Where my awareness of the Pertronix conversion kits was rekindled was in the Buick Club of America General Forum. It seems that many in that group have done Pertronix conversions and it seems to be their "conversion kit of choice" with much more good luck than poor luck with them. Seems like I've seen some Oldsmobile people mention them too.
I believe Pertronix also has an upgraded module now that will do more things than the original module would. Many have used both with good results.
I have heard many comments about how allegedly poor the wiring is in the 1970s Dodge pickups in general. As having a solid and adequate voltage supply to the control module in the Chrysler system is necessary, I wonder if that might have been an issue that was fixed with the installation of the Jacobs units? Just curious and possibly a "shot in the dark" suspicion.
Not sure about the difference in octane requirements before and after the changes. Possibly the higher octane fuel was easier to fire due to a generally higher volatility that tended to compliment the obviously marginal spark output from the original ignition system? Did you, by chance, check the dwell readings of the two systems? Every Chrysler tech I talked to in the early 1970s said the dwell figure from the electronic system was not accurate, but it sure seemed to be to me when compared to the points systems. Longer dwell, typically, results in hotter sparks, but with the Jacobs system probably having more spark energy output (plus rpm modulation of said energy) than the stock system, that might be a side issue.
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