electrical and ignition 123 Ignition Distributor....any Info Or Personal Experience?

[Stevenola]

Nice writeup.  The 123 people told me it's better to eliminate unneeded data points so since you are linear from 1000 to 2700 rpm you could remove the middle 3 points.  It's an amazing device, I love mine.

[peterschop]

Nice writeup.  The 123 people told me it's better to eliminate unneeded data points so since you are linear from 1000 to 2700 rpm you could remove the middle 3 points.  It's an amazing device, I love mine.

 

Yes, you are correct and I already have done that. My curve is based off the 0 231 180 005 and 0 231 180 008 and two other distributors. They have a timing point of 25 degrees at 1400 RPM. After talking to Zinz today I did remove the middle 3 points. I then checked and it is right at 25 degrees at 1400. I also took a point out of the vacuum map.

 old points

 

New points

[zinz]

So happy to hear of another happy 123 user!

 

I forgot to ask yesterday, Peter... What, if any, modifications does your engine have? ie...headers, dual carbs, performance cam, etc...

 

Ed

[peterschop]

My engine is a 2.0 liter from a 1977 320i with the E21 head and a 32/36. As far as I know, there are no modifications to the engine except the addition of a carburetor. The 320 engine has a little less compression than the 2002 so I may still be able to add more advance to my curve.

 

Upon further research, according to the Haynes 320i manual, the 320 has 8.1:1 compression and the 320i has 9.3:1 and since only the 320i was sold in the USA, I should have the higher compression ratio.

Edited August 27, 2015 by peterschop

[Beach_Bum]

I finally got around to installing mine last weekend and, like peterschop, I feel the car has never run better! I went with a tune that Zinz posted earlier in the thread, and while I was only able to get in a short drive I did not notice the sputtering or surging under steady throttle that nearly drove me to insanity after I installed dual Weber 40s and a Tii distributor.

 

My original plan was to use the threaded opening on the bottom of my Korman intake manifold for vacuum, but the thread size was so odd (5/16-24) that I could not find a suitable threaded barb to work. Instead of drilling and tapping a new hole, I ended up installing a brass T-fitting to a short hose coming off of the manifold booster line. One side has a small barb for the distributor vacuum and the other side a larger barb for the booster vacuum.

 

I can't wait to drive it and tinker with it more!

[peterschop]

While I love my 123/Tune, there is one feature I can not get to work. The tune allows switching between two advance curves with the flip of a switch. I have loaded two curves in but only able to access curve #1. I wired the yellow wire through a switch to ground as in the wiring diagram but it will not let me switch to the second curve. Does anyone know how to access curve #2?

 

I tried to contact 123ignition.nl and 123ignitionusa but have not been able to find their email address. 

[downhillwolf]

Yellow wire should be connected to 12V i think that in cars with positive ground the wire should be on ground...

[peterschop]

Yellow wire should be connected to 12V i think that in cars with positive ground the wire should be on ground...

That could be although it is not clear in the diagram. Neg earth shows red to 12V but yellow just out there. Pos earth shows yellow to ground with a switch. I wonder if there is any other way to access curve #2?

 

[123Ignitionusa]

When the yellow wire is grounded it should be on curve #2

 

You can find 123ignition.nl email address under their contact tab on their web site sales@albertronic.com

My email address is on every post as well as the contact tab on my web site.

Edited September 2, 2015 by 123Ignitionusa

[peterschop]

Yellow wire should be connected to 12V i think that in cars with positive ground the wire should be on ground...

 

 

When the yellow wire is grounded it should be on curve #2

 

Looks like we have conflicting views and the diagram is not clear as to where the wire goes. I have tried putting the yellow to ground and been unable to bring up curve #2.

 

[peterschop]

And the correct answer is....... "Yellow wire should be connected to 12V". 

[123Ignitionusa]

Glad you got it working. So the yellow wire goes to the (+) Positive side of the battery or the (-) Negative side of the battery?

[peterschop]

Yellow wire goes to (+) positive side through a switch

[zinz]

... I was just replying when I saw Peter chime back in.

 

I was out yesterday, sorry for being late to the party, Peter; you shoulda emailed me.  I had a similar confusion with the wiring diagram.  As we have obviously seen several replies now, to beat the dead horse... yellow wire needs 12v.

 

How's she runnin' Peter?

 

Ed

[AustrianVespaGuy]

This 123 dizzy seems excellent, but I'm going to give a quick shout-out to the Megasquirt/Megajolt with EDIS route, just as an alternative.  This is the route I went a few years ago and couldn't be happier.  Some of the advantages are dirt cheap but bulletproof Ford parts (I got my coilpack off of Amazon for like $15 and keep a spare EDIS control module around that I picked up for $20), not slop in the timing due to lash in the valve train/dizzy, a wasted spark setup, so always throws a GREAT spark, also fully programmable, and has a built in 'limp home mode' which just sets timing to a fixed 10 degrees in case something goes wrong and it doesn't get the proper signal from the MS/MJ brain (like when a wire comes loose, ask me how I know!).  Also, it CAN actually look very stock, as long as you get the right flat-bottomed coil and this great distributor hole plug/coil mount from 02again.com:

 

 

Installed looks like this:

 

 

Finished product:

 

 

The installation is probably a good bit more involved than the 123, but I would estimate that the cost is pretty comparable.  Again, I'm not really claiming that one is necessarily better than the other, just that it seems we have two very, very good options when looking at state-of-the-art electronic ignition upgrades!

 

-Carl