Holley Sniper Hyperspark Ignition System

Discussion in 'High Tech for Old Iron' started by Electra Bob, Dec 21, 2019.

  1. Electra Bob

    Electra Bob Well-Known Member

    Santa came early! Stealthily disguised as a UPS truck driver...

    Took advantage of a holiday sale over at the Holley web site and scored all the bits needed to convert to Sniper Hyperspark ignition. This will plug into the Sniper EFI on the Electra and allow it full control of ignition timing.

    This will be a spring project. It's barely in double digits in my garage at present! Write up to follow.

    Hall effect distributor, coil and ignition controller. Also came with plug in wiring looms to hook it all up.
    HyperSpark Ignition (1024).jpg
     
  2. Sebambam

    Sebambam Well-Known Member

    Got it sitting on the shelf as well incl. the HOLLEY EFI SNIPER for my Twin Turbo Setup i am really looking forward to install it and take advantage of 2019 technology on my SBB with modern EFI :)
     
    sean Buick 76 likes this.
  3. is that a Holley distributor?
     
  4. Electra Bob

    Electra Bob Well-Known Member

    GranSportSedan likes this.
  5. B-rock

    B-rock Well-Known Member

    I plan on running that very same setup on my 482. Seems to be a perfect match. I look forward to your results.
     
  6. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Cool setup!
     
  7. Electra Bob

    Electra Bob Well-Known Member

    Well it's been a while and since I first posted about this I sold my house and moved into a rental. There has been much chaos.

    On the up side the rental does have a decent sized garage that the Electra fits in with room to spare! Finally bit the bullet and installed the Hyperspark ignition system to compliment the Sniper Quadrajet EFI.

    I watched the installation video ( ) over and over and the simplicity seemed too good to be true. Turns out it is a very simple install and the most time consuming and fiddly part of the whole exercise is making the electrical connections and running wires.

    If anyone else is considering adding Hyperspark to a Sniper installation my advice would be to install the Sniper first and get that settled in and then switch over to the Hyperspark ignition. That way you know any post installation issues are not directly Sniper related.

    I mounted the ignition box and coil in the area previously home to the charcoal canister. To make electrical connections neater and provide an easy on/off for working on the car I installed a bus bar box and ground cut off switch where the stock coolant tank used to live. Fitted a smaller, shinier coolant recovery tank.

    Installing the Hyperspark distributor was as easy as shown in the video. I did have to make a slight adjustment to the distributor position by using the Sniper 'Set static timing' tool to set it at 12* and using a light on the balancer to check. Initially I could not get a stable timing reading. I finally realized I'd done a dumb thing and had clipped the coil wire and #1 cylinder wire together which probably contributed a bunch of crossfire! After re-routing that I got a stable reading and was able to set it.

    Just went out for the first drive and it certainly felt smoother and the old girl seemed a lot friskier when I put a bit of boot to it!

    So as always. Pictures. Not terribly exciting but here you go.

    with_cover_1024.jpg
    ignition box and coil fitted.jpg
    Distributor installed.jpg
     
    mbryson and bostoncat68 like this.
  8. Trond-Jarle Pedersen

    Trond-Jarle Pedersen Active Member

    Nice,

    What ignition wires did you use?

    What is your impression on the Hyperspark CD box?
    it is my understanding that it is not required and one can use the coil driver that comes with the Sniper EFI together with the Hyperspark distributor.

    I have a Sniper EFI on the way for installation in my 72' Skylark and is "building a parts list" of the additional "stuff" i need to get.
    (local sourcing of parts is a bit of a challenge in Norway so most need to be imported, and i try to keep the shipping cost down by getting as few orders as possible)

    Br,

    Trond Jarle
     
  9. buicksWILD

    buicksWILD Well-Known Member

  10. Electra Bob

    Electra Bob Well-Known Member

    I'd initially bought a set of custom fit MSD wires but had such a hard time fitting the terminals (ten thumbs and arthritis don't help) that I eventually gave up and got an Accel Super Stock Spark 8mm Plug Wire Set. A couple of the wires are a tad on the long side but they don't look bad and I've not had any issues.

    The Sniper and Hyperspark system works so well together I'd recommend going for the full suite. Hot and cold starts are even better than the improvement from just adding the Sniper and overall the car just feels more responsive and smoother.

    I've done nothing internally to the engine so I try to refrain from pushing it hard but now and then I can't resist planting the right foot and the car will downshift and accelerate smoothly and with much enthusiasm :)

    Bob

    engine bay.jpg
     
  11. Trond-Jarle Pedersen

    Trond-Jarle Pedersen Active Member

    I think i will go for the HyperSpark distributor to get the EFI controlled spark timing, and because my distributor still the stock from 72, even if the car only have 78k miles it seems like time for something with a bit less wear...

    But not sure if the cost of the CID box is worth the cost on an engine that wont see anything above 4-5000 rpm.
    (but might be a bit ridiculous talking about the $300 additional since i am putting $1500 into the EFI and fuel system....)
     
  12. Electra Bob

    Electra Bob Well-Known Member

    I went through the same decision making process. In the end I figured I was only going to do this once so may as well go with the best solution. The Holley components are designed to work together and they do it well.

    My engine now has ~ 110k miles on it and as far as I can tell has never been apart. It's also never run better than it does now in the time I've owned it :)

    Bob
     
  13. Trond-Jarle Pedersen

    Trond-Jarle Pedersen Active Member

    I am working hard to avoid the "might as well syndrome" that I always fall into...
    Lets hope this does not turn into a frame-off restauration (again)...

    This engine is so original that it does not have exhaust gaskets between the heads and manifolds,
    1 owner car that as far as I can tell have not been touched with the exception of normal maintenance.
     

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