We just finished our first Hot Rod Spark class and spent some time testing the new Pertronixs Ignitor III. We tested the "multi strike feature" all the way up to 7000 rpm and captured the electronic waveform of the ignition etc. I came in this morning and started building a early ford crab as no one seems to make a affordable electronic system for this distributor, especially a high rpm, multi strike with a low ohm coil for high output. My core box had some crabs cleaned up and ready for assembly. A little rework on the upper plate and bushing holder allowed me to put the Ignitor III control module on the plate and adjust clearance to the cam lobe etc. Also marked housing to show cap contact points for rotor phase etc later... Looks like factory huh ?????? A little drill and tap for the 4/40 screws to mount ( use some dielectric heat sink for cooling) and the module fits great. I set the clearance at .006 between the hall switch and distributor cam as this is a lobe sense hall effect chip that sees the cam lobes etc. Now my only issue is rotor phaseing?? I did a eyeball index by checking the rotor phase and it looks like the hall switch on cap high point is pretty close to rotor to cap point (at least eye ball any way). Now lets use up a old cap by hole sawing a hole in it right at the contact point. Hooking up a coil and running a timing light ( plug wire hooked to contact with visible hole) shows the rotor phase to be a little off to the left as picture shows. WOW actually pretty damn close but not close enough... The distributor has a factory timing slot so i loosen screw and recheck. Lucky day for sure right on the money ( all the way up to 6000 rpm!!). Now lets talk electronics!!
Now lets look at the distributor "dyno" under load and running strong. First the good!!! The lower (blue) waveform is the actual current flowing thru the system controlled by the control module. In this case it 5.2 amps good but could be better . ( will discuss later ). The time ( side to side) was good for a multi strike and you can see at the far right ( shut off signal) there are two current spikes ( controlled by software in the module ) The upper red waveform is the secondary voltage waveform. In this case its upside down. To better understand print the pic and turn over to beter understand voltage, spark line , spark action jumping the plug etc. Pretty good performance at idle.. Now for those of you that printed the picture of the waveform ( i just did) the red is correct going up and down but backwards . ( as if this isnt confusing enough..) The longest upward line approx 4500 volts ( the amount it takes to jump the air gap at the plug with no compression) The line to the left og that upward line is the spark line shoing the time it took to jump the plug and any problems getting across the spark plug. The osilations to the left is the coil energy being used up. The osilations to the right is the module switch closing getting ready for another spark. The we reved er up to 6000 rpm. Note that the multi strike stays with the waveform even at 6000 rpm, and the current (amp) level shows some decrease. ( still very good at above 4 amps at 6000 !!!) There is a rev limiter build in the module ( adjustable) and the system stayed strong at 6000 for a long time on the tester. VERY STRONG UNIT!!!! Ok now for the GOOD= system is a very stable hot rod ignition and performs as advertized !!!! The BAD/ugly = I used the makers ignition coils and even after buying three of them ( all advertized to be .30 ohms) none of them were ever below a .6 ohm reading. This allowed the current level ( needed for hot spark) to hang in there about 5 amps. And box they came in stated "made in china". A .30 coil i used from a local maker increased the amps quite a bit. I like the overall performance of the Ignitor III and will install more of them in my products. The coil issue is a common one and we are presently having a " Bubba Spark" coil made just for our systems.......Stay tuned , and as always ask any and all question you may have...
WOW, my last post was Feb 2010 !!! I no longer use the Ignitor III unit! Proved to be way too fragile to relocate ( removing cover etc) and the .3 ohms coil was terrible at best . Every one i ever used failed . I do however use the pertronixs lobe sense module on the crab and have shipped quite a few to happy customers. I use my USA made coil and the perronixs unit mounted on my own bracket.......
Wow - good info. so can use on all Ford flatheads, including V8-60? require a core to order the new Petronix set up? have update pics?
Hey bubba; I have a 364 nailhead. If I had a powermaster gen, and regular 12v system then I would be good to go? thanks. ccl Hey I used to live in indy before I moved to michigan
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