[Fot] Ignition type questions

[George Harmuth]

Hello, I'm new to the FOT list, I was racing at the Glen Vintage event and
a member, (thanks Marty Sukey) talked to me and now I've now discovered a
great resource. I've been racing a 63 spitfire for 3 years now in the
northeast in mostly with the SCCA Historic Racing Group but this year I
bought some slicks and ran regional HP events too. I've been going through
the car, freshening things up and getting it as reliable as a 45 year old
LBC can be but now I'm at the stage of what to do next.

The car's been around forever, it's been a race car since day 1. I heard
from a previous owner, Dave Belden who raced it for 20+ years,  that the
importer made it a race car right off the boat to promote the new Triumph
model. As far as I can tell, the first time it's been driven on the street
was 2 weeks ago at the Glen during the recreation of the old race. You can
see it on the video that was posted here, I'm the car still at the curb on
the right as the cars are going through town. I broke a 1/2 shaft universal
pulling away from the curb but that's another story.


I'm looking at the ignition system, the car (1296 motor)  came with a Delco
distributor and a Crane Fireball electronic ignition box and Crane coil.
One of the groups I race with doesn't allow crank fired systems so I'm
forced to keep a distributor set up. I'd like to ask the collective wisdom
here what would my best option be? The engine is moderately worked over,
revs freely to around 7800-8000 RPM but the cam I have works best from
4500-7200 RPM. I've looked at Pertronix systems, going back to points
(Single or Dual?) or keeping the Crane. I also bought a Crane CD box, with
rev limiter that is going to be a winter install but I'm not sure if it's
worth the electrical draw on the system. My main reason for the CD was the
built in Rev limiter and easier starting when the engine is hot.

I'm not looking for the ultimate engine package, I'll trade power for
reliability (to a point) and running with multiple groups, often on the
same weekend, limits me to one set up that will be acceptable to all.
Any suggestions on how to keep this puppy sparking?

thanks
mike

Old Fart Racing
63 Spitfire #7

G. Michael Harmuth
Software Engineer
Automated Material Handling Equipment Engineering Services
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