Pertronix Igniter II questions?

Mr onetwo

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Good morning all, I am going to be converting my '68 vert 383/2 to electronic ignition next week and have a couple of questions for those who have this system installed on their car. My distributor doesn't seem to have any identification on it and Pertronix lists literally hundreds of dist #'s with different kit #'s. Any way to get proper identification? I will use a Flamethrower II epoxy coil and get rid of the ballast resistor. I always use NGK v-power plugs...stock # is 5858. Should I go to a different heat range for average daily driving...stock engine...no interstate driving. What stock style 7mm plug wires have you had good luck with? Standard makes several different sets. I want to get parts ordered the first of the week...your advice is much appreciated!!!!
 
I would just go with the pertronix I kit and the flamethrower coil. I've seen lots of people on the forums bitching about problems with the 2 & 3 kits and never a negative word about the 1. I've been using the 1 on 2 of my cars and have not 1 single complaint. Actually it's known as "Ignitor" and it's #1381A, Amazon was cheapest.
 
Thanks Matt....that number will fit all Chrysler distributors of '68 vintage?
 
I love my Ignitor III. In our experience, the Ignitor has heat problems (on a roadtrip, it would die after reaching a certain temp over, and over again) and will burn up if you leave the key in the ignition position without the engine running.
 
Would it be smart to relocate the coil off the engine?
 
I love my Ignitor III. In our experience, the Ignitor has heat problems (on a roadtrip, it would die after reaching a certain temp over, and over again) and will burn up if you leave the key in the ignition position without the engine running.
I took a number of hot summertime road trips with both cars and never once did I have an issue with the Ignitor. I've been lucky I guess.
 
I had purchased a Pertronix Igniter II (91381A) and Flame-Thrower (45011) coil for my 383, but decided to go with the Factory type EI setup instead.

I got the dizzy from O'Reilly's - A1 Cardone 30-3897 Electronic Distributor ($52.99 + $7 for core) and the ECU & Harness from Summit; BLUE ECU ($29.97), Harness ($22.97) Total = $112.93

So for about the same price you'll pay for a Pertronix Igniter I or II and the Flame-Thrower Coil you can get an OEM setup AND you'll still have your stock points dizzy as a back-up. The OEM setup uses the stock coil so you don't have to buy another coil.

Advantage: If anything should ever go wrong with the EI, just swap back in the points dizzy and that’s it - you won't even have to reset the points. If something goes wrong with the Pertronix unit you'll need to remove the P-Igniter, reinstall the points, condensor and stock coil and reset the points. If you don't re-install the stock coil you'll burn up the points.

Just a thought to consider -

BTW, nothing wrong with Pertronix, I have it in two of my other cars...
 
I'd love to know what is "right" with Pentronix kits. I probably have 4-5 cars, including one of which I just revived from a 30+ year slumber (440), another (1951 Hemi) that I've driven on a few trips to Ohio, and another that's been a summer daily driver (318). Never an issue with points.

I'm not trying to say points are "better". I suppose if your racking up 20k a year or have a hi-comp engine that blows out candles, but for an occasional use, stock driver (I doubt many of these converted cars see the use mine do.) why the rush to remove a stock system that worked well for 60 years? People treat this humble switch like it's a freakin' cancerous tumor that must be cut out asap. For what? An aftermarket system, about which I'm always hearing total failure stories? Or "you can switch back to points when it fails"? How many are really racking up the miles for points to wear out? Very few.
 
I had a marked improvement in performance in both single point distributor cars when I switched to the electric and I drive the hell out of my cars.
 
I had a marked improvement in performance in both single point distributor cars when I switched to the electric and I drive the hell out of my cars.
Hey Matt, what are you running for plugs and gap?
 
Points are just make/break switches that turn the coil on/off, collapsing the magnetic field thereby inducing a high voltage (which is then "distributed" to the plugs).

At high very RPMS (for our big lazy V8s) they can mechanically bounce, creating a misfire. That's why hi-performance applications used two sets of them. They can also wear and go out of adjustment, but this is more an issue for deferred maintenance drivers than the objects of our mechanical affection.

You could see a gain from switching to an electronic system, but only when switching from a points system that wasn't in proper tune. Which is what I expect often occurs. In terms of properly set points, at the low RPMs our torque monsters see, there is no gain to be had using a different means of coil switching.
 
Champion rj12yc gapped to .45 but you can play with the gaps a bit depending on how much voltage your system is putting out.
 
Sorry Carmine, but I disagree totally. Points are an antiquated, low voltage means of ignition. Pertronix has been around over 40 years and has 4 million plus units in the field. About PerTronix, Inc. With the Ignitor II I am going to use the spark is much, much stronger allowing you to run a wider gap...better combustion, ect. In looking all over the interwebs for complaints in regard to "Pertronix" 99% of problems are due to installation errors, wrong coils or pre-existing electrical or ignition problems. If these things are a piece of sh*t, why are their so many used for industrial as well as automotive applications? Why did Mopar get rid of points by 1973? It wasn't because points/condenser were better or even equal.Thanks for your input but, you have your opinion and I have mine.
 
Just so you know, I couldn't care less what system someone runs... I don't own stock in any of them, nor am I sitting on a pile of NOS points sets, nor did I say anything was a "piece of sh*t".

I just hate misinformation. For example, you refer to points as a "low voltage means of ignition". None of these systems ignite anything. As I stated, they turn the coil on/off, collapsing the magnetic field, inducing a high voltage discharge to the distributor.

Most of them, including the OEM Chrysler Electronic system operate at a voltage lower than battery. None of them operate above the battery voltage. So in effect, they're all "low voltage", 9-12vdc. But it doesn't matter because they are just triggering systems, something akin to using a relay in a high amprage circuit.

Few (if any) of our street-driven cars are generating the cylinder pressure that can make use of a higher voltage spark. And again, few are turning the kinds of RPM that will cause points to bounce.

In effect, the idea of Pentronix is to create a maintenance-free black box with no moving parts (and BTW, that's why Chrysler went there in '72). I didn't say it was bad. I said it was unecessary; especially among a bunch of guys who don't treat their cars as throw-away appliances.

However, you may look no further than the "similar threads" window immediately below the reply box just to see how many people have had some sort of problem (regardless of cause) with the Pentronix system. All this for effectively no gain.

But if you want to agree to a difference of opinion... that's fine with ne.
 
I'd love to know what is "right" with Pentronix kits. I probably have 4-5 cars, including one of which I just revived from a 30+ year slumber (440), another (1951 Hemi) that I've driven on a few trips to Ohio, and another that's been a summer daily driver (318). Never an issue with points.

I'm not trying to say points are "better". I suppose if your racking up 20k a year or have a hi-comp engine that blows out candles, but for an occasional use, stock driver (I doubt many of these converted cars see the use mine do.) why the rush to remove a stock system that worked well for 60 years? People treat this humble switch like it's a freakin' cancerous tumor that must be cut out asap. For what? An aftermarket system, about which I'm always hearing total failure stories? Or "you can switch back to points when it fails"? How many are really racking up the miles for points to wear out? Very few.
Carmine, I couldn't agree with you more in all that you've said. For the 3 cars I've switched over to EI whether Pertronix or Dizzy EI, I probably drive them each less than 300 mi/yr if that much.

Before I switched from Points to Petronix on my '74 Fiat Spider the car started on one crank. After the Pertronix installation, it now takes multiple cranks - so the points were better (might switch back). On my '79 Honda CVCC now with Pertronix - NO noticeable difference. As for my 66TC, the Pertronix was just an improvement to do (didn't learn my lesson LOL!). BUT, when I found out my vac advance diaphragm was leaking and needing replacement I just decided to do the whole OEM switch since I'd have to pull the dizzy and replace the VA pod anyways. For me I guess I just like to change things whether it needs it or not LOL!
 
Just so you know, I couldn't care less what system someone runs... I don't own stock in any of them, nor am I sitting on a pile of NOS points sets, nor did I say anything was a "piece of sh*t".

I just hate misinformation. For example, you refer to points as a "low voltage means of ignition". None of these systems ignite anything. As I stated, they turn the coil on/off, collapsing the magnetic field, inducing a high voltage discharge to the distributor.

Most of them, including the OEM Chrysler Electronic system operate at a voltage lower than battery. None of them operate above the battery voltage. So in effect, they're all "low voltage", 9-12vdc. But it doesn't matter because they are just triggering systems, something akin to using a relay in a high amprage circuit.

Few (if any) of our street-driven cars are generating the cylinder pressure that can make use of a higher voltage spark. And again, few are turning the kinds of RPM that will cause points to bounce.

In effect, the idea of Pentronix is to create a maintenance-free black box with no moving parts (and BTW, that's why Chrysler went there in '72). I didn't say it was bad. I said it was unecessary; especially among a bunch of guys who don't treat their cars as throw-away appliances.

However, you may look no further than the "similar threads" window immediately below the reply box just to see how many people have had some sort of problem (regardless of cause) with the Pentronix system. All this for effectively no gain.

But if you want to agree to a difference of opinion... that's fine with ne.

I have to say Camine is correct in every way here. I have done swaps to factory EI in the past, distant past, because the distributor needed help and it was a cheaper upgrade for maintenance and at the time made parts easy to obtain. In older gm products, the HEI coil was a twelve volt model and you had to match plug gaps and heat ranges to the new system. Mopar was still using a 6 volt style coil with a ballast and was a direct swap... no plug issues to worry about. Of course back then it was $10-20 dollars to get what I needed at a local junkyard.

Pertronix, I believe (zero research or interest) was also upgrading the coil, that means you are playing with gaps and heat ranges and... may experience some tuning issues. Hotter spark would be called for on a higher compression engine, but my 70's low compression babies will never need it. I can see why it might benefit an older higher compression engine a little.

Also correct was the reason the factories went this way was maintenance... old copper plugs and dizzy ignitions would show a noticeable difference within 10k miles if you just changed or cleaned and regaped the plugs... Nobody cleans plugs anymore, and it really is a questionable practice in the first place. Points wear at a similar rate as plugs, and even faster in a humid environment. Good luck finding a professional shop with a dwell/tach gauge or even a timing light these days. Old school shade tree match book and timing-by-ear is just that... shade tree. It may run, buy it won't be right.

IMO, if you are after easier maintenance or have obsolete, hard to find parts... a factory EI is best. If you don't like the factory system, try the pertronics, but you may be overkill if there are no other modifications. If you want to stay with points, you lose nothing... but you will have more involved maintenance... no big deal if you are equipped to deal with it. BTW pertronics kit WILL NOT cure worn bushing issues, which are common enough on old distributors... just in case that is a reason somebody is shopping.

Edit... I have/had an old nail file type disposable thing and primarily replaced points on the rare occasions I saw them, but I don't own an actual metal point file... how many of you do?
 
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Edit... I have/had an old nail file type disposable thing and primarily replaced points on the rare occasions I saw them, but I don't own an actual metal point file... how many of you do?

I have several, most specifically in the "road tool box".
 
I'll throw in my two cents. I've run a Pertronix Ignitor and Ignitor Coil on my '64 GTO for almost 15 years with ZERO issues. None, zilp, zilch, nada. Plugs are stock, stock gaps and the motor is 8.8:1 to deal with the "gas" we get out here in CA. It will still smoke the tires through 2nd, chirping 3rd and starts with the bump of the key so long as there is fuel in the bowls. I attempted multiple times to install the Pertronix Ignitor and Ignitor Coil with a pass through Ballast Resistor on my '65 Chrysler 300. Each time until recently, I was never able to get the car to run right; it would always surge. I believe my problem was the reduced voltage issue I had on the ignition side of the Ballast Resistor (poor connection). Points will run on lower than required voltage but electronic ignition will not. Once I fixed the connection issue at the Ballast, the car now runs very well with the electronic conversion. This car also runs stock points and point gaps and is a sub 9.0:1 motor. With points, I had a bit of a piston slap on startup which has disappeared with the Pertronix and it starts with the bump of the key. IMO, this is a worthwhile, maintenance free upgrade.
 
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