Elecronic disributor conversions

You have to make sure the module is getting a full 12 volts (the Mustang's ignition system typically runs at ~8V) to work properly, but that's easy. I would presume that's the same for the 6-volt cars; it'll need a full 6 volts to operate correctly.

I found this to be the case as well, unless your charging systems is 100% the petronix won't be happy! Points will keep on running at lower volts than the pretronix will.

I have installed them in a lot of diffrent cars....... from a 28 Stutz to a 55 T Bird last week. We had to make the reluctor for the Stutz, thus it's a kit we made up ourselves. They work fine, I just prefer to run stock in all my cars. I will say this, the 55 Bird threw a much hotter spark (KV's) than the points. It was a 6 volt pos ground system. Points can be fixed on the side of the road, a burned out module can't. If you convert, build a spare distributor and keep it in the trunk. That way you have options on a tour or vacation. Ed

Please explain the hotter spark bit. Do you mean the spark is hotter while the engine is running, or do you mean the coil has more unrestrained reserved KV voltage than conventional coil/points?

Well, maybe I am showing my ignorance here but I thought the Petronix is a maintenance free, non-wearing out device. "Put it in and forget it." If one has to have a distributor for when the the non-failing device ceases to work, it does not seem to perform as advertised.

The majority of you seem it think it works as intended, and quite well at that. That is good to hear!

No it's not maintenance free. As the case with GM HEI and any module you will need to remove and clean the module and install new dielectric grease on the mating surfaces of the module and breaker plate. This should be done on a GM car once a year before the old grease gets hard and cracks stopping the transfer of heat away from the module. Also about once a year you should be lubricating the mechanical advance weights and checking the advance along with the vacuum advance with a vacuum pump for operation. You should also be checking the ( depending on car) the distributor shaft and bushings/bearings for wear, checking the cap and rotor and plug wires. To change a set of points along with checking the above things takes a fraction of time....you have to get in there anyway, HEI or not. So you see to do the job properly just like it says on my GM cars service manuals with HEI there is maintenance to be done.

Just a FYI, the reason the manufacturers went to HEI was so that it would be very hard for those systems to misfire, not to make it easier on the mechanic or owner. I have seen a almost non existent spark plug electrode and a burnt off ground strap still firing off a cylinder with no misfire due to the high capacity coil that these things have. The only thing perceptible was a high firing voltage on the oscilloscope hooked up to the car. The reason for the HEI was to prevent cars with catalytic converters from overheating due to a misfire. The use of catalytic converters and HEI go hand in hand. Example, 1975 GM cars without catalyst have points. 1976 cars with catalytic converters have HEI.

It only takes 8-10 KV to fire a spark plug. A good points distributor handles up to 30-40 kv if you remove a spark plug wire while the engine is running and start to ground the wire. HEI will go much higher, it's designed for people who forget to take care of their car.

^ Lost me there....... :confused: .......what is there to maintain?

There is a magnetic rotor on the distributor shaft and a fixed, sealed, trigger module with 2 wires coming out of it.

There is nothing that CAN be maintained outside of the air gap which should never change anyway.

Correct me if I am wrong. I thought Petronics or Igniter was to eliminate the frequent adjustment and replacements of points. At what point the idea of hot sparks came into being I do not know. I see frequent adds and pictures of HOT COILS in magazines. A COIL IS A COIL, another name for a TRANSFORMER. The operation is simple in A.C. Operations are a little different in D.C. The constant breaking of the points cause the ignition coil to operate ( in A.C. the 60 cycle operates the coil, or transformer) A high output coil will produce the voltage it was designed for but it has to be accompanied by the correct size of condenser in order to minimize the wear on points. So replace the points with the igniter and there may be something going .

I liked the G.M. H.E.I.. I replaced a few modules and found the dielectric grease dried out. I now do believe if the grease was renewed on time the module will still be in operation. As everything else regular service is the key. FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURER MANUAL. The reluctor gap seldom goes out. I never came across any.

Harry

^ Lost me there....... :confused: .......what is there to maintain?

There is a magnetic rotor on the distributor shaft and a fixed, sealed, trigger module with 2 wires coming out of it.

There is nothing that CAN be maintained outside of the air gap which should never change anyway.

Here it is again;

No it's not maintenance free. As the case with GM HEI and any module you will need to remove and clean the module and install new dielectric grease on the mating surfaces of the module and breaker plate. This should be done on a GM car once a year before the old grease gets hard and cracks stopping the transfer of heat away from the module. Also about once a year you should be lubricating the mechanical advance weights and checking the advance along with the vacuum advance with a vacuum pump for operation. You should also be checking the ( depending on car) the distributor shaft and bushings/bearings for wear, checking the cap and rotor and plug wires. To change a set of points along with checking the above things takes a fraction of time....you have to get in there anyway, HEI or not. So you see to do the job properly just like it says on my GM cars service manuals with HEI there is maintenance to be done.

There is no dielectric grease involved. Only a single screw for the pickup module.

Distributor maintenance is a different matter unrelated to the Pertronix unit.

Maybe that's why they go bad...they can't transfer heat. All GM distributor modules require the grease.

I remember talking to a friend who had just got back from a VCCA event with his 425 hp 409 Impala and asked him why are you setting points on your car? I thought you had Pertronix ignition? He said I did have Petronix, but if you want to see it, it's on a certain stretch of the 101 fwy as far as I could throw it, luckily I kept the old points in the glove box otherwise it would have left me stranded....like other friends we know who warned me about this sort of thing.

Agreed......heat is an issue in some applications.

I've had Pertronix in my old car for years, no problems......

I've had Pertronix in my old car for years, no problems......

My mom's side of the family was all Ford, Grandfather and uncles swore by Ford products and never seemed to have any complaints.

One thing about being in the automotive industry is you hear and read ( Automotive news " a industry paper" http://www.autonews.com/ and TSB's from Ford ) was that in the 70's and 80's Ford had a lot of trouble with electronic ignition modules. Once they got them out of the engine compartment or a protected space in the firewall their problems went away.

In Aussie land when Ford had 302 clevo's under the bonnet in 1979 they had problems with with the distributor cooking. Heat and electronics are proven not to mix. I'm sure in the USA you had the same problems with early electronic systems. .. What I find interesting is the point about coils and getting big sparks. I have interest in prewar stuff. One thing I don't do anymore is the habit of pulling a plug lead of to test the spark, particularly with modern coils. I use a spare plug,or make sure I don't have the spark gap too wide. With many of the old distributor caps the gap between the electrodes is very close and if you widen the spark gap during testing you can cause arcing on the cap. That is why SBC have a cap the size of a paint tin. If you have a cap that is as rare as rocking horse manure be careful not to damage it. Fred. Edwards.

In Aussie land when Ford had 302 clevo's under the bonnet in 1979 they had problems with with the distributor cooking. Heat and electronics are proven not to mix. I'm sure in the USA you had the same problems with early electronic systems. .. What I find interesting is the point about coils and getting big sparks. I have interest in prewar stuff. One thing I don't do anymore is the habit of pulling a plug lead of to test the spark, particularly with modern coils. I use a spare plug,or make sure I don't have the spark gap too wide. With many of the old distributor caps the gap between the electrodes is very close and if you widen the spark gap during testing you can cause arcing on the cap. That is why SBC have a cap the size of a paint tin. If you have a cap that is as rare as rocking horse manure be careful not to damage it. Fred. Edwards.

Fred, all GM cars/engines had that same size cap, which means you can't use multiple carburetor's with GM HEI distributors. GM HEI never had the teething problems other manufacturers had. They were great from the get go as long as you do the maintenance I listed in above threads.

Pertronix look like good products to me and I would buy one for my Lucas 6 cylinder distributor but my problem is that no one here seems able to repair the Lucas mechanical advance mechanisms? On idle ,the spark jumps around because it is worn.When the revs increase the spark is stable. I would like to keep the original Lucas. I have not found an electronic conversion to bolt in which has an adjustable mechanical advance curve. I thought this would not be too difficult to design and build. This would eliminate all of the maintenance, except for the drop of oil and cleaning the inside of the cap occasionally. Fred. Edwards.

There are a number of firms that can rebuild and recurve your Lucas distributor as a unit, or may be able to sell you one with yours as core. I've here posted links to 2 of the majors, one here in the U.S. and one in the U.K. I've not had any personal experience with either one, but both seem to be of good reputation.

http://www.distributordoctor.com/

http://advanceddistributors.com/

Thank you Dave, I will check them out. I'm new with this forum thing and I like it! The people are so helpful to each other. It puts a smile on your face. I have been following the discussion with the Pertronix and learning. Fred. Edwards.

Maybe that's why they go bad...they can't transfer heat. All GM distributor modules require the grease.

I remember talking to a friend who had just got back from a VCCA event with his 425 hp 409 Impala and asked him why are you setting points on your car? I thought you had Pertronix ignition? He said I did have Petronix, but if you want to see it, it's on a certain stretch of the 101 fwy as far as I could throw it, luckily I kept the old points in the glove box otherwise it would have left me stranded....like other friends we know who warned me about this sort of thing.

Since the distributor is getting as hot, or hotter, as the engine block I'm wondering if using heat conducting grease is actually contributing to module failure by RAISING it's temp. rather than cooling it. Maybe THAT'S why they go bad. I'm guessing it makes little difference either way.............Bob

Since the distributor is getting as hot, or hotter, as the engine block I'm wondering if using heat conducting grease is actually contributing to module failure by RAISING it's temp. rather than cooling it. Maybe THAT'S why they go bad. I'm guessing it makes little difference either way.............Bob

That is not the case with GM HEI and the most common mistake for failure for one of those modules is to let the grease harden over time and not replacing the grease on a yearly basis. The other failure or should I say repeated failure over and over is the guy who replaces the module without using the grease, replacing the module over and over and of course blaming the module.

Look, the manual TELLS you to use the grease.

The original post is/was about Pertronix ignition modules so that's what I was referring to.............Bob

I recently purchased a 1960 Impala with the original inline 6 235. When I got it, I did a tune up such as using AC DELCO parts such as spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor and of course changing of all the fluids. I also used the Pertonix Ignitor and recommended coil. From reviews I have seen, it seems to be 50/50....a lot of people like it while others don't due to reliability problems or other factors. I think a lot of people especially the younger generation don't want or don't know how to adjust the points and this is kind of a quick fix for them instead to trying to understand how the system works. Again this is my opinion as I talk to the younger generation about points in the distributor and they have no idea what I'm talking about.

I think a pertronix unit would be a great solution to a lot of issues but as with any car part the issue of breaking. It is just hard to find pertronix parts out on the road and it sounds like they are a bit sensitive to heat and voltage. Lots of concerns with an old car that is still equipped with a generator and a voltage regulator. A spare something is nice to have to let you finish a tour or get you home without an expensive tow. A good example is I was able to finish a Glidden tour a few years ago because I thought to have a spare rear axle for my '30 Chev in my trailer. With this hobby its "Hope for the best and expect the worse."