. I would like to know if anyone has modified the
original HEI system for use with the ESC by simply swapping control modules,
adding the knock sensor and the ESC unit. This sounds simple but then again
would it work?

Anybody know the schematic to this system and how to hook one up?







James Seabolt -----> mailto:jseabolt at preferred.com
Webpage: http://pages.preferred.com/~jseabolt
ICQ # : 7344463

United States

1980 FIAT 2000 Spider (injected)
1981 FIAT X 1/9 (Injected)
1994 JEEP Wrangler (2.5l )
1976 Chevrolet Pickup (454 Big Block)