I ordered a Bat-Pac today as possibly being the best solution to overcoming some of the difficulties in having a battery here in Tonga.
I figure if anything is going to give me problems, it will be the ignition (or possibly the carburetor) so I began reading Pete Snidal on the topic. Apparently the T-bird I have coming has the CDI ignition whereas the later T-Birds have the TCI type. I understand the CDI , and I suppose have an idea about how the TCI works. My thinking is that they went to the TCI when they went to electric start, but I'm not sure. CDI seems non-battery dependent, so perhaps you could get along without a battery without using something like the Bat-Pac. TCI is battery dependent. It seems to me that if you had a good battery, TCI might be more stable.
Anyone have any ideas on the relative merits of each?