1979 512BB Dinoplex Upgrade - Plug and Play

Not sure if they are still around...but Permatune did exactly what you are requesting.

 

Hi Drew..

Pertronix makes a HP Digital Ignition Box...pertronixbrands.com/products/digital-hp-ignition-box-black-anodized-finish?variant=31797294858276

When my second MSD 6AL died I didn't want another MSD unit and opted for the Pertronix instead. It's about 1/3 the size (easy to hide) of the MSD and you can use your factory coil. The unit also has several adjustable parameters, and wires in exactly as a MSD unit does.

I ordered the correct connectors off ebay, and wired the unit such that it plugs into the wire loom that comes out of the body to the Marelli Ignition. This way no factory wires are cut or modified. Also, the Pertronix unit will need a dedicated 12V DC source, just like the MSD. If you google Marelli AEC 104, Meadows, I think, has a good reference for the wiring diagrams.

Here's something to consider, and I learned this from Tom Meadows the Marelli Guru. The stock Dinoplex makes about the same spark as the MSD unit which is pretty high powered. However, the MSD is a "Multi Spark" unit which means it energizes several time in one firing cycle..lots o sparks at the plug. Because of the close quarters inside the distributor cap, the high heat load it's al;ready subjected to from the engine, and the additional spark transfer action from the rotor to the wire contact pin, there is a tremendous amount of ionization that takes place inside the cap and supposedly wears the cap prematurely. This function can be turned off on the Pertronix unit. FWIW, some 512BB LM's had vent ports on the dist. body to "suck" all this bad juju out and keep the cap cooler and "cleaned out".

The cost is about the same as the MSD unit.

I tried Permatune a long time ago and the unit didn't work. Perhaps that's changed now, I don't know. BUT, if your stock Marelli unit still works, take it off and put it on the shelf, or just disconnect it. As you know they're NLA!

Hope this helps..

 

Hers the link for the wiring

http://www.dinoplex.org/PDF/Wiring_MSD6AL2_for_AEC104.pdf

The Pertronix wires the same way.

Don

 

While not exactly same, I've "converted" a U.S.-market Daytona to Pertronics & wired everything so that all OEM stuff, including AEC 103 A Dinoplex boxes along with their wiring and all emissions control hardware, etc is still in place and appears stock (i.e. "as it left factory").
Currently working on another one, which had intermittent (aging related ?) failures on its (non-OEM) 45 year old 2nd gen. PermaTune modules, resulting to their elimination/removal.

 

FWIW..

Dick fritz said that sometimes, if the Dinoplex "fails", the Rev Limiter (the box that sits on top of the Dinoplex) is the culprit that gives out. Removal of said piece...might cure the problem.

It's a simple process as it just plugs into the body of the Dinoplex and is held in place by 4 screws. Bend the connector tabs flat, put the box back on and you might be all set.

 

This goes back to '99 or so. I knew Lonnie Lenoarduzzi the fellow that ran the company and did the work.. I got a unit from him and it never did work. At that point I used the MSD AL6. I also have a friend that owned a BBi and got a Permatune from T. Rutlands when they sold them and it didn't work either. That's not to say that Permatune hasn't perfected their tech.

I would strongly recommend NOT destroying your working Dinoplex. You should be able to source a non working unit somewhere and use it for the conversion/exchange. OR, you can do the following.

Unplug your Dinoplex. Mount the Pertronix or MSD below the Dinoplex..there's plenty of room. Wire the Pertronix or MSD as instructed, plug it into the car's pigtail and off you go.

When I had the MSD unit in my BBi, we made a aluminum plate, and mounted the Dinoplex on the top and the MSD below it and used the factory mounting points to hold it in. Worked great. And, if you paint the MSD black you'll hardly see it.

Just some suggestions...

 

I want to be clear..Lonnie at Permatune is a really talented guy, and knows his stuff. He's really big in the Porsche community. It's just for me the unit for the BBi then didn't work.

 

Good day Drew,

Although I understand your motivation to keep your Ignition module fully intact, I would ask why? The original design had issues that really affected its reliability. Secondly, you can certainly maintain the original look of the original with modern internals that will actually benefit the car and the car's driveability tremendously. Attached are a few pics of what can be done including the addition of a circuit that replicates the "whine" of the originals as well as designing up a replacement to the original 6-pin connector. All that is left is to bolt on the Top module which is there to complete the look. Speaking of the whine... this is caused by vibrations of the inductor(s) used within the original electronics

Simply gut your original ignition module and replace with modern internals and do not look back... you will be glad you did.

Cheers,

Sam

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Good day Drew,

My apologies, but I could not resist... I am quite pleased at the result, as making the transplant fit and look like it was supposed to be there was a challenge. There is certainly enough space within the cavity, but adding extra circuitry and components restricted things a bit. Adding to the challenge was the original 6-pin connector. These connectors are NLA and so I had to create a replacement that looked like an original... with time and $ constraints given the very low volumes needed (a couple). Sometimes one is lucky and one can reuse the original 6-pin connector, but not always. The originals had its electronics and the connector all epoxied together in one blob and so removal of the connector from the blob is not easy and takes effort. I had one unit where the connector's "shoulders" were damaged and so the connector had no real lateral support and connecting to it would not be as solid as it should. Consequently I had to come up with another solution that looked OEM and would mate to the original wiring harness. I think I achieved this, but I will tweak the design further to improve things a bit more.

As for the internals... Paul (Newman) decided to go with the Pertronix Digital HP and I can see why. The unit is more than capable and has the ability to be adjusted digitally. There are a multitude of adjustments ranging from changing the output energy level, to rev limiting, to even a feature to allow you to calibrate the car's tach. It's feature set is well above that offered by MSD and the digital programmability simply pushes it over the top. The transplant is relatively new and so I cannot comment on the long term reliability of the Pertronix unit, but given my past experience with now two MSD units (both failed over time), one would think that another vendor's device might be worth a try.

Cheers,

Sam

 

This is how it looks when the original 6 pin connector is saved and reused. Notice that the connector is kept secured with one of the original board screws:

Best, Peter
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Good day Peter,

Nice. Interestingly, so far I have seen and have 2 different 6-pin connectors. One is same type as in your picture (rounded/oval on the entry point) and another that is rectangular which is what I based my replacement to be. I will tweak or duplicate my connector design so I can do both.

Cheers,

Sam

 

Hello BB owners, I ordered and installed a permatune unit 2 months ago, installed it and the engine is running beautiful. Its comes with a 'special' coil that looks original. The wiring can stay original which makes installation very easy. Idle went up 250 rpm without modifying carb/ignition settings, This means very strong sparks. Reason to install it was my Dinoplex unit has died.

 

Thanks for chiming in Sam, I wanted to see what the finished product looked like inside but didn't want to open them up and disturb your work! Im looking forward to installing them.

 

Good day Paul,

My pleasure. Also, do not be afraid to open the cover, as I designed the internals so that the cover is simply that... a cover. I personally find it annoying when a cover is used as a item to "hold" things in. I find it really annoying if one opens a cover and a bunch of wires, etc pop out... as then it is like trying to refold a map when one tries to put it back together. What I did was to use stand-offs and a PCB as holders for the guts, wires, etc. The result is that the cover can easily be removed if needed or desired.

Let me know how the install goes.

Cheers,

Sam

 

This is slightly off topic, but as I posted it in the 400 forum after some discussion on digiplex boxes I figure I'd post it here too, just incase someone is looking for a NOS box. I believe they're not easy to come by. https://www.exoticautospares.com/inventory/ferrari-cdi-ignition-512bb-400-nos/

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