pertronix

[mac]

just finished installing a ignitor III. works well, but is a little touchy about a constant 12 volts. apparently i was also missing a ground wire that was supposed to be in the box. but it does feel good not having to worry about all those wires to and from the mopar ignition boxes. i think i will take advantage of the rev limiter included in this one. went out for the shake down cruise and this was the first time the car had no problem getting to 6000rpms.

 

[Roadcuda]

I have the Ignitor IIs in my Bird and Formula S. I really think the cars run better with them and unless someone sees the two wires coming out of the distributor you would never know that it has electronic ignition.

 

[droptop]

Thinking about putting this ignition set up on the wife's Barracuda.

 

[george68hemirr]

love msd

 

[CompSyn]

I found this kind of interesting after talking with a guy who races in the Pure Stock races. This guy is a machinist by trade and has a Sun distributor machine which he does performance distributor re-curves on the side for people. He told me he has the Pertronics I, II, and III kits setting on a shelf in his shop. He’s ran all three in the races and said his car is slower in the quarter mile versus running a set of heavy duty points. He said it’s been his experience that all the Pertonics kits suffer from what he called spark scatter in the upper rpm ranges and this is with a large majority of Mopar distributors he’s tested on his distributor machine. He went on to say it’s not that big of an issue with GM distributors, but the Mopars don’t like them for some reason. He’s talked with Pertronics quite a bit regarding this issue but to no avail.

So it sounds to me like the Pertonics kits work fine for general street use but for higher performance applications, they might not be the ticket. I was going to get kit for my Road Runner but am having second thoughts after talking with this guy. In fact, I’m quite sure I’ll send him my factory distributor for him to rework and try a set of points he recommends. If the points prove to be too problematic for my driving habits, I’ll do my own experimentation with a Pertonics kit to see how it goes.

Really what I’m after is the best performance in a stock look. No fancy aftermarket systems and no 1970s orange Mopar box under the hood.

 

[abodybill]

I got the pertronix II in my Runner but,can't say anything good/bad about it as I have not run the engine yet.

All I have heard is good things about it.

 

[A31PKG]

...He’s ran all three in the races and said his car is slower in the quarter mile versus running a set of heavy duty points.... .

I agree. Electronic ignition systems have many benefits. However, the main thing that gets "corrected" with that type of ignition system is the ellimination of dwell variation. That is, the inherent inconsistencies of the point open/close event for all 8 cylinders due to shaft wobble. If one has a distributor with no slop in the shaft (good bushings/no shaft wear) and an accurate point cam, then this is likely a non-issue. I remember observing stacked raster patterns back in the day (showing my age here) and seeing excessive dwell variation much more prevalent in Chryco distributors than that of other manufacturers. Not sure why...I suppose that the shaft bushing material was a bit softer? At any rate, as long as the distributor is true, a good 'ol set of points works just fine up to about 5500-ish RPM's IMO. Better yet, a decent dual point set-up is even better. The latter of which basically has the same benefit as an electronic system by providing more of an "on/off" (no dwell time) coil operation for better saturation. Also the added benefit of longer coil saturation makes for easier start-ups. Bottom line: a good, properly functioning, point-style ignition system is just fine for most street applications. Trouble is, I'm lazy, I've run Pertronics units for years with no issues...

 

[CompSyn]

...He’s ran all three in the races and said his car is slower in the quarter mile versus running a set of heavy duty points.... .

I agree. Electronic ignition systems have many benefits. However, the main thing that gets "corrected" with that type of ignition system is the ellimination of dwell variation. That is, the inherent inconsistencies of the point open/close event for all 8 cylinders due to shaft wobble. If one has a distributor with no slop in the shaft (good bushings/no shaft wear) and an accurate point cam, then this is likely a non-issue. I remember observing stacked raster patterns back in the day (showing my age here) and seeing excessive dwell variation much more prevalent in Chryco distributors than that of other manufacturers. Not sure why...I suppose that the shaft bushing material was a bit softer? At any rate, as long as the distributor is true, a good 'ol set of points works just fine up to about 5500-ish RPM's IMO. Better yet, a decent dual point set-up is even better. The latter of which basically has the same benefit as an electronic system by providing more of an "on/off" (no dwell time) coil operation for better saturation. Also the added benefit of longer coil saturation makes for easier start-ups. Bottom line: a good, properly functioning, point-style ignition system is just fine for most street applications. Trouble is, I'm lazy, I've run Pertronics units for years with no issues...

You know, as where my Road Runner isn’t going to be a daily driver or bracket racer, but rather a weekend cruse tinker-on-car, I’m not convinced I’ll benefit that much from electronic ignition. Although, I don’t really have a lot of experience with points ignitions, I’m just sort of wondering if tuning on the points from time-to-time will actually add to the uniqueness and mystique of owning a 60s muscle car? Or perhaps it will be something that will get old quick? Don’t know?

A quick question for you guys who actually lived through the era of breaker point ignition systems. If everything is set up right and in proper working order, how many miles can one expect to get out of a set of points in a typical street driven car?

 

[A31PKG]

It's been a LOT of years, but as I recall, somewhere in the 30K range, with a check/adjustment usually a good idea at 15K or so. As the points wear, the dwell time increases which changes the timing. Add to that the aforementioned shaft slop, and you can see that the engine will run like crap in short order. Yes, one does need to "babysit" a point system (to varying degrees) but as you eluded to, part of the nostalgia is having to do just that!

 

[droptop]

I think it is just what is needed for the wife's Barracuda. Don't want her on the side of the road for a bad set of points. And I don't think she is going to be in the upper rpm range any time soon. It is something along the lines of location, location, location for real estate. Fit the application to what you are planning to do, or expect to get out of your car.

 

[CompSyn]

It's been a LOT of years, but as I recall, somewhere in the 30K range, with a check/adjustment usually a good idea at 15K or so. As the points wear, the dwell time increases which changes the timing. Add to that the aforementioned shaft slop, and you can see that the engine will run like crap in short order. Yes, one does need to "babysit" a point system (to varying degrees) but as you eluded to, part of the nostalgia is having to do just that!

Wow, I was thinking replacement would be more frequent than that. So that's good news, it'll take me a great many years to reach even the 15K mark as much as I intend to drive the car. :cheers:

Also, the guy who is going to tune my distributor checks and replaces the shaft bushings if required. He told me he's only ran across a couple Mopar distributors that needed it of the hundreds he's worked on. So we'll see.

 

[mrgenerallee]

why not use the MOPAR electronic convert kit

 

[mac]

i had the mopar electronic conversion. was looking for an upgrade with a rev limiter without buy the rev-n-ator for close to $200. if I was going to do it again, would probably go with the original pretronix or the pertronixII. the third version is very picky about having a good 12v power supply where I believe the earlier ones will work with voltages as low as 9 volts. I will say that so far I am able to rev higher not using the mopar units that a lot of people were saying retards the spark in the higher rpms.

 

[moparstuart]

i had the mopar electronic conversion. was looking for an upgrade with a rev limiter without buy the rev-n-ator for close to $200. if I was going to do it again, would probably go with the original pretronix or the pertronixII. the third version is very picky about having a good 12v power supply where I believe the earlier ones will work with voltages as low as 9 volts. I will say that so far I am able to rev higher not using the mopar units that a lot of people were saying retards the spark in the higher rpms.

Rev-n-nator box works fantastic and it just works with the stock mopar electronic set up

 

[mrgenerallee]

I like the idea of a rev limiter ( only when others drag race my B bodies) . Does the aftermarket MOPAR OEM direct connection converstion kit truly retard the spark at high rpm, When I ran SS/IA I never had failure at Fremont drags in 74, I did punch many rockers with push rods and ran Racer Brown cams

 

[mac]

Rev-n-nator box works fantastic and it just works with the stock mopar electronic set up

can you notice a definite difference with the rev-n-nator?

 

[moparstuart]

can you notice a definite difference with the rev-n-nator?

i dont have it on my car , but i have two buddies that do and they swear by them better performance and longer lasting so far as they were burning shit up before .