dlaw7822

After a fun day leading a parade with the local Corvette club, the water temp pegged out. Got moving on the open road , temp, normal. At a stop light, engine quit. Would intermittently crank but would not start. Bone stock 327/300. PG. Factory air, not working) Converted to Pertronix Ignitor ignition months ago w/no problem til now. Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail. .Anyone had experience w/ this problem ? This morning it fired right up, ran smooth. Concerned about getting stranded again and thinking about a BB Dewitts rad.for Florida heat. Good,carb rich enough, timing good. Thanks, Dave.

Nowhere Man

Swap in a set of points and see what happens

Frankie the Fink

I doubt the pertronix caused your initial overheating problem. I'd be checking for a stuck thermostat, a collapsed radiator hose or bad cap. The ignition coil could be a culprit for the secondary heat related engine shutdown.

Bluestripe67

I agree with Frankie! All cooling system (rad, fan and fan clutch) related. While your in there, I would consider changing the trans fluid and filter due to the extreme heat on the fluid. It's cheap maintenance. Dennis

Dave Tracy

My remarks may not even be worth $.02. I, too, have a '64 which I have owned since 1970. Through many attempts to "improve" on the original engineering, I have gone back to nearly bone stock. In the late 70's, I put an electronic ignition on the car. I believe it was "Wellstronic". I went to school in D.C. where it was humid. The car stranded me on a couple occasions. The final straw was on a bridge in Virginia. I purchased new points, condenser, rotor etc and on the spot, on the road, threw the old system over the bridge and my problems went away. I'm sure that the systems now are better but GM did a pretty good job with the old cars at the time. I would consider going back to your stock ignition. Most of us don't put a load of miles on our cars so the upkeep of the original ignition system is not a chore.

mjdart

"Have read when this system gets hot, it's prone to fail."

I, too have a 64 327-365 Factory Air (working) and these cars do really run hot under normal operation, with your cooling system getting that hot it might have overheated the electronics. I'd look over thermostat and hoses. I recently flushed my cooling system (3 times) and I could not beleive how dirty it was. I runs right on the design temperature now in Florida.

dkleather

As others have said, check the cooling components. When Pertronix quit, they're done and I don't think you'd restart the next day. I have had a couple coils give the same problem you had. Did you happen to check for spark when the car quit?

dlaw7822

Thanks. Will put old points back in.

dlaw7822

Thanks. Recent stock rad. & clutch w/7 blade fan. Just changed trans fluid & filter.

dlaw7822

Thanks for the feedback. Car was idling for 2 hrs. on a hot in a parade, extreme conditions for the old girl. Points going back in with a new set in the glove box.

dlaw7822

I flushed mine a few months ago, pulled the 2 block drain plugs and it was so plugged up that no coolant came out til I poked a screwdriver in the holes. Flushed until the water ran clear. New 160 thermostat , lower hose and and it ran 180-190 w/normal driving. As it stands, ops with a/c in traffic is out of the question.

R66

Have you checked the fan clutch (if it has one)?
Hot idling and low speed, but normal at highway speeds indicate clutch may be bad or timing off or a number of other things.

dlaw7822

I agree. New Pertronix coil but it could be weak . Could'nt check spark , was on a 4 lane hwy. with a cop directing traffic and wife over heating too.

dlaw7822

New 7 blade fan & clutch. The search goes on.

tbarb

All of the advice is good but did you verify that the temperature gauge is reading correct. You may very well have two problems going on, a failing coil, Pertronix or corroded bulkhead connector providing power to the ignition and a gauge reading that's not correct.

dlaw7822

Great advice Thanks, tbarb. It might be prudent to let the car idle in the driveway for a time to simulate parade conditions and check the gauge periodically with a laser thermometer and see what happens.

dkleather

About five years ago, I had two Pertronix coils fail me within a period of two years. Luckily I kept my old coil with me in the car and didn't need a tow. Replaced the last Pertronix coil with one from NAPA and no more trouble. Pertronix coil experience of guys on this forum hasn't been good IMO. I've run the Pertronix Ignitor 1 module for 15 years though with no problem but I do carry a spare of that as well.

dlaw7822

Thanks,dkleather, now we're getting somewhere. Today it's off to NAPA for stock coil and spare module. Will carry old points and condenser too, just in case.

Bluestripe67

The one thing not mentioned above is, parades and long idling are not kind to our vintage cars. I did my last parade about 20 yrs ago. The novelity of the exposure disappeared real fast as my temp went up and my left foot went too sleep. You might want to think about this. Dennis

dlaw7822

It might very well be my last parade too unless I can get the temp under control in traffic with the air on. Always hot in Fla., might have to go the DeWitts route. Open to suggestions regarding cooling, fans, etc.