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I'm converting a carbureted DP1600 to EFI using the Mexican EFI components and Megasquirt. I'll be using waste spark ignition and an electric fuel pump so the thought occurred to me that I not only do not need the distributor and mechanical fuel pump, I really don't' need the distributor drive gear either. Is there any reason I shouldn't just remove it?

Depends on how you plan to time the wasted spark ignition. Cam-sync or crank-trigger? If you are using crank-trigger, you can pull the distributor drive gear (don't forget the shims) and plug the distributor hole. And save the distributor drive gear in case you decide to go to batch fire ignition in the future.

Thanks Mike. Crank trigger so no cam reference required. Right, so its OK to pull the gear, any harm in leaving it in with no distributor or fuel pump?

Why not just get hold of the mexican distributor and coil and rig that to the megasquirt ?

E4ODnut wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 9:56 am Thanks Mike. Crank trigger so no cam reference required. Right, so its OK to pull the gear, any harm in leaving it in with no distributor or fuel pump?

You don't want to leave it in there without a distributor (or a cam sync) to keep it in place. Otherwise, the distributor drive gear can 'walk up' and will skip off and/or bind the crank timing gear.

Paul, I prefer to go waste spark. That way I have complete control of timing and dwell.

Mike, Agreed. I thought about that but wasn't completely sure. Thanks.

The mexican ignition is the same as the late vanagon and there is no advance going on in the distributor and a coil with built in driver
so ecu controls all the timing and dwell just like a crank trigger

Interesting. I didn't know that. Is there any technical information available on it so I can see if I could integrate it with MS?

E4ODnut wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 11:40 am Interesting. I didn't know that. Is there any technical information available on it so I can see if I could integrate it with MS?

It's just a hall sensor in the dissy and you can even feed it with 5volt if the MS can handle that . The hardest part was finding the 3 wire connector
Due to the small diameter shaft inside you can easily test them with a battery drill and a the good part is that the circuitry
is ECU safe due to the high current driver built into the coil

Paul,
Oops, sorry, somehow I missed your reply. We've already committed to waste spark, but it's good to know there is an alternative. This is the first I've heard of it.

E4ODnut wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:34 am Paul,
Oops, sorry, somehow I missed your reply. We've already committed to waste spark, but it's good to know there is an alternative. This is the first I've heard of it.

Yes sure most people don't and have crank trigger marked as "essential" when going efi . Crank trigger has a couple of advantages but on medium performance engines the distributor option is better for several reasons :
No need to remove the drive and block off the hole
Easy to mount the coil in the original location
Standard ignition leads
For the type 4 bus motor there's even more reasons not to use CT