i measured the resistances of all earth wires and they all looked good, so i didnt bother beefing them up any more
i ended up making an ignitor with bits from jaycar. first attempt was a learning curve, as was attempt no.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. finally i found a configuration that sorta worked but found that transistor 1 and 3 fried after a short period of time. my ems stinger runs a wasted spark, so i removed transistors 1, 2 and 3 and linked transistors 4, 5 and 6 in their place. the problem seems to be solved but ill have to test it some other time. its midnight now and i think all the backfiring from the flooded engine is pissing people off. i hope its flooded anyways. either that or the spark isnt strong enough and i dont wanna increase dwell and fry something
i dont believe the ems stinger is to blame otherwise transistors 4 and 6 would have fried too (wasted spark). i think the problem lies in the loom. even though i couldnt pick up any reading from the signal wires (6 pin side of the ignitor) on the multimeter or oscilloscope, i think that somehow, a power source was coming from somewhere and causing the base of the transistors to stay 'ON', causing them to overheat from the charge of the primary winding of the coils. having said that i still have no conclusions as to why it would only die after i tried starting the car again, only theories
if all goes well i think i might start selling my little creations. and as far as i can tell, they will work on any car that runs an external ignitor just as long as you get the pins right. cheaper than any new or second hand ignitor and takes a lot more shit. its repairable, lighter and versatile... its just better