It appears that my pertonix is having some issues. I sent my distributor out to Linders to have it rebuilt and have the pertronix kit installed. My car keeps chewing up caps and rotors and it won't even fire now. I broke down today and didn't have time to look at it and my business partner took a look at it and thinks the pertonix unit is shot. I tried coils/ballast resistors/etc but it's still not running. Anyway, when I sent it to Linders I didn't get the factory guts back to the distributor to put it back to points. So, I either need all the guts out of a distributor or another one. Hopefully someone has one sitting around out there. I have a lot of shows to go to and need one as soon as possible. Thanks, Nathan
I have one but mine has been converted to electronic using Hot Spark, its all under the cap and I have never had a problem with it....while it was in the car. PM me if interested.
Man, that' ****s. I put the Pertronix in the '53 myself. Haven't had any trouble with it (knock on wood). I'm no help unless there's something "procedural" I can answer for you. Or take a pic or something for you.
if its chewing up caps and rotors, the shaft for some reason is now to tall. or bent. but i know that dosnt help with you needing it now situation.
I have a question. Why do we need electronic ignitions in a 215 six? Mine runs fine with the stock distributer.
From all the posts I have read Lindner aka "GMC Bubba" here on the HAMB is the distributor Guru,have you called Him? what was his explanation for this problem and will he stand behind it?
Ok, to answer a bunch of questions: Carenut: I didn't necessarily "need" to go with an electronic conversion in my distributor. I just figured I would have it done since I was sending it out to Linders and they do that with most of their rebuilds. My motor is a very built 6 and I didn't spare any expenses anywhere else. Old Lady's": The distributor shaft wasn't modified. It looks as though the reluctor for the pertronix kit is too tall which in turn forces the rotor up and ends up chewing up the cap and making it short out. Boogymn: What coil are you running? Are you running it through a ballast resistor? Jeff: I tried calling him last week on Thursday because I had a show to go to this weekend but they were off on vacation. I'm going to try him today. I'm hoping he'll have some answers and possibly refund my money for the pertronix considering the car has never run right since the day I got the distributor back.
Now....on to the latest chapter in this saga. So, I tried getting the car running for the show in CT this weekend and had no luck. From what we could tell, the pertronix kit was pushing the rotor up the distributor shaft and shorting everything out. Unfortunately I was at work (at my real job) so my partner took my car to my old boss at the engine shop because he was supposed to get the carb dialed in for me. So, I wasn't there for the discovery of the pertronix not working. From what they could tell (and they are both much more knowledgeable than me) is that the car was getting intermittent spark. They had power going into the coil and coming out of the coil but seemingly not to the plugs. Being convinced that it was the pertronix kit, my partner and I pulled the kit out and put the distributor back to points. After the points were installed and the timing was eyeballed back to where it was the car fired on the first or second crank and sounded smoother and better than it ever has since I've gotten the distributor back from Linders. I took the car for a ride after I warmed it up and got the timing where I wanted it and it felt great. With the points it felt better than it ever did with the pertronix. After I took it for a quick spin I had to put it back in the shop because it was time for Sunday breakfast with the old lady and I was already getting yelled at about too much garage time. Later in the day my partner came over to paint some motorcycle parts for a customer so he figured he would move my car over to his parent's house about a 2 miles away because it was looking like rain and he didn't want overspray on the car or the car to sit in the rain. The car started up like there was no problem and he said it felt great until he pulled into one intersection and the car just died. We got it on the trailer and there it sits. I was so frustrated with it that I was half tempted to burn it town on the trailer last night so I had to walk away for a little while.
this one just showed up on flea bay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford...tZVintageQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
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