Electronic Ignition: Pertronix Conversion or OEM?

yep...facts are, they FAIL, just like any other part...

i'd love to hear about the two different types of pertronix modules you're talking about... one without need of resistor and one with, cause i cant find any mention of them on their website

 

I have two fail but am the exception, picked the wife up and pu the point back in and went to chevy modual with a newer ford dist and a bosh coil for her 68 mustang been great for several years. got the combonation on the econoline site lots of guy going that way all part avialabe at the local autoparts store.

 

No words were truer spoken. We had two Dodge vans and Ramcharger with those garbage distributors in them. Every damp day,forget it, you would be better off to walk. There was a guy down the street with a pickup and you could always know he was going because he would hold his foot to the floor while it backfired like an artillery battery. Goddamn I hated those things.

 

i have pertronix in 2 cars my 58 ford and 65 caddy no problems both over 4 years now but i do keep a spare uint in both cars i have a unlite dizzy in my 50 chevy for 8 years i keep a spare photo cell and cap for that to

 

Another very good system is the Ford Duraspark magnetic trigger style. The MSD distributors use it. That is an ignition that has never left me on foot. The box modules are really tough, but you can also use substitute a GM 4-pin hooked up externally on a heat sink if you really want compact, cheap, and a walk away from a replacement piece, likely the first dead Buick you come across in someone's yard if they don't care.

I did ruin one pickup on one, but it was my own fault. I have a few junkyard Ford pickups in the drawer, and they are all good.

On the Chrysler stock ignition, like Bruce said, it is very good if you get the right combination, IMO just avoid the lean burn years.

 

I got one in my Olds and I love it!!!

 

MSD 6AL w/Blaster II coil and pertronix on a 57 cad 365 works for me.

 

Okay, I bought a new, $40 OEM Mopar electronic distributor (lifetime warranty!) - if I'm running an MSD box (a 6AL - the one with the rev limiter), do I need to retain the ballast resistor?

~Jason

 

Fiddy, Did you use the Pertronix coil or the stock one? I've had a Pertronix in my'32 for going on 7 years and never a hichup or cough out of it. I did use their coil though. The only failure I've come across is someone who didn't set the gap right and had a used coil of unknown origin. I'd bypass the resistor to, why handicap a great ignition.

Frank

 

On an engine other than a SBC, good ignitions are few and far between. Using a Pertronix in an old worn dizzy will give old worn performance. A good sizzy, with a good custom curve, a new Pertronix WITH THE COIL, will give years of faithful service. (but I still have a points dizzy in the trunk just in case).

 

Had one in my '68 Mustang. Thing ran fine for a while then was getting hard to start. Everyone was saying it was the carb so I rebuilt it. Still wasn't running great after that and the carb looked fine when I rebuilt it. Then it started really running bad on the way home from a show. Put in a new coil and no better so I put new points back in and immediately started and purred like a kitten. Has run great ever since and won't go back.

 

Nope....not with a Mopar dizzy...

Here's the instrucions for the MSD. Page 19
http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/msd 6 series.pdf

 

One of the first thing I do when I get a car is put in a Pertronix. Looks stock, easy install, works great, and cheap.

 

Frank, i was using one of their flamethrower coils as well, altho the sheet that comes with the module claims it'll work fine with the stock coil with no problems, i thought why not match the components.

 

This is the dizzy in my y-block bird - has a Ford Duraspark II trigger.

So far I've managed operate the ignition with a Duraspark II module, an HEI four pin and now I have my eye on a Mopar "orange" ignition unit. They all will work - this thing is just a trigger. Once you get the "plug-in"s wired right - this outfit can be repaired at the side of the road (if you have to) by plugging in the spare you have in the trunk. Doesn't even take a screwdriver. Saves that point thrash with the Pertronix - my spare ford module cost $12 - the HEI was even less.

 

Once I moved the HEI control module out of the distributor and mounted it in the cooler passenger compartment (under the dash), I haven't had a failure in over 12 years of driving so far.

I have heard friends' complain of various Pertronix failures.

For me, the HEI has been the most reliable thing I have seen, as long as you put the module in a reasonably cool location.

 

I have a Duraspark I grafted into my truck ('65 F250 4X4 with a 390 the boys and I built) and drove it back and worth to work for 10 years without a failure, and though it sits a lot now, it will fire up anytime. Getting that module grounded and where it can heat sink has been the key. I put mine on top of the fender well where there is always cool air flowing, and weather packed the connections against water. This is with the "box" module, but I wouldn't hesitate to slap a GM 4-pin on a piece of aluminum plate and run it either. The only thing that I think does kill them is heat and welding f-ups. I like the Duraspark a little better than the GM for changing pickups though. You don't have to pull the distributor out or apart, just use a battery terminal puller to remove the reluctor wheel (keep track of that tiny roll pin that indexes it to the shaft) the vacuum advance, and you are there. Love it. But that said, I've only killed a pickup once and that was by doing something really stupid when I hooked up a tach.

 

AMEN !!! I use and work on them all and the ford trigger has got to be the most reliable ever. MSD uses the style in the NASCAR units.
The hei four pin ( delco) is the best choice for spark control with the ford box as the variable dwell contol really works and they dont mind a lower resistance coil...

 

My thoughts? Leave the points distributor in it, install the MSD, and a better coil.

 

Ah, but I'm going EFI, and the points mess with the electronics (a-la "radio noise").

~Jason

 

How about a tech article on the Duraspark trigger & GM hei 4 pin module. Mainly the wire hookups.

Thanks, Mark

 

here's a site you might want to chk http://www.davessmallbodyheis.com/

bob m

 

Went through 2 sets of Pertronix ignitions in my Olds 371 ci. First one went after 200 miles, next one went after 40 miles. Was told that they can't handle current flicuations of my old 35 amp Delco Generator....................so I just went back to good ole points with a cheap backup set in the trunk.

 

I believe this is as good as a full blown diagram......

...........but I can't remember whether the Orange lead from the Ford trigger goes to the "G" and the Violet to the "W" or vice versa. It may not matter as the output is just a tiny AC pulse.

 

Either the 'W' or the 'G' is the ground so you have a path for current to flow.
I think it matters.

 

I dug out the hand made diagram I used (that worked) and the Ford trigger Violet (Purple?) wire goes to the "G" HEI terminal and the Orange goes the "W". Also missing on the el cheapo diagram I put on here (sorry, don't have a better one) is the Grounding wire that has to be wired to one of the clamp screws that go through the two holes in the module. The module needs clamped securely - with heat transfer grease - to a chunk of aluminum heat sink. The ground wire needs to go directly to the engine block in order to get the highest voltage you can get through the coil.

The brain chip in the HEI module alters the "dwell" period that the grounding transistor allows current through the coil - to prevent burning out the transistor. The grounding transistor just replaces the old points as the "down side" switch to charge the coil. If you hook a "dwell/tach" up to the negative side of the coil - where the diagram shows the tach connection - you can see this dwell alteration while your engine runs. At low rpm the dwell is reduced to prevent overheating - and as she winds up, it increases the dwell (up to a point) to charge the coil as much as the transistor can handle.

The "high performance" 4 pin modules have brains that will allow even higher dwell amounts as the rpm rises - sort of like an old dual point distributor.

 

I know you guys are tired of seeing this. It's a converted Mallory using the Chrysler readily available components. I just can't get into a billet distributor with a red cap.

We converted this one long before Pertronix was available for the many engines it fits today. It works so well that I'm doing it on my FE Ford Mallory.



I cherish the old look. The Chrysler does use a ballast resistor and I put it proudly on the firewall for all to see just like we did 40 years ago. It's kind of a plus for my perverted tastes.

When I first got on the internet almost 10 years ago now, Pertonix seemed to have a lot of problems with the flathead guys that posted on the sites I visited. You were warned not to run solid core ignition wires and generators would kill the modules. I had 3 years on my Chrysler system by then with all the no-nos.

It seems that Pertronix is no longer getting the negative feed back that it once did. I'm thinking about getting one for my Stude motor but it just feels strange to pay about a hundred bucks and feel it's necessary to carry a spare set of points in case it fails. I guess I know my personal odds are stacked against me.

 

Man, I agree - you can't argue with a $40 Mopar dizzy. At that price, you can rob the innards out of it!

Running a ballast resistor is totally worth it to save the $100 over a Pertronix...

~Jason

 

Man this thread really spiraled into something interesting. I never knew the duraspark II trigger was such a slick setup.

The chrysler dizzy is kind of a unique situation for the traditionalist because the plain ole electronic version doesn't really look any different than the points version. (to me at least)

good luck Jason

 

I'm saying!

The small Block Mopar distributor hadn't changed in like 30 years externally, for everything from the 273, 318 Poly, LA 318, 340s & 360s. They all interchange (even the shitty Lean Burn ones no one should EVER use), and it's just that simple to go electronic - dizzy, box, balast resistor.

Although in my case with my 318 Poly, a dizzy & my MSD box and I'm golden.

~Jason