My new Ignition Amplifier arrived recently from the US, and I noticed that the plugs of the new Amp only have two plugs whereas there are 3 cables coming out of the distributor:



Is this a biggie? I tried to run it with only the two plugged in, but it still wouldn't start. Should I do something with the bottom plug / red wire or should the cables within the distributor be changed?

 

There is a distributor conversion kit with an updated amp that converts the old 3 wire pickup in the distributer to a newer 2 wire VR sensor one like in the HE XJS.

EG:

VS the OE pickup in the orignal Opus ignition system:



Which is an entirely separate thing from the injector trigger board & pickup which is triggered by a magnet in the rotor arm.

Starting a 1978 Jaguar V12 - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum





I don't have a pre-HE so I'm answering out of general knowledge...

~Paul K.

 

Thanks for your reply Paul! So it seems I best get myself a HE distributor conversion as I already have the amplifier itself.
Do you know if I need to order a new ignition coil as well or would the original pre-HE still work?

 

That part I don't know. I know that an HE system doesn't need a ballast for each of the two coils, (each coil being about 1.2 Ohms & 0.6 Ohms in parallel), but I'm not sure about the updated Opus bits - if it requires a lower Ohm Coil like the HE GM HEI / Lucas setup. Best to check with the Mfgr, though I suspect they designed the system to look as OE as possible.

~Paul K.

 

Thanks Paul, I'll have a look!