Has anyone ever tried to replace the F.I. trigger points with a solid state trigger? By the nature of the question you can tell I have no idea what I'm talking about.

I cant see any reason why a pertronix type of sensor couldn't replace them...

Do the FI have dual contacts, been awhile since i had a look at one.....

Really? I was just makin conversation as a diversion from work.

My 1.7 had duel contacts

Yes - two contacts 180º apart. Each contact fires a pair of cylinders, only half of them when the intake valve is open (i.e. - timing isn't that critical...) I do not recall if they fire on the contact make or break. But there's not a lot of room. Does the Pertronix use an eddy-current sensor on the existing points cam, or does it require a separate magnet wheel?

I almost think it'd be better to use an inductance probe over a pair of spark plug wires. I have no doubt the trigger points are cheaper than that, which if you're VW/Bosch is a big deal with million-unit production volumes...

Seems like I remember Mueller or Kaizer working on one a long time ago. I don't think it ever got finished.

i believe the pertronix work on a hall effect. so a magnet around the dizzy shaft and the hall effect in the pertronix. the pertronix works off of 12V and I think the trigger points are either open or closed and complete a circuit.

I thought someone did it successfully.

1st thing on my mind would be "Why?". The trigger points have reliability beyond reason as far as I have seen. They are a very low voltage signal to the brain and don't really wear all that fast ... I've never had to replace a set.

The cam that activates the trigger points would not be accomodating to a hall effect module as currently produced .. to tall and to thick. Plus, you would need two of them to mimick the firing of the trigger points. As stated, the voltage would be to high also to send the signal to the brain.

I suppose that if you were a design engineer, a machinist and were very knowledgable about ICs or whatever, you could come up with something, but

Why?

with Slits.
Due to the very long life of the trigger points,( low current flow causes very little wear to the points electrical contacts), and fairly low wear to the trigger block that rides on the cam, it is just not economically feasible to make a solid state trigger. Of course it is possible, just hard to justify the costs.
If one were to go that way, why not just get a crank fired system and update the injection to one that uses plug firing to fire the injectors? That way you could do away with the dist. altogether.
Tom

I replaced a set that those blocks had worn out. The points didn't open and close anymore.

It might make sense if the trigger points became NLA or overpriced. A solid state solution wouldn't be that hard or expensive to make.

You just can't teach an old dog...

Because some folks would like to keep the D-Jet, but use a different distributor. I think anyway...