Modifying the stock distributor cover to accept an external coil

[beeza]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!


Aim:

To remove the 'less powerful' Honda coil and replace it with an aftermarket one that provides a stronger spark,which will improve the combustion of the air/fuel mixture.

The crane cams LX91 coil is simply a more powerful coil when compared to the OEM Honda coil,tests have proven this but is there a downside to running this? I mean Honda get there stuff right,right?! Yes they do and no there's no downside to running this as I have ran it for 4 years.I have been using NGK Iridium spark plugs for that time too,so if you find your plugs are wearing too quickly after doing this,think about getting NGK Iridiums.

Is it worthwhile?

Upgrading the coil to a more powerful coil is like upgrading anything on ya car,it's simply an upgrade and every car will be different.I believe every car (unless you have individual coil packs) would benefit from swapping in a more powerful coil for better combustion of the mixture.

Boosted set up's will benefit more from this BUT I've always loved mine on my N/A SOHC.I regulary clean my plugs in metho,re-gap them,clean the spark plug cylinder holes with toilet paper,clean the carbon off the 4 points on the inside of the dizzy cover and sand the outer edge of the rotor.I love keeping the Ignition system spot on always! This plus keeping ya air filter clean yeilds good benefits and it costs nothing! (The link below shows how I do this)

When combining this with the MSD Ignition System,your Ignition system/fuel combustion will never be better! - MSD Ignition System Install (http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?119576-DIY-MSD-Ignition-System-Install)

Here's what a MSD distributor cap looks like,it's a distributor cap set up to run an external coil,that's what were doing to the stock coil since MSD don't make one for my y4 and more than likely others:

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/82921.jpg

Required:

Spark plug tip and screw to match
MSD power tower
Drill + drill bit
Gasket goo
External coil (Crane cams LX91 is my choice,thank U dsp26) + spark plug lead
Small file

Steps:

Get ya parts!

MSD power tower

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/msd-8803_w_m.jpg

A spark plug tip,just screws off! :)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0404.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0401.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0402.jpg

If U buy an 'MSD tower',U will get the screw and spark plug tip aswell.Or U can just buy the screw,it has to fit the spark plug tip! (40mm)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0410.jpg

The spark plug lead

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0433.jpg

OK,this part here on the inside of the dizzy we want to remove,drill a hole through there and mount the MSD tower,just watch and learn :)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0371.jpg

Just checking the angle it will go on

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0369.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0368.jpg

So then I know where to file a bit flat on the top so the tower can sit flat,like so

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0389.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0390.jpg

Now,grab that sucker and break it off!

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0373.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0376.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0374.jpg

Clean it up flat

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0378.jpg

Grab ya drill bit,just match the size to the screw,3mm looks good,maybe start with 2.

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0391.jpg

Drill straight through on the angle that U worked out

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0386.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0387.jpg

Put the screw through

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100e0414.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0422.jpg

[beeza]

Put the tower in and screw on the spark plug tip

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0418.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0420.jpg

Gasket goo it up! (protect from shock and water damage)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0427.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0426.jpg

Now,U have to remove the stock coil inside the dizzy

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0431.jpg

It just sat in there before and those wires connected to the Ignition Control Module (ICM)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0451.jpg

So wires ran from the ICM to the coil inside the dizzy before.Now we need to run wires from the ICM to the external coil.So the + and - wires will connect to the ICM and run out of the dizzy and connect to the coil (tape up the connectors like in pic,incase they touch and short out)

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0430.jpg

And to do this U need to file a small gap in the dizzy cover where the wires will run out

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0416.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0417.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0454.jpg

Mount your external coil somewhere

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0435.jpg

This pic shows the + and - wires that run from the coil.They simply join to the + and - wires from the ICM,joined,soldered and taped up.

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0434.jpg

Grab your spark plug lead and connect it to the coil

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0433.jpg

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0432.jpg

And connect the other end to your new external coil mount! Make sure it clicks onto the spark plug offcoarse and fire it up!

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0452.jpg

The screw touches the metal inside the dizzy cap,which makes the connection that is needed.If it dosen't work more than likely the screw isn't making contact or not good contact with that metal BUT saying that this is the second one I have done and both were suprisingly VERY easy to make.I would personally order the MSD tower,just because the red part would be tricky to make/find..

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0453.jpg

Other comments:

So the only wires/connections is the spark plug lead and the + and - wires that run from the ICM to the coil,don't get em' mixed up cause the black one was + and the green - on mine.If U do get them mixed up U will blow the ICM,I did it twice :)

U may have noticed I moved my IAT sensor,away from the entrance of the TB,all I had to do was split the wire loom!

http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy25/beeza4/100_0450.jpg

Enjoy ya New Powerful spark!

[Davo "90 civic"]

heya pal, good write up. just wondering where you got the "MSD power-tower" from iv been on the phone to a couple of different suppliers of MSD stuff and no-one seems to know what iv been asking about

[beeza]

On ebay brotha!

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=msd+tower&_sacat=See-All-Categories

And Thank U mate :)

[kriZy]

hey buddy i wanted to know how to just replace the igntion coil with another oem one so i read this thread.

Is it pretty straight forward?

Seems you just:
1. Remove the cover (that you drilled holes in)
2. Should see the stock igntion coil.
3. Remove screws and pull out
4. Replace your igntion coil and screw in.
5. put the cover back on

Walah?

[beeza]

PM'ed ya Krizy but yup that's it!

[mugen_ctr]

did u notice much change with this to how the engine responds?

certainly looks good an cheap to lol

[beeza]

I have the whole msd system...which is awesome.

The coil alone will still be a nice upgrade.

Check out on the net what a stronger/more powerful spark will do...

Get back to me yo!

[davidvtec]

Nice write up mate ! you are certainly creative beeza :D +1

[beeza]

haha Thanks David,I appreciate that mate.