There are a ton of different ignition products available on the market from several different manufacturers. Delteq has not had a chance to test every unit currently on the market, and since new products seem to hit the streets almost daily, this would be a difficult proposition anyway! So, here are some guidelines as to what to look for to perform various ignition tasks:

Capacitive Discharge Ignitions (CD Boxes) - The most common CD box out there would have to be the MSD-6A (and its various offshoots). Simply stated, this type of unit will NOT work with our system. Since the CD boxes typically control a single ignition coil directly, you would actually need FOUR of them to work with our ignition. However, there really is not much of a need for a CD ignition on our multi-coil setup. Since CD boxes were originally designed to fire lean-burn engines (which the LT1 is NOT) and provide faster charge times for single-coil systems that run out of available charge time with increasing RPM, they do not very useful on a multi-coil LT1.

Timing Retards - There are probably more timing retards on the market to decrease your ignition timing with increasing boost or nitrous activation than there are CD boxes. Most of the timing retards on the market work by manipulating the coil directly, rather than by manipulating the timing (EST) signal. Again, such a system would require FOUR timing retard boxes to work properly on the Opti-Direct Ignition. The Crane Cams TRC-1 is the exception to the rule - it retards timing based solely on the Electronic Spark Timing (EST) signal used on the LT1. This is a fairly low cost item.

Higher-end systems have been designed by MSD to provide multi-channel timing retards for this task, but they are a few hundred dollars. If you need such a system, we recommend just calling the tech support number for the ignition company of your choice and asking for a timing retard for a Cadillac Northstar Ignition.

Rev Limiters - Since many LT1's are drag raced, rev limiters are often desired. The majority of the rev limiters on the market work by regulating the coil charging directly, rather than by adjusting the timing control (EST) signal. Rev limiters designed for the stock single-coil Opti-Spark system will NOT work. Once again, we recommend just calling the tech support number for the ignition company of your choice and asking for a rev limiter for a Cadillac Northstar Ignition.