Hello All -
Regarding John Grady's and Dan Plotkin's experience - Like many
of you, I was aware of the somewhat spotty reputation of some of
the Pertronix ignition conversions, and I researched the many
comments on multiple automotive boards. I spoke directly with a
representative at Pertronix about my specific applications (1957
Chrysler 392 Hemi and 1967 Porsche 912). He readily acknowledged
those complaints and said that the Company had made several
incremental changes to improve reliability, and then (not
defensively) explained what they felt was the source of most of
the failures. The first was failure to supply a constant 12 volts
to the Pertronix unit, instead of the reduced voltage supplied
(after startup) through the ballast resistors commonly used to
reduce erosion of the original points. Whatever is in the
Pertronix Hall-effect magnetic sensor does NOT survive long with
that reduced voltage. The other factor was that the Pertronix
kit was adversely affected by the back-EMF Radio Frequency
Interference inherent in early wire-core ignition cables like the
ubiquitous Packard 440, and therefore RFI- suppressed resistor
wires were required. He acknowledged that the instructions
included with each kit did NOT adequately emphasize those
requirements for 12v supply and resistor ignition wires (including
coil), and agreed that he would transmit those recommendations to
his upper management for clarification in future instruction
sheets. He said that the Pertronix units would sometimes fail
within six to 24 months if the correct voltage and ignition wires
were not supplied; it was literally running on borrowed time from
the outset.
The rep also pointed out that some older coils may have
experienced degradation (often through heat and vibration) that
caused their resistance to exceed the specification range required
by the Pertronix sensor. That is especially true with their newer
Ignitor II kits, which require a coil with very low resistance,
approximately 0.6 ohms, compared to the typical 3 ohms with most
older coils. He also recommended the epoxy-filled versions of
their coils for improved tolerance to heat and vibration.
I suspect that if many of the previous complaints about failures
were fully researched, we would find that the (admittedly poorly
disclosed) operational parameters of the Pertronix kit were not
met, either initially or during subsequent operation.
Call Pertronix directly at (909) 493-5467 if you have questions; I found their representative to be quite knowledgeable, patient and genuinely interested in providing the best product for your application. (NO affiliation) https://pertronixbrands.com/
Ray Melton (Yes,
I HATED adjusting the dual points on my '57, even with a
dwell meter - crawling into the mouth of the "Whale",
bracing myself on the carburetor for 40 minutes of
trial-and-error inside the distributor, standing tippy-toes
on a stepstool over the fender, YUK!
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