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pertronix vs factory electronic

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ike61

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a friend of mine want electronic ignition put in his slant 6 66 Belvedere. What should I go with? thanks
 
I love the Pertronix for its stealthiness. Like to use it on stock looking or numbers matching builds in stock distributor to keep original look. Performance has been very good in my experience. The external boxes are very good and there are more than a few choices out there. I would use them also, but for a performance/ day two kind of build.
 
I just recently put a petronix ignitor in my 66 charger (383) and I like it.

If you are looking for a super easy way to convert from points. One that doesn't require you to do any mod to your wiring harness. As well as find a spot for the ignition module. I'm not saying that's hard. But the pertonix is the stupid easy way to go. All you do is take off the distributor cap, remove the points, put the ignitor in, fish the 2 wires through the existing hole in the distributor, hook up the black wire to the negative side of the coil and the red to the positive side of the coil, put the cap back on and drive away. There maybe a few things I left out. But that is about it.

One important thing is to make sure your charging system is putting out at least 12v at idle with all your accessories on. The pertonix needs 12v or the car will run rough at idle and possibly stall. I bumped up my idle a little bit. At this time my Charger is the car I drive on weekends and to weekly car shows. So I wasn't looking to start changing/updating a bunch of stuff. I'll do that when after I get my 65 Sport Fury done. So a bump in the idle was needed until I start the process of doing things to the Charger.

Hope this helps you out.
 
I've got the Pertronix on two of my cars currently and have no complaints. Go with the 40K coil too and bypass the ballast resistor.
 
Lots of folks have had no problems and at the time I wanted to keep my 67 as close to original as possible. So I ordered the Pertronix system. It screwed up my tach and I never got it running correctly. I called them and they wanted me to "go to Radio Shack" and get ... so, I sent it back. Another item you have to be careful of is leaving the key in the acc position. The older generations will burn up you ignition system. Can't speak for the newer one but that was on their website.
Anyway, I am VERY happy with the Mopar Performance system. Didn't take much to put the ECU out of the way and works with the original ballast. Runs great!
 
Does the pertronix ignition system eliminate the orange ignition box in the firewall?
 
The 2nd generations are not as susceptible to "key left in acc position" as the Gen1 Pertronix modules. If using stock coil hook the red wire up to 12V side of the ballast resistor, black to negative side of the coil. If using the Petronix Hot Spark coils bypass the resistor.
 
I've used Pertronix on two cars. The first one used the earlier type or type 1 if you wish. With this type you cannot leave the ignition on without the engine running or you will burn out the module, you have about 30 seconds until that happens. However, you can leave the key in the Accessory position with no problems. The type 2 Pertronix does not suffer from this problem, they fixed it. You must have 12 volts to it at all times. Simple to do, just run your wire from the 12 volt side of the ballast resistor or jump as previously mentioned. I have found them reliable. Also, I added an after market tachometer to one of my cars and had no problem with. I suspect the earlier complaint on this thread was a from using an OEM tach with a system that uses 12 plus volts at the coil. I do recommend using their coil with the conversion unit a Mopar OEM coil won't last long.
 
The other item that came in conversation is parts. Lets face it, everything breaks eventually. If you put this or any aftermarket kit on your car that replacement parts need to be ordered, your down on the side of the road.
The plus with the Mopar system is you can walk into NAPA or Autozone and get a ballast or ECU off the shelf.
In my book that was priceless. Just my 2 cents.
 
ODZKing said:
The other item that came in conversation is parts. Lets face it, everything breaks eventually. If you put this or any aftermarket kit on your car that replacement parts need to be ordered, your down on the side of the road.
The plus with the Mopar system is you can walk into NAPA or Autozone and get a ballast or ECU off the shelf.
In my book that was priceless. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Just keep your stock points and condenser with you and change them back. Easy to do. Then you don't have to wonder whether your dist. or ECU is the problem........................MO
 
Cornpatch MO said:
Just keep your stock points and condenser with you and change them back. Easy to do. Then you don't have to wonder whether your dist. or ECU is the problem........................MO
Click to expand...

In theory that is what you are supposed to be able to. In actuality at least with mine. The eyelet on the condenser wire and the eyelets on the pertronix were too big to fit through the hole in the side of the distributor. So I unless you are going to carry extra eyelets and a wire stripper/crimper. The old points won't help you when you break down.
 
kellycom said:
In theory that is what you are supposed to be able to. In actuality at least with mine. The eyelet on the condenser wire and the eyelets on the pertronix were too big to fit through the hole in the side of the distributor. So I unless you are going to carry extra eyelets and a wire stripper/crimper. The old points won't help you when you break down.
Click to expand...
I am trying to understand . Isn't the condenser with wire , all contained inside the distributor on your car? Maybe you are talking of the wire from the dist. to the coil. On my stock points type dist. the grommet can easily be pushed out of the dist. body-allowing the coil eyelet to pass through..............................MO
 
Sorry I meant the wire from the distributor to the coil. The 2 wires for the pertonix didnt fit through that hole on my distributor. The design of the pertronix lends itself to being a very reliable piece. Odds are yours if you install one may never fail.
 
kellycom said:
Sorry I meant the wire from the distributor to the coil. The 2 wires for the pertonix didnt fit through that hole on my distributor. The design of the pertronix lends itself to being a very reliable piece. Odds are yours if you install one may never fail.
Click to expand...
I will certainly agree with that! I have pertronix on my 56 Chrysler Hemi and not a single problem in 8 years. Another dist with points has been in the trunk all that time---just in case 8-) ...................................MO
 
ODZKing said:
The other item that came in conversation is parts. Lets face it, everything breaks eventually. If you put this or any aftermarket kit on your car that replacement parts need to be ordered, your down on the side of the road.
The plus with the Mopar system is you can walk into NAPA or Autozone and get a ballast or ECU off the shelf.
In my book that was priceless. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Advance Auto carries their products. There are really only a couple parts that can be replaced, the ignitor and the coil if you are using a kit to convert points to electronic. So far, with two installs, I've had no problems. Both cars start up quickly without problems. I suspect some of the complaints people have are from improper installation. I've helped others who just didn't read the instructions or didn't understand them. YMMV.
 
Go with the Pertronix. Here is a positive point about using the Pertronix module in the factory distributor. If you keep a set of points and condenser in the trunk you have a fall back plan should the electronics fail on the road.

The basic workings of the Pertronix is really simple. It's a switch that is activated by a magnet. The switch part is a semiconductor and has a current limit so it's important you use the proper coil. Failure of the module will occur if you draw too much current through it by using a too low resistance coil. If in doubt call Pertronix and ask them what is acceptable, or just use their coil. And by the way, the module gets it's power from the red wire (hot) and the metal mounting plate (ground). This is where it gets the 12V to operate. The black wire is only the switched side that is triggered by the hall sensor. The coil circuit is completed through the black wire to ground so it's important you have a good path to ground through the breaker plate. As a side note the Prestolite distributor uses a ball bearing for the breaker plate swivel, and if you don't have the little braided copper ground wire, the current will pass through the bearing and eventually damage it by arcing. Not to mention you may not get the full power to the coil.
 
My '69 came with no tach, so I added a repro from Red Line Gauges and encountered the same problem with STOCK points ignition. I called them up and they had me splice in a voltage reducer from Radio Shack because they specifically build their tachs for electronic ignition. They asked about my ignition system when i placed the order and told me I MAY have to do this. So the Radio Shack excuse is valid and works. Just my experience and opinion.
 
I have the Mopar electronic in my 66 but have used the pertronix in more than 50 cars. I used to sell and install them. I really like them, easy install, reliable and very stock looking. If my car had not beed converted I would have changed over to pertronix. Use the pertronix coil too. They are great. I always gutted the ballast and installed a jumper wire, potted it with silicone and reinstalled it so it looks factory. The newer version also has a built in MSD and rev control.
Wayne
 
One other thing to do if you change out to a Pertronix, check your timing after you get the system up and running.
Wayne
 
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