Bosch 009/050 points and condensor, what to buy? Options

[bbrock]

I need to get a set of points and condenser for a Bosch 050 dizzy. It looks like the correct points (Bosch 01 030) have been NLA for a long time and even old stock has dried up. 01 011 (I believe these are the same as used in most stock 914 dizzies) will work and are available. So which condenser to get? I'm assuming Bosch 02 054 (also stock 914 part) to match the points rather than 02 086 which was original for these centrifugal dizzies. I'm also guessing it really doesn't matter, but what use is having access to the world's greatest 914 brain trust if you don't use it? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[bbrock]

Alright, here's the full story which I was avoiding because it doesn't put a certain person in a good light.

After researching dizzies for my carbed engine, I decided I wanted vacuum advance and an electronic ignition of some sort. The Pertronix SVDA looked like a good option, but when I learned people have used the 1.8L stock dizzy with good success, I looked at the advance curves of the various stock dizzies and didn't see a whole lot of difference, so I decided to refurbish my stock 2.0L dizzy, pull the FI triggers and replace with a block off plate and give it a go. An experiment for sure. This dizzy was fitted with a Pertonix III Ignitor (also an experiment since there have been some bad reviews) and I bought a matching Flamethrower coil. Now before one of you 123 snobs spouts off about how great they are, I didn't have the budget at the time, and I'm drawn to going FI before too long (yes, I know it means a cam switch). Before spending 123 money, I want to know it is going to be with me for the long haul.

Okay, so I plugged in my refreshed stock dizzy with Pertronix and the engine fired right up and popped and spit for 30 minutes of cam break-in. After balancing the carbs and dialing them in a bit, I had the engine idling smoothly and reving freely for awhile. Now, the engine fires up easily and idles smoothly as it comes up to temperature, but then begins to misfire and idle erratically as the tach bounces around like a drunken monkey. Is the issue the Pertronix, the dizzy, the coil, or something else? That's where the 050 comes in. I have a NOS 050 I bought 35 years ago and never used. My thinking is to plug it in and see if the engine runs better. If it does, then I will install the Pertronix in it and see what happens. And if that works, then.... You get the picture. I'm just trying to isolate the possibilities.

Now finally to the points. I swapped the flamethrower coil for an old spare I have so I didn't fry the points. The replacement went in 90 degrees from how I had the flamethrower mounted (you probably see where this is going). I was careful to plug the power and tach wires in correctly, but trying to static time the dizzy, I couldn't get the voltage to drop no matter where I turned it. Then I noticed the condenser wire was unplugged, so I quickly plugged it into the same side I had gotten used to being the negative side. Of course it wasn't the negative side and watched the points wire glow red hot and vaporize. Doh! Hence, the need for points to complete the trouble shooting.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Superhawk996]

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/alfred.gif)

oops . . . didn't mean to open that sort of wound and to kick you while you're down.

It is a good story though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I'm not convinced on the whole electronic ignition thing either since it has it's own list of pro & con. You're on the right track to sorting it out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[bbrock]

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/alfred.gif)

oops . . . didn't mean to open that sort of wound and to kick you while you're down.

It is a good story though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I'm not convinced on the whole electronic ignition thing either since it has it's own list of pro & con. You're on the right track to sorting it out. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

Ha ha. It wouldn't be fun if it was too easy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

From what i have read, the Pertronix I is good but has the weakness of being sensitive to being hooked up backward or leaving the key on without running too long. The Pertronix II fixed that and was probably the route I should have taken. But no, when I was shopping, the Pertronix III had just come out and I liked the built in rev limiter and was probably also wooed by the "multi-spark" feature that sounded pretty great to someone like me who doesn't no anything about it. It also has some added circuit protection for over voltage IIRC.

So I fell for it and just had to have the latest and greatest. Then I started hearing about inconsistent results and Pertronix being very stingy about honoring warranties. My unit was out of warranty before I ever even fired it up so Im screwed. Also, has anyone noticed the huge price jump on these things? A couple of weeks ago, the prices I saw were 80% higher than I paid just about a year ago. My Pertronix could be perfectly fine - too early to tell. But I've read enough about this particular model to have suspicions.

Oh well, we'll get it figured out.