Looking to convert my 1970 LS5.
What's the most desireable unit to buy these days?
Looking for originality without the big boxes and wires.
Reliability a must.
Thx
Jim

 

I used a pertronix ignitor 2 unit in my 74 and had no problems, gives you a stock look but you must re run the coil + cable as the original is a resistance wire.

 

Well! seems like mine is the only advise you will get. I am quite amazed by how some threads get no end of replies and others just get none, I guess if the "locals" don't know you they don't care! Some guy wants to fit a brake light to his rear window and has had no end of advice. Who cares about a bl**dy brake light? Sorry to rave but I am getting a bit angry at the lack of reponse at times.

 

M&H "Breakerless SE" ... reliable ... pricey ... and AFAIK, the only conversion that uses only ONE wire at dist (like points).

 

I had bad luck with Pertronix a while back in a GM car.One day just would not fire up after shut off.I did as per the troubleshooting with hot wire jumper and nothing.
Threw my points back in and BANG..fired right up.
Jim

 

I have had my original Pertronix unit in my car now for about 6 years or so. So far, knock on wood, it has worked flawlessly. I would not hesitate to use another Pertronix unit if this one died.

 

 

This has been a common experience for many here on thnis board, including myself. Point is they are junk. Some folks have had good experiences with them, but they are just the lucky ones. You would be better off with points than you would with pertronix. People have given good reports about the Crane XR-i unit which is a very similar design that also has a built in rev limiter.

I went with a GM Tripower style ignition from D.U.I. They are a bit pricey, but worth every penny.
Check them out: http://www.performancedistributors.com/gmtripower.htm

 

it's true some threads are a lot more exciting than others, but you might want to wait a little longer than half an hour before complaining about no one responding.

 

Hello,
I installed Petronix unit last month in my 73. It has one wire that connects to the coil. I am worried about the information on the resistance wire, or the ballast resistor. I am still working on parts of the drivetrain, so I have only started it up to see that it worked.

So far it starts ok, idles well, but I havent put it on the road yet.

The installation of it was very easy. I am probably going to go back to my points, but since I bought this about 2 years ago, I figured I should at least install it for a couple of months to get my money worth out of it.

kdf

 

Now we are cooking! This is not the first time I have found responses a bit thin. I was making a statement in general not just about this thread.

 

I have installed about 35 Pertronix units with the magnet that mounts under the advance weights-not a problem with any of them.One of the units was a Pertronix II without the seperate magnet-this unit works great but you must pause at the "on" position for a second to get instant ignition-those instructions per Pertronix Techs-I also had Pertronix build a custom unit for a 1954 Blue Flame 6-they now offer it special order.

 

may I ask WHY you want to switch from points to an electronic conversion kit?
There is no performance advantage at all to it and a properly operating and correctly set up points distributor runs great and is very reliable. Overall, points are more reliable than the electronic conversion kits like the Pertonix or Breakerless SE.
Realize that with the conversion kits the ONLY thing you are doing is converting from an electro-mechanical switch (points) to an electronic switch (points). You get zero increase in spark activity for any type of performance gain.
If you have a motor with a higher rpm redline just put in hi-tension points and things are great. My '65 runs the original points distributor and with hi-tension points I've had it to 7500rpm with bo points float at all and she was still pulling strong before I backed off.


yep, this is the reliabilty of points is better overall. Many, many people have run the conversion kits with no problem and that great, but I've also seen a lot of posts with quotes just like this where the car has left them stranded because of the conversion kits failed.


If your goal is to switch away from points because you are looking for an increase in spark activity for easier starting, or some type of perforamnce gain because you have a modified engine and feel you need a hotter spark than rather than waste money on an electronic conversion kit you would be better off going with an aftermarket tach drive HEI distributor. That will at least give you a lot higher spark voltage over a points system although on your '72, if you still have the original motor or a replacement motor close to the stock original motor and it's not heavily modded the points distributor is going to work just fine - again as long as it's operating and set up correctly which if it is not a complete rebuild would bring it to a good operating condition and it can be rebuilt for less than the cost of an aftermarket tach drive HEI or even a conversion kit. I had my point distributor completely rebuilt and recurved for $100 and it runs perfect. Car starts up INSTANTLY every time whether it sat for 10 minutes or 10 months from the last time it was run, and as mentioned I've had it to at least 7500rpm (limit of the tach) with no points float.

The only real advantage to the conversion kits are that it saves you changing out points about once a year (about $10 and 5 minutes time) and adjusting dwell (2 minutes).

 

Barry the conversions are more forgiving for minor dist wear.If you have a dist that the breaker plate is a little wobbly or the points cam is a little worn it wont matter to the conversion unit.The conversion will go high RPM without added sping tension which wears on the points cam,rubbing block and upper dist bushing.I think the conversion is more precise on firing---the points rely on the points cam for their point of fire(thats mechanical).I think the conversion is a nice addition ,pretty cheap,reliable and maintenance free.I generally dont like to veer from stock setups(a big part of my customers are NCRS judged cars)but I like the conversion.Thats just my opinion,hope it doesnt step on any toes.

 

I just installed a pertronix ignitor in my sister in laws car a few days ago. The instructions are a little...light.
If you decide to use the stock coil (or any coil other than theirs) you need to do a little testing:

What type of coil can I use with the Ignitor™? How do I check my coils resistance? (12V negative ground only)

To determine if your systems coil is compatible with the Ignitor, some measurements should be taken prior to installation of the Ignitor. Caution… While performing this test, never leave the ignition switch on for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Set your voltmeter to a 15 or 20-volt scale. Attach an 18 or 20 AWG jumper wire from the negative coil terminal to an engine ground. Attach positive (red) lead of your voltmeter to the positive side of the coil, and the negative (black) lead to an engine ground. Turn the ignition switch to the run position. Now read the voltage at the positive coil terminal. Turn the ignition switch off. If the voltage measured is approximately 12 volts, no resistance wire is present. A typical resistance wire will provide 9 - 6 volts.
The next step is to determine the resistance in the primary ignition. Label the wires attached to the coil terminals and note their appropriate location. Make sure that the ignition switch is off and disconnect all wires from the coil. Adjust your meter to the lowest ? ohm scale. If you are using an analog style meter make sure to zero the needle. Measure from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. Write your measurement down.
Now the maximum system amperage can be determined, divide your voltage measurement by your coil resistance measurement. This will give you the system current or amperage.
Four cylinder engines should not exceed 4 amps. Six and eight cylinder engines should not exceed 8.5 amps. If the total amperage in your system is higher than the amount recommended for your application, you should install a ballast resistor.
Example Voltage 12
Resistance 1.5
12 / 1.5 = 8
Total amperage 8

Just a heads up, running 12 volts thru a low resistance coil (like MSD) will fry the module.

 

OK I see some are concerned about the unit failing.If you have the Pertronix I it would be a bit of a pain to put the points back in-but not real bad.If you have the Pertronix II its a cake job.But you must carry all that you took out points,cond,black wire to points and screws plus a feeler gage and tools.Make up a kit and be prepared if your worried.Some of you remove factory resistor wire I dont.I tape it and stuff it back just in case.I hook the red pertronix wire to the pink back-up lamp wire just below dist on the fuse side.Its hot when the key is on only.I have never had a problem doing it this way.If you would blow a fuse due to back up lights you can seperate conn and replace fuse.I have never had a pertronix fail.Knock on Wood

 

Something to remember if you run an ignition box, the points are used only as a triggering switch and don't carry coil current.
Other than the wear on the rubbing block they should last a loooong time.
I run a dual point Accel tach drive dist. (one set removed) with a crane HI-6 box and coil with excellent results

 

yes, fully awate the conversion kits are more forgiving to distributors that have looser tolerances in them and with the kits installed fluctuating dwell no longer is an issue because of endplay, etc.
that's the reason I qualified my statement comapring it to a correctly and properly operating and set-up distributor.
It's my earnest belief that if you compare a properly set up points distributor that is within all correct specs and tolerences to one with a conversion kit there is absolutely no advantage to the kits and overall the points are more reliable - there will be a less percentage of points failures than conversion kit failures although both numbers may be small.
Now, If you want to compare the performance of an old, negleted, out of tolerance points distributor that probably hasn't been touched or serviced and maintained in 30 years and than install a conversion kit than I can see realizing somewhat of a difference in starting, idling, cruising perforamnce simply because the conversion kit will not have dwell to be affected by the out of spec tolerances inside the unit but at the same time I'd say that you would easily see the identicle improvement by rebuilding the distributor and staying with points as you would have seen with the conversion kit installation and chances are the distributor rebuild would cost less than the conversion kit does.

Hey, it's not my money nor my car so the original poster is free to do whatever makes him happy, but whenever I see posts about switching from points to a conversion kits I feel the need to ask the reason why. Many times when I have it comes out that the person considering the swap is doing it for either the wrong reasons or because they were under the assumption that it was going to make a huge, significant performance difference to their car which it's not going to do.
You aren't stepping on my toes any by disagreeing at all as i realize there are many points of view and personal preferences regarding this topic. I just like to point out the other side of things so the original poster can make a better, more informed decision.
regardless of what he decides, the discussion showing both sides of peoples opinions on this allows others reading the thread to gain info also.

 

Despite the failure issues of some systems,(such as Pertronix that I had),I can tell you that the car ran much better.Idled better and a noticeable acceleration as compared to points.
The fact that the magnetic pickup clearance is 'vertical' ,this helps if you have any wear and sideplay with your distributor shaft..which would throw dwell off and consequently timing.This quite evident on a scope as you see the dwell jump around.It's easier to shim the vertical clearance of your distributor than take it apart and rebush it to rid the sideplay.
Sure points are efficient and work fine.
I can't go against GM for that,but also appreciated that GM used electronic transistor ignition in their late 60,early 70's muscle.
Brgds
J

 

Barry I agree a point setup thats in good working order is hard to beat.Does anyone have any actual tests results? I would be interested to look over a test that compared points to the bare bones pointless setup in the $120 range.I dont think it would be fair to compare with the elaborate systems.Pertronix boasts that the Pertronix II has 3 times more available energy than the points system.I'm not sure what that means exactly for the performance of the engine.I called to ask them if they could prove that by way of a test but couldnt get through.I'll try later and see if I can find some comparisons that we can look at.