Installing Pertronix Ignition

[Guest 55cruisen]

I am installing a Pertronix Ignitor ignition and coil on my 1955 Roadmaster w/ 322. Any suggestions for spark plugs and wires? Do the gaps of the plugs need to be changed? Any other suggestions/recommendations? Thanks for the help - appreciated as always.

[Smartin]

Use a good spiral core wire set..

I would stick with stock gap, unless you're running an MSD(or otherwise) box.

[Guest brh]

Its a great setup, one error I made was I did not allow enough gap between the unit and the rotor. Wore the daylights out of it but it never quit. Its a good system.

[old-tank]

I gap my plugs at 0.038 and use solid wire core as original ( usually have to buy as "off road" ). Right now I am still cleaning and regapping AC44 plugs...I tried a set of R43 which is the recommended replacement for the 44 and they fouled in 20 miles. At 18,000 miles ( my usual replacement interval for plugs ) mine still looked new.

Pertonix mentions that a wider gap can be used. Actually a wider gap is an old trick used to give a smoother idle, but with the stock ignition system the spark would blow out at high speeds and cause missing...the hotter Pertonix spark eliminates this. I also bypass the ignition resistor since all of my driving is on the highway at higher speeds (keep the resistor in the circuit if doing a lot of idling as in parades).

Willie

[Guest]

An instructer at the tech school I went to used to chastise the hot rod kids about a "fatter spark" or hotter spark. He said, look - all it has to do is jump the gap, that's all. The combustion event doesn't care if the spark is "hot" or "fat". He sometomes said this in relation to the twin electrode spark plugs too. They always made it look like the spark would go to 2 or 3 different spots until legal made them clearly show it was only going to one. (Basic law of physics 101)

I would set the gap at different spots and see what happens. I would not go over .040. Compression ratio plays a role. If you have 10.5 to 1 or so don't ask the spark to jump a .045 gap, especially in extreme hot summer driving. Check for black residue or white-grayish look after a while. Experiment. If it's balck then you probably know you have unburned fuel, too much light grey then it's the opposite. You probably can't go wrong at factory specs but - despite my old instructor - I like a .040 to .045 gap because it provides more volume or area of spark which should provide a modicum of additional power. Just make sure your secondary ignition components are up to it (quality spark plugs, coil, and Pertronix)

Bryan Moran

BCA 28571