Electronic Distributor by Stromberg UK

[andrew honychurch]

Many apologies if this has been discussed whilst I have been away playing with other vehicles, but I gather that there is now a UK manufactured electronic replacement dizzy . Having concluded that the T16 refusal to work without stopping when hot, is down to the ignition I am interested in buying one of these. Has anyone got first hand knowledge and experience of the Stromberg item and whether it was necessary to fit a high performance coil etc etc. ?

here is a link
https://www.oneillvintageford.co.uk/...tor-21a-6.html

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by andrew honychurch

Has anyone got first hand knowledge and experience of the Stromberg item and whether it was necessary to fit a high performance coil etc etc. ?

Hi Andrew,
I don't have any experience on this distributor, but on the link you posted is another link to the owners manual and the following explains what the coil requirement is:
WARNING!
The e-FIRE ignition module must be used with a points style coil only, with a resistance in the primary circuit of at least 3.0 Ohms (Ω) or 1.5 Ohms with a ballast resistor. DO NOT use a low-resistance or HEI-style coil. Coils of less than 1.5 Ohms resistance are not suitable and will invalidate the warranty.


regards, Richard

[jack neville]

I have got Jolley Engineering modules on all my flatheads.
Pricey but work well.

[andrew honychurch]

thanks Richard and Jack. Richard I am thinking of bringing it down to Combined OPs at Headcorn next month, and last time out, even on the relatively short journey the coil was overheating. Usual story with the Divers Helmet . I am particularly keen to hear from anyone who has actually bought one of these distributors and is running with one . Maybe a post on the Ford FlatHead or Pilot owners club would be good idea.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Hello Andrew,

Try contacting Tobin Jones (T17E1), IIRC he has fitted a Stromberg carburettor to his T16, maybe their electronic ignition as well.

HTH,
Hanno

[Andrew Rowe]

Hi Andrew, I am at a loss as to why your coils run hot. When these machines came out of the factories, they went straight in action, with I would have thought all the problems designed and sorted out. Nowadays we are trying to pickup on old technology and make things work , with limited skills and training.
I cannot see why a proper coil , original dizzy cannot work perfectly. The need to keep jumping to electronic stuff is lost on me.
The coil you should use is a Ballast 12 volt with external resistor. So nothing special about that. What we have done in the past is run an extra wire from the starter button side of the solenoid direct to the coil with an in-line diode, ( to stop backfeed ). This is run in conjunction with the normal wiring of your coil through the resistor to the coil. So, when you push your finger on the start button you get direct feed of 12 volt to coil, and then dizzy. Once started and you release your finger off the start button, the current flow is continued on as normal through your resistor and onto the coil. BUT now you are running through the resistor, there is only 6 Volts running through the (12 V) coil, which is totally adequate for the dizzy and NO overheating problems. In My opinion the Crab type dizzy is easier to work on the the "egg type". This system is running a 12 battery, with a couple of in-line resistors for your gauges and 12 V solenoid, 12 V regulator, and original 6V gen housing converted to 12V by changing out the Field coils. Problem Free Cheers Andrew.

[andrew honychurch]

hi Andrew, thanks for the response. There is a well known problem with a batch of Divers helmet distributors fitted to T16s that causes coils to over heat due to shorting out internally. It was recounted to me that one one outing in the 1960s with the local TA 6 out of 8 T16s broke down and had to be recovered with the same issue. ( back to Ashford Richard!) Ignition failure when hot. Not long after this the British Army scrapped all their Carriers anyway.
I have spent a long while discussing this with others and concluded that its probably something to do with rotor arms that short out and overheat the coils. I dont really have any more appetite to persevere with the divers helmet as getting it on and off the engine is a pain in the back side and at 57 years old if an electronic distributor sorts the problem out for good, then thats ok for me. If anyone else wants to solve the age old problem I would be delighted to hear from them. Reference Tobin, he fitted an Electronic distributor made in the US but now no longer manufactured hence my interest in the Stromberg dizzy. thanks for the inputs chaps.

EDIT. I should add that I have deleted the original 6 v coil and have an adaptor on the top of the divers helmet which takes an standard HT lead to the coil. Its a while since I even started this T16 up but from memory I am running a standard 12 v coil. I could add a resistor wire to the ignition system and ballasted coil and see whether it works any better. The auto choke also takes a feed from the starter solenoid to provide full choke on start so I can use that feed since its very close to the coil location......or just go with the electronic distributor. To quote Tobin Jones who had suffered for a long time with the same issues as me, his T16 has been transformed by the electronics distributor and I now remember it was made by Mallory which got taken over I think.

[Andrew Rowe]

That is why we use the original 42 Crab dizzy, avoids all the problems you seem to face. The timing cover needs to be a 2 bolt one for the crab and not the 3 bolt one, and if your cam shaft sticks out further, you just put a 10mm adapter plate on to space it out for the dizzy cog to engage properly. Cheers Andrew.

[andrew honychurch]

Yes I know about the adaptors that can fit onto the front of the camshaft. I friend has a T16 which was a very late release from the British Army and it is fitted with a crab and a standard ignition coil. It came to him like this and I would say it was a British Army conversion. Interestingly he is one of two owners of a T16 that has not experienced the curse of the hot failures. The other was a brand new crated T16 bought back in the 70s and that was fine too. I think if a T16 was a road car many owners would have experimented more with them, but as they usually get transported to events, and home again it sort of gets lived with, but my time has come. I searched on Mallory Ignition last night and see that they have re introduced the electronic ignition distributor so now I have 3 choices, an original Crab, Mallory or Stromberg