Pointless Ignition

[Bill K]

How many of you out there have put a pointless ignition kit in your distributor?
Do you notice any difference in performance with the pointless use?
I've been looking at converting to one in my 009 distributor, and have bee pricing them. I notice that the Pertronix runs about $65, and one called Mag Fire is about $38. I know there is also one called Compufire.
I'm open to suggestions for best brand to buy (Anything but Empi).

[jspbtown]

I've run the magfire in my last 4 kits. They are easy to install and seem to work just fine. Careful installing them because you can fry them in a nano-second. One briefly crossed wire and it was bye bye.

[Bill K]

Even with the battery disconnected

[David O']

If any electronic unit is cros wired, they will fry in an instant. Compufires are what I use and sell, they work fine.

[David Head]

I can't remember which one I have. It's either a Petronix or a Compu-fire. I think it's the Petronix, If I remember thats what Barry Blythe talked me into. I have had no problems from it.
David

[jspbtown]

I was reattaching my wiring to the coil and inadvertantly attached the wire from the tach to the pos side of the coil. Thats all it took to go poof. Silly mistake after a long day.

[Vee Dub Nut]

I use one in my 009

When we first built the engine in my Beetle we used the Petronix module. It worked well but over the course of a few years developed a problem where if it got wet it wouldn't start. After drying the distributor it would work fine again but it got to be frustrating. After removing the module we found that one of the wires got to close to the distributor shaft and it had rubbed a hole in the insulation Our fault not the module...

Anyways.. I threw points back in it at the time because the car was in storage while I was in school and I didn't have the money to pop for a new module (although I'm thinking about putting some heat shrink on it and giving it another chance in the new buggy )



When I pulled my car back out of storage I replaced my points again with one of these guys.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=397477

The modules are pretty simple and can be made by someone with some electrical experience. These guys are out of Austin and you can't really beat the price. I've been running it in my car since August and its been great so far (yea I made sure the wires were far away from the distributor shaft this time )

[Bill K]

He Vee Dub,
Thanks for the lead. I've contacted them about the Hot Spark product, and likewise invited them to get a vendor space at the Buggy Blast.
Just gotta sell the show wherever and whenever I can.

[Buggy1]

IF YOU HOOK ANY AND I MEAN ANY ELCTRONIC UNIT UP wrong - IT WILL INSTANTLY FRY. I have used compu fires from David O for years and NEVER had not one problem. Of course that means I READ the instructions.

Neal

[Aquabuggy]

Hey Bill, I did some digging and mine was a Compu-fire, well you know how that worked out .
I guess Compu-fire must be made by empi, I don't recall seeing empi on the package it came in but it is printed on the module itself.

[staggerwing]

Compu-fire baby; it came with the SVDA dizzy from lowbugget. It's still VERY new, but so far so good.

[David O']

If you had a "compufire" with the name EMPI on the side.....it isn't a compufire, it is an accufire.........come on guys. Let's all get the right information before we start passing the word around. OK?
I sell EMPI parts, and I know more about who makes what than most....not bragging, just fact. I still don't get how many times the wrong accumptions can get started, and everybody jumps on the wagon....doesn't anyone really look into things, anymore?
By the way, most of the comments made about who makes what is based on someone's inability to install items the right way. I'm not trying to judge or critisize anyone, but over 50% of the problems I see with parts, is how they are installed, or not installed. It's mostly the lack of information and understanding that leads to misinformation.
Try this, look up Compufire on the web and I'll pay anyone $100 if they can show me the page where compufire is owned or made by EMPI....any takers? Anyone want to put their money where their comments are?

[Aquabuggy]

This is the one I had, I have the receipt in my hand and I still have the old module with empi stamped on it!
I did not install it wrong it worked fine for 800 miles then would die out after running about 10 min.

http://www.mooreparts.com/store/product ... UFIREVW2X/

[Bill K]

Looks like Chris has at least one Compu-fire that was made by Empi.

[David O']

That is an accu fire.......compufires have a blue lable on them with thier name.....accufires don't

[Faron]

Whats wrong with EMPI? Not to stick up for them or anything, just dont want to buy junk.

[Bill K]

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, and is based only on my own experiences. They may make some good stuff, but for me personally, I have to put a new spin on the old Campbells Soup ad: "If it's Empi, It's got to be bad".

[David O']

All companies have problems with keeping quality control under control. I have pointed out before that my company does not sell accu fires due to the high failure rate. That is to protect the customer.
I'm not saying that anyone is accusing me of selling stuff that is no good, just that sometimes, poop happens.
Anyone out there gotten an Auto Zone starter that didn't work? I saw a kid get four of them in one day to get one that did work.....does that make all of them bad, no. It makes the rebuilder that they use not have good quality control.
There will always be discussions on what is what, I've even heard of people going to junk yards to get used ball joints out of JUNK cars, because of SOME ball joints being bad. So let me see if I understand this right..........used junk yard parts are in better condition that the new parts that are offered..........HUMMMMMMM
If I sell a ball joint, and I got it from an EMPI order.......and it is the same one offered by other suppliers, and made by the same overseas man. that makes the part a bad one due to a lable on the box. And the fact that I'm trying to save on the cost of freight by stacking up orders to the suppliers, is something that shouldn't be done because guys don't understand that I'M CHECKING THE QUALITY OF THE PARTS I BUY BEFORE I SELL THEM TO OTHERS.
The offer still stands, go to compufire and show me where, any where, it says that they are made by EMPI.....
All suppliers to us have parts that do not measure up to what they need to be, it is up to us in the business to control what we buy and sell.
This is all just my opinion..over 40 year working on these cars, 10 years in the parts business, and countless failures of parts, countless successes with parts. I hope that I've learned something over these years, but I'm beginning to wonder.
I'm not saying that anyone is out there trying to hurt my business, just trying to get people to understand that stories, not based on fact, hurts the whole movement of the volkswagen. You guy drive the market, and the prices. And the stories told, leave impressions that can't be undone. That hurts all businesses, and then there won't be any, and you will have killed the industry and the hobby that you enjoy.
I'm now out of this discussion, because I don't want to offend.

[Bill K]

I'll be the first to admit that maybe I just had a bad run of luck with Empi. But whatever luck you have with a part, you can rest assured that David will stand behind what he sells. I bought from him before, and will again, simply because of how well he will handle your problem if you do have one.

[Aquabuggy]

I didn't buy this from David and never implied that he sold sub standard parts. I haven't had any problems with the parts David has sold me in the past.
I understand even the best of the best will have problems form time to time.

Here's a pic of the invoice and the module (I told you I keep all my receipts). This is the only one Ive ever owned all my other buggies ran points so don't go there.

[Texasbuggys]

Whew, not my invoice either! Looks like they sent you a substitue product. You get the same thing when you order the VDO electronic speedo sender from a lot of vendors, I know I ordered the VDO and they sent the EMPI one. Went back and in fine print it states, may send EMPI part # sdfasdfgsa as a sustitute part. Worked ok for me so no complaints on it. David you are right on alot of these parts are made in the exact same factory with the same QA/QC or lack of on some parts and then they are re-packaged under others names and shipped. Most folks did not know that Alpine CD players have internals made by Sony but low and behold, crack one open. Don't ask how I know this.

[Vee Dub Nut]

Don't ask how I know this.

How do you know this...

Sorry couldn't help myself

[Aquabuggy]

Looks like they sent you a substitue product.

That's probably what happened, although no where on the package did it say empi, invoice says compufire why would I think differently or lie?
I really don't care one way or the other 40 bucks and I got 800 miles out of it.
I just didn't like being accused of spreading rumors and being to stupid to install the thing correctly.

[the 'Maniac]

I ran a CompuFire ignition "points replacement module" in a custom built SVDA distributor that I put together. It worked great for about 2 months/1000 miles & then it freaked out. I returned it to CompuFire & after they sent me a new one!

I decided to go to the next level & installed a CompuFire DIS-IX "distributorless" ignition system. It works fantastic!

My engine is a 1600cc, stock dualport heads & cam, AJ Sims "prepped" dual Kadron 40mm carbs w/SCAT linkage, 1.25 to 1 rockers & the Tri-Mil "BobTail" Quiet-Pack 1 3/8 exhaust.

After 40,000 miles with a 34pict carb & my custom built SVDA dizzy, I installed the rockers, carbs & ignition system. The engine really came alive!

At the 2005 North of Mojave/Red Rock Adventure in March 2005 & then the 2005 Big Bear Run, the modifications really proved themselves to be worth it.

I temporarily swapped back to my SVDA w/CompuFire & it really surprised me, as to how much of a difference the "distributorless" ignition made! With the SVDA it ran OK, but the Compufire DIS IX really made a BIG hp/torque difference thru-out the whole RPM range.
Different areas on the trails that the previous years I had to use 1st or 2nd gear, now I could run 2nd, 3rd & even 4th gear!
Yes the dual Kadrons made a difference too & to some extent the 1.25 rockers, but CompuFire DIS-IX system was the "glue" that helped everthing work together!
After 25,000 miles of use, the cost of the parts have proven themselves to be a great investment!