The infamous EDIS conversion

[miniman82]

Just so everyone has it.

http://www.corvairnut.com/EDIS.htm

[Phil Dally]

Glad your on board...much more civility going on here!!

[UNSAFE]

Right On MiniMan !

[Wabbitkiller]

I'm going to add EDIS to my Vair SOMEDAY Nick....I PROMISE!

[miniman82]

....I PROMISE!

I've heard that before!

Hopefully Brian at Boost Engineering will be able to come up with a decent kit for us, so the guys that aren't inclined to fabrication can bolt this upgrade on and run. Remember: the more people that do this, the more knowledge there will be to share. There's a snowball effect, if you will. The more people that do it, the more ignition maps there will be, and the more ideas and technical expertice that will be around to help people out.

[wildwhl]

Cool forum - didn't even know about it

Nick - I took a stock distributor and have machined it down, moving the original bearing down, chopping the shaft, etc. The little thrust washer (held onto the dist. shaft, below the housing) is that sufficient to handle the vertical (axial?) load?

Pics would be great it possible...and I should post some too.

EDIS and EFI inbound.

WW

[miniman82]

Yes, I used the stock thrust washer when I did mine. Still going strong!

[Gregory_Miller]

I'd love EDIS on my (hopefully very soon) future Vair. *Just cause it's old, tried and true, doesn't make it the best.

[Homebrew]

Nick,

Had a couple questions (FROM DONOR CAR)
1 Crank angle (VR) Sensor
1 reluctor wheel (36 minus 1 tooth)
1 6-cylinder coil pack
1 EDIS Module
Associated wiring, to include the connectors for the sensor, coil, and control module. These parts shouldn't cost you more than $150 at the junkyard.

Have many Corvair parts and a pull a part REAL close. Would like to know what donor car is needed. What you use? Have access to milling machine and Lathe when needed.

Also Nick - When wildwhl talks about

I took a stock distributor and have machined it down, moving the original bearing down, chopping the shaft, etc. The little thrust washer (held onto the dist. shaft, below the housing) is that sufficient to handle the vertical (axial?) load?

Pics would be great it possible...and I should post some too

.

Nick you lost me when

I used the stock thrust washer when I did mine. Still going strong!

I thought when using EDIS you lose the distributor? Have to say thanks in advance as I will go thru with this to gain the benefits you describe.

Steve

[wildwhl]

I can answer some of this. I went to Pick N Pull and found that it was actually cheaper to buy the EDIS parts from fleabay - seller is Boost Engineering. For under $100 they sent me coil, wires, EDIS module, wheel, sensor, a fuel cutoff switch and some other sensor (including shipping). Local pick and pull wanted $49 for the just the coil, and another $44 for the module (per their online price list). In my case, I won't end up using the wheel or EDIS module (already had a wheel and intend to drive the EDIS direct from MegaSquirt). Of course, I could have waited for one of PnP's sale days I suppose -but was happy to pay what I did:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-EDI ... 066wt_1167


The distributor goes away - but - the distributor shaft is also the oil pump drive. So in my case, I cut the top of the distributor housing and shaft off. You still need to have the lower portion of the shaft with the gear that drives from the cam, the thrust washer (if you look at a distributor it is held with a roll pin just below the dis housing) as well as a bearing for the shaft to spin in. The top of the housing has said bearing stock, so I just bored out the bottom of the housing and moved the bearing down. I promise I'll pull it apart to post pics soon (hopefully tomorrow providing I don't get too hammered at the Collective Soul concert tonight )

The uncompleted VR mount and top of machined down housing (along with new hold down) are seen here:



Enjoy

WW

[Vairforce1]

WW-

Which version of MegaSquirt are you using? I recently picked up a used MS1 v2.2 ($85 shipped!) with the idea of installing the MS1/Extra code so I can (some day) do the EDIS ignition conversion on my turbo engine. I recently read that the MegaSquirt boards can be modified to run an EDIS ignition directly without the EDIS module, which is appealing, but then wouldn't you lose the "limp home" mode built into the EDIS module should the MS unit fail?

[wildwhl]

Good questions. The MS I ended up with is an MS1 V3.0, and I'm, well, half owner of an MSII unit as well (long story). I have not spent much time on the reading for MS yet (been more focused on work and the physical mods to the car's fueling/intake/etc.), but if I recall correctly the MS1+extra can run EDIS with some mods (don't shoot me if I'm wrong - very brain dead at the moment). From another thread:

martyscarr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One thing about using the EDIS type ignition with
> the above setup, it will not be able to use the
> MSExtra rev limiter feature, you'll have to use an
> additional rev limiter device. For this reason, I
> prefer the "wheel decoder" ignition since you can
> use the built in rev limiter feature.



Everything Marty said is correct. I will add that if you choose EDIS, you don't need to use the EDIS module anymore. MS can fire the coil pack directly, with the addition of some supplemental hardware:

VR sensor input circuit: [www.msextra.com]
Spark output mods: [www.msextra.com]

The V3.0 board is best suited to this, since it has an on-board VR sensor conditioning circuit.

[www.msextra.com]

Nick
Turbo Corvair, turbo VW Beetle, soon to be turbo Mini Cooper, turbo....
Your Vair deserves more than a distributor! DIY distributorless ignition: [www.capitalcitycorvairs.com]

I did purchase some extra components to mod the MS controller...but again...not there yet. It is sitting in a box, on the shelf, only opened to make sure it wasn't empty.



So, in short, I don't know!

WW

[miniman82]

I recently read that the MegaSquirt boards can be modified to run an EDIS ignition directly without the EDIS module, which is appealing, but then wouldn't you lose the "limp home" mode built into the EDIS module should the MS unit fail?

Yes, you can fire the coils directly with MS1/Extra sans EDIS module, but it requires additional board mods and parts. You need the coil drivers, and the according changes to the software. If the MS unit fails you aren't gonna get any fuel, so having a limp home mode on your ignition is meaningless at that point anyway. Good thing MS units don't fail. As long as they are assembled correctly, anyway.

[Vairforce1]

I'm planning on using the MS to manage spark, with the option to control fuel later, which is why I asked about the limp home mode.

Dave

[wildwhl]

Collective Soul was great....but not so great I won't get 'vair time tomorrow

WW

[miniman82]

I'm planning on using the MS to manage spark, with the option to control fuel later, which is why I asked about the limp home mode.

Ah, I understand. It's up to you, really. There are several features MS supports that are incompatible with the EDIS module. Turbo anti-lag, spark cut rev limiter, launch and traction control are features that require direct coil control from MS. The only rev limiter I have on my VW is fuel cut, which works but there's definitely a better way.