Pertronix conversion

[MarkH]

                 
           Anyone have first hand experience with the Pertronix conversion with 6v ignition? I'm thinking of converting my 161 f-head.

[Terry T]

why?

[MarkH]

why?

Working with all the tiny parts that require fine adjustment on the workbench was challenge enough for me these days. That's certainly not going to get better.
Right now there's no fenders or hood on my car, pulling the distributor now would be easy compared to regularly maintaining points later buried halfway down the side of engine while humped over a fender.

Plus all the reasons electronic ignitions have been industry wide for decades now.

If you have a reason why not, share it.

[Terry T]

Basically. how many miles do you drive?
I put10K miles on both my HJ and Darrin before I checked the points.  No change in performance so why bother.
Now even at 14K on the Darrin, points are still fine.

[MarkH]

Basically. how many miles do you drive?
I put10K miles on both my HJ and Darrin before I checked the points.  No change in performance so why bother.
Now even at 14K on the Darrin, points are still fine.

I didn't say a car would stop running because the points were degraded, just that I didn't want to do the required maintenance to keep points in proper tune. An engine with pitted & worn points will still start & run a long time, but that isn't the same as having it in tune.

I've dressed/adjusted/changed a lot of points, more in that Malibu than any other car I've owned, and I can attest that at 3,000 miles a new set of points have lost their edge. Doesn't mean it wouldn't have run thousands more as a grocery getter.

If you're happy with 14,000 mile points in your sports car that's ok. I started this thread asking for first hand knowledge about Pertronix ignition.

[Thomasso]

I've had Petronics fail.  And guess what, no spare in trunk.

[joefrazer]

A friend had a Pertronix unit in his 49 Frazer and I tried driving it home from a meet a few years ago. The car ran rough with a serious miss. We finally trailered it and upon investigation found that the distributor shaft wobbled in the housing causing inconsistent connectivity with the electronic pickup. So, for those considering Pertronix, be sure you have a good distributor to work with.

[DTort96646]

I installed a Pertronix on my 1951 Frazer Manhattan along with a  Pertronix coil and a suppression plug wire set. I also installed a set of E3 spark plugs. I have had no problems and the Frazer runs and pulls uphills great. I rebuilt the distributor and made sure the vacuum advance is working properly. I also advanced the static timing just a tad to ensure the total timing was at the max at full throttle. My 1951 Manhattan is hydramatic and I have added power steering and power brakes, so it is also sweet to drive.

[MarkH]

Thanks for sharing fellas. Gorgeous ride DTort96646, inside and out!