Pertronix info

[Decurion]

Im looking for info on the Pertronix systems available. I have a vintage race car that currently has a points distributor thats a little(!) tempermental, and I want to get rid of the points. I dont want an aftermarket distributor or amplifier box, so that pretty much leaves Pertronix. I had a Pertronix 1 in my Falcon and it worked great, but that was a far cry from the car Im working on now. I understand the Pertronix 2 has a hotter spark, and I thought I saw a Pertronix 3 now that has a hotter spark yet. Its a 427FE with 12.5:1 compression, so the hotter the spark the better. Any info or wisdom would be appreciated.

 

[68RCodeConv]

I would get a III. It has three advantages: (1) built in rev limiter, (2) no more magnetic ring - it reads the "bumps" on the dizzy shaft, (3) it replaces the entire base plate instead of reusing the old one.

IMO everybody should be running a rev limiter. Cheap, cheap, cheap insurance. Blow a shift and you don't blow your motor.

As for hot spark - the Pertronix I (with Flamethrower coil) on my 347 will arc from the dizzy cap to the holddown clips if I pull a wire out of the cap. I figure that's about an inch.

 

[Decurion]

Is the III just like the I and II? No box required, right? Rev limiter is a good idea, but this car wont be seeing any action any time soon, so its not a big concern. Ill probably just go with a Pertronix II, but wanted to see if anyone had any input on the other styles.

 

[DanMan68]

Is the III just like the I and II? No box required, right? Rev limiter is a good idea, but this car wont be seeing any action any time soon, so its not a big concern. Ill probably just go with a Pertronix II, but wanted to see if anyone had any input on the other styles.

I have a Pertronix distributor in my 68 and love it. They also make an ignition box that has a rev-limiter built-in. Check out the Second Spark unit.

 

[D.Hearne]

The only difference I found in the II vs the I was the II didn't develop a misfire if you got a hiccup backfire thru the carb. When the I did this, you had to kill the motor and restart it to reboot the unit. The II worked flawlessly on my 331. I've also had the Crane XR-1 in my V8 Ranger for several years now, it works as well as the II. All are/were run in stock reman distributors. I used the II in the distributor of my 68 Monterey with it's warmed up 390. Again, it worked flawlessly there too.