anybody made LESS power with a pertronix?

i've run them on a few cars with decent luck. seemingly not so good on this one, a 63 riviera i picked up about 4 years ago. the car had the pertronix already when i got the car, however shortly after buying it i had gone through the dizzy, reshimmed the endplay, set the air gap, etc. and there's not a whole lot to mess up with the pertronix. i was never really happy with the RPM capability of the engine(401 nailhead) and power never seemed to be what it should be with this torque monster.

well recently the car started quitting on me, it'd just shut off clean while driving, then start up after sitting several minutes. obviously an electrical problem. oh, in addition to the pertronix, i'm running a MSD 6 ignition. so today i finally get around to working on it, yank the pertronix, slap in a pitted old set of used points, set em by eye being they were so pitted. slap it back together and my ***-dyno tells me i picked up an easy 500 rpm or more and more power at all RPMs. not what i was expecting! i had more or less ruled out any problem with the pertronix until it started quitting.

moral of the story is: just because you have some fancy electronic gadget, don't just ***ume it's working as it should, or that it's really better than old tech.

that said, i'm probably gonna try one of the MSD ready to run dizzys on this motor soon, mostly for easier tuning of the advance curve.

 

pertronix ****s, mine shorted and started my car on fire parked at a show.

 

i've run them in three bugs, a 64 dodge polara,67 caddy, and my 64 chevy wagon.never had a problem. -Jimmy-

 

i run them on my 58 ford 65 caddy never had a problem

 

Better yet, leave the points alone and hook up the MSD using the stock distributor. The points will last forever because there will now be very little voltage going through them because they are now acting as a switch telling the box when to fire. It really doesn't even matter how accurately they are set as long as they open and close, and you will have the benfit of the MSD's far superior firepower. I have points triggered MSD's on all my rods and have never had a problem. In the unlikely event that the MSD should ever fail, merely swap a couple of wires on the coil, and you can get home on points alone. I have never figured out why people buy the Pertronix junk.

 

I buy the pertronix because it's cheap, fits under a stock dist cap, works great for me and I don't have to try to hide an ugly red box that looks like *** on a vintage car. I have 2 on flatties, couldn't be happier. One is a drag car that ran a 12.71 @ 107 mph in the 1/4 mile Friday night with that pertronix JUNK. Make sure you follow the manufacturer's requirements for coil with a specific ohm rating, if you don't, it won't work right and will burn out. I think sometimes they get a bad rap because the owners don't thoroughly read and follow the instructions.
Just my experience.
Brad

 

I've had good luck with Petronix stuff, but I definitely feel your pain.

I was running an MSD 6A off of stock points like drive em mentioned. Until I got left on the side of the highway at 2 in the morning half in the bag. Hooked it home because I didn't feel like messin with it that late. The next day I tried everything except the MSD. New points, condensor, cap, rotor, coil; all with the MSD still hooked up all the while saying, "It's not the MSD, that helps me." Byp***ed the MSD and it ran fine. Welcome to the ****.

 

Happy with mine so far. Module and coil no ballast

 

I've been running mine for two years now and haven't had any trouble. I have heard stories though, and carry a spare to be safe.

 

maybe you had the one with the built in rev limiter?

 

like i said, i've run them before on a few cars, and have heard ALL the arguements, some saying they are ****, some saying they were the greatest thing ever. i was always happy, and understand the occasional failure. my point in this post, is that i've never heard of a situation like this, the pertronix was hurting power and limiting the revs for no good reason.

i don't dislike points in some applications, like a mild driver, but this engine is working it's way to a very strong blown motor with a little hit of the laughing gas for good measure. a bit beyond what i feel comfortable running points in, and like i said, i've been planning on the MSD dizzy for some time, mostly for ease of adjustment of timing.

 

I have them in 4 cars... no problems here.

 

I've had them in two of my bugs, a 67 c10, and my 73 cadillac...no problems thus far