07/2022 – 08/2022
After one of the timing sensors installed in the magneto drive holes went bad on our return from Petit Jean Park, I decided to replace our ignition systems with the Lightspeed Plasma 3 systems that utilize a direct crank trigger for timing instead of a geared system. With the direct crank trigger, there is a fair bit of work to do to install it, but the end result is an ignition sensor with far fewer moving parts.
I ordered the system at the end of July right before AirVenture, and had it in hand a few days after we got back. The first step would be the removal of the existing ignition systems, which didn’t take long. The next step was to figure out where to mount everything. The Lightspeed control units were double the size of the previous systems, which I thought would present a bit of a challenge. Luckily the spot where I had the previous ones mounted was deep enough that I could mount the new ones back to back. The coil packs were approximately the same size, so it wasn’t too difficult to figure out appropriate backets for them.
The real work was installing the pickup sensor brackets on the crankcase. The nose of the crankcase would need to be drilled and tapped precisely. The Lightspeed kits ship with brackets that are easily aligned so one can accurately mark the locations of the bolt holes. The trick is drilling and tapping these holes on the end of the crankcase, WHILE the crankshaft is in place, and the engine is installed on the airframe. Doing this during engine build, with a drill press, with the crankshaft out would be easy. Unfortunately, that was not the situation I had. It’s not impossible though, it’s just a matter of going slow, and if possible, having a helper.
I was able to easily keep the drill perpendicular to the face of the crankcase while looking down on it, but it would be difficult to also keep it parallel to the longitudinal axis unless viewing the drill from the side. This is where having Christine watching from the side proved invaluable. It took approximately an hour per hole to drill and tap (times six holes), but we went very slow and everything aligned perfectly in the end.
