HOW TO FIT A SIMONBBC ELECTRONIC KIT

The following article was a partnership between

R3W forum Members

Bigbrett & Fifer

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LINK TO SIMONBBC FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ;

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Simonbbc-Ignition-Solutions/Product-FAQ.html

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These are the SIMONBBC electronic kit parts to convert from POINTS / CONDENSER to ELECTRONIC ignition .

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Remove the HT lead from the coil at the distributor cap end .

Remove the HT lead from the coil at the coil end .

Remove the HT plug leads from all 4 cylinders

Remove the distributor cap { unclip the 2 holding springs }

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Looking at it from the front of the car , Turn the engine with a spanner

on the bolt in the middle of the fan belt pulley in a clockwise direction

till the rotor arm is pointing towards number 1 cylinder { the one at the front of the car }

Line up the timing marks at the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre { BTDC } marks

{ This is now you set up with the crank in the correct position ready to

re-time the engine after you have fitted the new electronic kit }

Remove the points and condenser

{ saving the screws to use for fixing the electronic module later }

and you end up with

Remove the Earth wire and both screws which hold the points baseplate to the distributor .

The earth wire is required to provide a good solid ground to the module.

You may get intermittent poor running if it is not fitted .

Remove points baseplate and you end up with

You can now have a look at the points baseplate.

The following is the view of the underside of the points baseplate

showing the peg which locates in the vacuum advance lever .

This peg must NOT be removed ! !

The following is the view of the top side of the points baseplate showing

the peg which locates in the sliding points forked end .

This peg HAS TO BE REMOVED .

This does NOT APPLY to all earlier distributors with the fixed contact points

as they do not have the peg .

If an earlier points baseplate can be obtained it means that you

could keep your pegged points baseplate intact should

you want to revert back to points

Dremmel tool works fine to cut it off

Next step is to smear the white paste supplied over the area shown .

The white paste is silicon heat transfer grease and

should be applied onto a well cleaned points plate

to effectively remove heat from the module .

Fit the new PICKUP and the EARTH WIRE as shown .

The earth wire is required to provide a good solid ground to the module.

You may get intermittent poor running if it is not fitted .

When it is fitted , note the clearance between the cut off peg and the new pickup .

Refit the baseplate and connect the other end of the

original braided earth wire under the baseplate clamp screw .

Put the new Electronic wires and rubber sleeve through the distributor body .

Fit the new Electronic Rotor arm .

Rewire as per picture #1 and instructions below

Remember and tape joins on both wires to stop shorting against the distributor body .

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ADDITIONAL NOTE 1 ;

I think the following modification suggested by R3W forum member " norfolkandchance " is a worthwhile addition .

Originally posted by R3W forum member "norfolkandchance" on 26 January 2012

Fifer - you might like to add that its worth gluing the thin wires of Simonbbc proximity switch to the inside of the distributor away from the rotor with silicone.

The wires have a tendency to work their way through the rubber gromitt over time, tightening the wires across the rotor and eventually will rub through.

ADDITIONAL NOTE 2 ;

R3W forum member "Azzy" suggested doing the following

Originally posted by R3W forum member "Azzy" on 26 January 2012

I glued the grommet into the dist case as well as the wires

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I added the following extra info on 19 January 2012

Unless you are very lucky , due to the new positions of the electronic pickups in relation to the distributor cam , when the Simonbbc electronic doodahs are fitted you will need to slacken off the side distributor clamp and rotate the distributor body by hand till it fires .

You might have to move it a fair wee bit

I would recommend that you set up the engine in the best position with the original points in place before fitting the electronic doodahs .

{ 1 } Set the engine statically at the 10 degrees Before Top Dead Centre mark on the fan belt pulley with the rotor arm pointing at number 1 cylinder { the one at the front of the engine }.

{ 2 } Switch the Ignition OFF

{ 3 } Remove distributor

{ 4 } Clean Distributor body including clamp { If required }

{ 5 } Mark a line across the Distributor body and the clamp with tippex / paint / scribe so that if you want to revert back to points you will know where the original setting was

{ 6 } Fit the new electronic parts as per main article above

{ 7 } Slacken off the side clamp pinch bolt

{ 8 } Fit the distributor back into the engine

{ 9 } Rotate the distributor body till the bolt hole in the engine clamp slot is midway { This is so that you can still get a bit of movement to re-adjust the timing in the future }

{ 10 } Fit the bolt , spring washer and washer and tighten

{ 11 } Wire up as per instructions below

http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp316/fifer3w/R3W/DISTRIBUTOR/1ELECTRONICKITFROMSIMONBBCpriort-2-1.jpg

Remember and insulate joins on both wires to stop shorting against the distributor body .

{ 12 } Turn the distributor body around by hand and align the marks you previously made { the body should be slack enough to turn but not too slack } . If too slack just tighten up the side clamp bolt a wee bit till you can turn it smoothly without a jerky motion .

{ 13 } Try to start the engine while holding the distributor body in place to stop it from moving . If it starts you are a lucky Bugg*r and you can go to { 20 }

{ 14 } If it does not start

{ 15 } Stop trying to start the engine .

{ 16 } Turn the distributor clockwise roughly about 1/4 inch { 6mm or so }

{ 17 } Try to start the engine while holding the distributor body in place to stop it from moving ..

{ 18 } If it starts and runs just stop the engine

{ 19 } If it does not start just keep VERY slowly rotating the distributor body till it fires and runs then

{ 20 } Stop the engine

{ 21 } Put a temporary mark on the distributor and clamp

{ 22 } Tighten up the side clamp pinch bolt

{ 23 } Start the engine and get up to working temperature

{ 24 } Stop the engine

{ 25 } Slacken off the pinch bolt enough to be able to rotate the distributor smoothly .

{ 26 } Holding the distributor body , start the engine and VERY slowly turn the distributor body clockwise to try and get the fastest tickover .

If it cuts out just rotate it back to the Original good mark and try again .

{ 27 } When you have reached what you think is the best point then just

{ 28 } Stop the engine

{ 29 } Tighten up the side clamp pinch bolt

{ 30 } Mark a line across the Distributor body and the clamp with tippex / paint / scribe so that if you will know where the setting was .

{ 31 } Set the Timing { if required } by strobe

{ 32 } In the future all you have to do is leave the side pinch bolt alone and slacken off the clamp plate to engine bolt to get adjustment either way

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I wrote this early in the morning just from memory { and that is bad } so if I have made a wee mistake here and there please feel free to chastise me and I will go and give myself a darn good thrashing

POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH THE DISTRIBUTOR HAVING TO BE ROTATED TOO FAR CLOCKWISE AND THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP CLIP BOSS BUTTING AGAINST THE NUMBER 2 PLUG LEAD

I have been pondering as to why some folk have difficulty with the distributor cap boss touching the number 2 cylinder HT lead due to having to turn the distributor too far round .

I took a few photos of the distributor , set up correctly in position , and noted the position of the peg which locates in the vacuum capsule rod hole .

It is approx half way on the distributor cap clip boss when the vacuum capsule is correctly located in the peg .

Same position on the distributor but with the rotor arm removed to enable the cam position to be observed

Pic of the vacuum capsule lever showing the hole where the movable points peg sits in .

Pic of the moveable points plate showing the peg which slots into the vacuum capsule lever hole .

I then removed the vacuum capsule and disengaged the rod from the peg .

I re-fitted the vacuum capsule just by pushing in and tightened the two retaining screws .

I took more photos and the change in the position of the peg which locates in the vacuum capsule rod hole was obvious .

It had moved further round in an anti- clockwise direction away from the high point of the cam .

The points heel was well away from the highest point on the cam

Since the cam is stationary when you are doing a static time of the engine you have to turn the distributor body by hand in a clockwise direction to get the points nearer to the high point on the cam where the points will open .

This is why the distributor cap spring clip boss hits the number 2 cylinder .

SOLUTION ; Engage the vacuum capsule rod in the points peg attached to the top plate.

If the rod is engaged correctly in the peg then might it be possible to slot the 2 holes in the electronic pick up thereby allowing you to move them nearer to the firing point ? .

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ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTOR WIRING

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It is recommended by SIMONBBC that you

DO NOT USE A BALLASTED COIL but SHOULD USE A STRAIGHT 12V COIL .

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The following is my method of changing the wiring .

Electronic Distributor wiring

HOW TO CHANGE FROM A BALLAST COIL SYSTEM TO A STRAIGHT 12V COIL and complete new ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTOR

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Stage 1 ;

IGNITION SETUP WITH BALLAST COIL AND STANDARD 45D DISTRIBUTOR BEFORE MODIFICATION .

{ 1A } Remove the wire coming from the distributor at the NEGATIVE { - } side of the coil { Marked { A } on above drawing } and keep it handy to re- attach to new coil if required.

{1B } Remove the wires going to the POSITIVE { + } side of the coil { Marked { B } on above drawing } and tape/blank them up so that the live ends cannot touch anything .

Now tie them up out of the way

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Stage 2 ;

Remove coil and replace with a High performance straight 12v coil .

The following link will give a list of part numbers ;

https://sites.google.com/site/fifers...t-12-volt-coil

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Stage 3 ;

Make a new feed wire with a SINGLE FEMALE on one end , which will attach to the POSITIVE { + } side of the coil , and a PIGGYBACK CONNECTOR * on the other side of the wire which will attach to the Fusebox .

{* A PIGGYBACK CONNECTOR is just a name for a connector to which you can attach another wire . This means that you can supply/receive power to 2 wires from the one terminal }

Piggyback connectors are available from many companies including ;

Vehicle Wiring Products Ltd.

9 Buxton court,

Manners industrial estate,

Ilkeston,

Derbyshire,

DE7 8EF.

UNITED KINGDOM.

Telephone: 0115 9305454 Fax: 0115 9440101

E-mail: Sales@vehicleproducts.co.uk

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

The connectors are shown on the Non Insulated Terminals page at the following May 2013 link ;

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/72/1/non-insulated-terminals

The following is the extract from the May 2013 link above ;

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http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/445/piggyback-connector

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Alternatively you can use Stationary Blades on the fusebox as per ;

SBC 2 into 1 terminals

STATIONARY 2 BLADE TERMINAL

or SBD 3 into 1 terminals

STATIONARY 3 BLADE TERMINAL

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Stage 5 ;

Now attach the original WHITE WIRE to the piggyback connector you have just connected to the fusebox .

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Stage 6 ;

Attach the SINGLE FEMALE end of your new wire to the POSITIVE { + } side of the coil

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Stage 7 ;

Attach the RED wire coming from the new ELECTRONIC distributor to the POSITIVE { +} side of the coil

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Stage 8 ;

Attach the BLACK wire coming from the new ELECTRONIC distributor to the NEGATIVE { - } side of the coil

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Stage 9 ;

PHOTO OF HOW THE FINISHED WIRING SHOULD LOOK .

MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS NO POWER TO THE COIL WHEN THE IGNITION IS SWITCHED OFF

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Stage 10 ;

Make a copy of your new wire and carry it as a spare .

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You have now bypassed the ballast system and you now know that the power is coming direct from the battery via the ignition switch .

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NOTE ;

If you wish to return to the original ballast setup it is very simple .

Since everything is visible and easily got at , it is just a case of ;

{ 1 } Removing the new piggyback power wire ;

{ 2 } Reconnecting the original white power wire to the fusebox ;

{ 3 } Disconnecting the new wire from the distributor at the negative { -} side of the coil ;

{ 4 } Replacing the standard 12v coil with a ballast coil ;

{ 5 } Removing the tape from the original power wires from the harness

{ 6 } Reconnecting from the original power wires from the harness to the Positive { + } side of the ballast coil ;

{ 7 } Reconnecting the original wire from the distributor at the negative { -} side of the coil .

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Further product setup info from SIMONBBC .

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Simonbbc-Ignition-Solutions/Kit-Install-Helper.html.