Crane Optical Ignition

iwantmybustorun · Post by **iwantmybustorun** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:13 pm

IFBwax wrote:Can someone educate me about Crane optical pickups for use in your dizzy?

Link for the exact model and experiences good or bad with it. Why do I need it. Geoff swears by it. This would replace the points in Charlie. Are they sutable in a bus with my stock dizzy?

Thanks@@@@

I'm not sure of the exact model number at the moment, but I'm almost positive I have the one that German Supply sells. I have had it for 3 years now, I think. Not one problem or desire to want more. There are pictures in my album of the unit in my engine compartment, if that helps identify it.

iwantmybustorun · Post by **iwantmybustorun** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 6:47 pm

Here is a pic. You can see the crane to the left of the picture. It's gold colored.
[albumimg]1208[/albumimg]

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:20 pm

IMHO we should either run with:

1. Stock

2. Mallory

3. Distributorless ignition

And nothing in between.

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:17 am

spiffy wrote:IMHO we should either run with:

1. Stock

2. Mallory

3. Distributorless ignition

And nothing in between.

Stock but with points? come on, thats what we are trying to get away from.
Mallorys QC has gone to pot and big bucks too
Distributorless is a pain to setup with a homemade setup...
I keep looking at the late 80's Vanagon dizzys for a newer setup..

Crane is fairly cheap and IF your dizzy is in good condition, gives you great spark control..and you can leave the key on without....Fizzzt!

RSorak 71Westy · Post by **RSorak 71Westy** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:11 am

Whats the objection to a Pertronix? I'm running 3 of them on diff. vehicles and they've all been great.

vistacruzer · Post by **vistacruzer** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:02 am

vacuum SVDA W/pertronix works great

spiffy · Post by **spiffy** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:47 pm

Bleyseng wrote:
spiffy wrote:IMHO we should either run with:

1. Stock

2. Mallory

3. Distributorless ignition

And nothing in between.
Stock but with points? come on, thats what we are trying to get away from.
Mallorys QC has gone to pot and big bucks too
Distributorless is a pain to setup with a homemade setup...
I keep looking at the late 80's Vanagon dizzys for a newer setup..

Crane is fairly cheap and IF your dizzy is in good condition, gives you great spark control..and you can leave the key on without....Fizzzt!

I'll chalk it up to preference and a willingness to fork out top $$ for top quality parts for my disagreement. The word "cheap" and anything VW do not occur in the same sentence with me anymore as our rigs deserve the best quality parts we can get for them. meh

Anywho...sorry for the mini-rant.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:27 pm

I use an old brilloTM pad wrapped in a sock and tucked into a JergensTM soap box. And you know what? the damn thing runs?

SlowLane · Post by **SlowLane** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:21 pm

I've been using the Crane XR700 for several years now in my '81, and also used the precursor Allison XR700 (guess where Crane got that puppy from?) back in the mid '80s on my '69 and '71. I've never had a problem from either unit, except when my battery spilled acid on the original Allison (which pretty much toasted it).

I did try a Pertronix briefly in the '81, but had problems with the thick wires inhibiting the action of the vacuum advance mechanism. The thin wires in the Crane present no such issue. The timing is rock steady. It does take a bit of fiddling to get set up correctly, but once it's done, you never have to touch it again.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Crane Optical Ignition

Re: Crane Optical Ignition