G’day Bertie, yes I have just watched that episode myself. Whilst I absolutely endorse multi port fuel injection, and coil over ignition, as an improvement, paying that kind of money: and ruining the originality of the rare car begs the question. You can get quite reasonable fuel ecomony out of a carburettored car if set up properly, likewise the much maligned OPUS system (ahead of its time) has benefited from modern solid state technology, but that is my pre injection V12.
Interestingly, Harry was offered that modification up front, and warned that the old fuel injection system didn’t work…So in his case probably a straight facelift fuel injection system replacement might have been cheaper?
It truly is an eye watering amount of money.
Good evening Gentlemen,
“to each his own …”. Whoever is happy about that kind of updates is free to spend his or her money.
Speaking just for myself, I’m having a hard time understanding why you would first buy a 50-year-old car to make it look and operate like a current piece of machinery. These cars were well-designed and mature enough in the eighties to be sold to tech-ignorant customers. Of course, the OPUS ignition may have a tainted reputation and a points distributor is stretched to the limit with a 12 cylinder with 6500 redline. Between that and a 20 k bill there are a lot of more conservative options - both in technology and looks.
My car was equipped with a 1-2-3-ignition when I got it in 2007 and literally hasn’t missed a beat ever since … at least ignition-related. One time I had the chance to see the ignition on a motor tester that allowed to project all six ignition lines on one screen and they all were virtually identical. This type of ignition may not be the cheapest solution, but it has a very good reputation, good documentation and very good support. What is more, you can check out the only consumable parts from your Bosch service (NAYY). Even though the 12-cylinder species is pretty pricey (four times as expensive as for six-cylinder cars) it is a far cry from the amounts mentioned in the Harry’s garage feature. The 1-2-3 distributor looks absolutely stock and with the coil transferred to a cooler environment should be good for the car’s rest of its life.
Good luck and best wishes
Jochen
75 XJ6L 4.2 auto (UK spec)