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Date:         Fri, 5 May 95 12:36:45 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ja@decws3.coe.wvu.edu (John Anderson)
Subject:      Re: Aftermarket Electronic Ignition

> > >Eugene C. Palmer writes: > >> > >> PS for people interested in exotica, I am now using a high speed exhaust > >> analyser and it is _way_ cool. I get an instant readout of rich or lean > >> mixture, if I had this six or seven engines ago (not all mine) I would have > >> saved at least a couple of those engines. It is really helpful, and I think > >> will enable me to get the most life out of this engine. > > > >Eugene, > > How much would something like this cost? Can you tell us who > >makes such a beast for the common consumer? > > > >Thanks! > > -David > > > > >From Gene Berg, around $250 for the bung you braze to the collector and the > readout. > > Eug, > '71 > > I'll give you all a hint, a $35 O2 sensor, the bung to be welded to the manifold and a digital voltmeter are all it really takes. There is a FAQ about this available from the fwd VW FAQ location (which I am not currently sure of the location). I've personally been wondering how HALTECH and Berg can charge highway robbery prices for their little LED voltmeters. In short it goes like this, the O2 sensor thread is same as 18mm sparkplug, you can get the bung from Parts Place or elsewhere or get a "spark plug no fouling" adapter from local parts store designed to keep plug OK in an oiling cylinder, the adapter is male thread one side, female on the other, grind off the male, drill a hole wherever (remember beyond the merger of the exhaust from each cylinder bank on a VW or before it if you want to tune each bank individually with 2 sensors) drill a hole and weld/braze her in. Buy a generic heated (3 wire) sensor, around $30 even if you get a good deal, screw her in, appply 12V to heating leads look at the output with said meter, .45V is stoich, lower volts lean, higher means rich, two sensors are great for dual carbs. Whole thing even if you buy a voltmeter should be less than $50. Of course if you really must have a little LED display I can probably look in some old Radio electronics and find an article about building a little in line LED Voltmeter display for under $15. BTW full instructions should be at lap.umd.edu in the vw_archives directory under ExhaustAnalyzer, ftp as anonymous login and you should be good, if anyone wants I will email you the full instructions if you don't have ftp capability. Oh if you put 2 in close enough to the heads you probably don't even need the self heating style, you need it only if you are putting them far down line after the merger, check local speed shops for the bungs and plugs to replace the sensor if you don't want to leave it in, or if you only want to buy 1 sensor and tune 2 banks individually. Thread is hypothetically 18 x 0.5 mm but don't hold me to that.

John Anderson (saving you money) ja@coe.wvu.edu '71 Westy, '90 Corrado G60


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