No, what the poster was saying was that his stock system was too lame to deal with 15 lbs of boost at a .045 gap without misfires.

Misfires is the key word.

 

Exactly.

I must have missed where the OP was putting in a 2.2L turbocharged engine.

 

 

All you Kettering system fanboys should get in your time machines and set the "way back" number to 1963-4 so you can tell Chevy they were wasting their time specifying K-66 TI units on their solid lifter Hi-po motors

I will contend in a state of "perfect tune" at lower RPMs you probably won't see much difference but as things degrade and they do quickly with a points type system, the breaker less systems will outperform the best points systems. The degradation is both electric and air/fuel related and I always use Pertronix on my builds. I even have a stash of USA made Echlin points which were far and above the quality of AC/Delco parts and I won't use them. Try to buy a quality points set today, they are over $20 my 69 Z/28 ate those like candy because it had a special high RPM points cam from Chevy, I even have one of those NOS and it sits in storage.

When I do my next 7500RPM build, maybe I should offer these parts up the the biggest Kettering fanboy to use to build a setup to run against my Pertronix Ignitor3 system using a 0.32 ohm Flamethrower and a factory Delco tach drive distributor. The highest HP winner takes home $500 in a back to back dyno comparison on my buddies Froude GH490 dyno (Google that unit.....not some junk Superflow crap)

Rules are stock Delco Vette tach drive, stock style direct replacement readily available aftermarket or OEM (1968-74 era) ignition coil, 13.5VDC power supplied by dyno facility. The contenders post $500 before testing which will include 2000 through 7500RPM acceleration testing using a Digilog dyno brake controller instrumented with Depac data acquisition. Highest HP takes the prize!

 

Given that the K-66 system is not a CD system nor a Magneto system, what is it? It's a Kettering system. (It derives its energy from a battery, unlike a magneto, and there's no high value/high voltage capacitor that discharges into the coil like a CD system. Hence, a Kettering inductive system.)
The main difference between a K-66 system and a points system is the replacement of durable inexpensive points with a comparatively expensive and fragile germanium transistor, and the need for a special turns ratio K-66 coil to keep from blowing up the germanium transistor the first time a plug fires.
It's basically the same physics in a points system and a K-66 system. An advance in some areas compared to points, and an antique compared to modern ignition systems.

 

If it were me, I would eliminate all defects in the ignition system and enjoy the car. My HEI from Accell is prolly from China... it was $129 back in 2000. It works GREAT today and I haven't changed a thing. AND, it works great with the cam gear on my Comp Retro roller cam. No reason to switch it.

 

Keep the StreetFire HEI and maintain it so the upper and lower bushings exhibit no play and the weight pins are lubed enough to move freely and not wear.

Their best HEI dist just has a sealed ball bearing upper and a longer sleeve bushing lower and of course a lot prettier.

Keeping the hei, you maintain a bit more accurate spark control at high rpm. Probably no need for an AL box with a proper fuel mix at idle/low rpm. You can always change to a remote coil with a different cap at any time, if desired.

I like the HEI so much I even converted a fork lift to one. Cheap and totally dead on nuts reliable.
I also got rid of my 8 track tapes in the early 70s.

 

 

When I dropped my stroker engine in, I needed an ignition system and went with all MSD; Pro Billet distributor with mech. advance, Blaster coil, 6AL box, and red Super Conductor 8.5 wires. Also, installed AC Pro Platinum plugs.

Since you already have a good distributor, I wouldn't replace it.

 

Kettering system? That's news to me! I think a K-66 is a BREAKERLESS ignition system where a Kettering HAS a set of contact points ( consider yourself schooled! On this important point ) the only reason the K-66 has a germanium transistor is because of the era (early 60's) it was engineered, the transistor was a relatively new invention and yes high power transistors and transistor switching circuit design were in their infancy. I look at ignition as more electrical than physics......but, since we are talking physics, the K-66 is far superior in coil saturation due to its greatly increased dwell time allowing the low impedance (0.32 ohm coil) to saturate much better than any Kettering system is capable of doing. Lowering coil impedance and increasing charging time will always give a hotter spark output. Now increase the primary voltage with a CDI set up and you have a "killer" combination, Oldsmobile did this with their Delco development dollars. For you hydraulic lifter Qjet Vette owners by all means stick with your points, for a solid lifter Holley 4bbl powered Vette I highly recommend a K-66, Pertronix, or MSD type setup. Let's see some videos of your Vette starting up and running I have mine on You Tube why not post yours? My wife's 70 LT-1 has great cold start/warm up manners thanks to its electronic ignition, my 72 LT-1 did not until I put a Pertronix Ignitor and low impedance coil into it. Please post your cold startup of your Vette then let us see the link. I'm not at a PC where I can cut and paste a link right now but, I will when I get the chance. I'll post start up, low speed cruise and winding out through the gears, you do the same.....unless you have something to hide

 

Couple thoughts:

1) Not a thing to hide here.

2) Have you considered switching to decaf?

3) Reading is fundamental. Did you not understand my previous post? Your K-66 ignition is one of three types. It doesn't have an oscillator and a high voltage storage capacitor, so it's not a CD ignition. It doesn't generate its own energy, so it's not a magneto. It does get its current (and therefore energy) from a battery which then goes to set up a stored magnetic field in an inductive coil/transformer which is switched off at the desired ignition point/crank angle to fire the plug. Sounds like the description of a Kettering ignition system, which the K-66 is. Just because the electrical current control is done with a semiconductor instead of a mechanical device changes nothing. The physics of the system operation is the same. Am I still schooled?

3) No videos of my car starting or idling. I'm still young enough where I pretty much only use my camera for track stuff.

4) From your avatar, IIRC, I don't see where your K-66 or LT-1 ever gets exercised more than 12 seconds at a time. Sounds like light duty for an ignition system. I put about a hundred miles on my ZL-1 at each track day. I trust the durability of my stock "high impedance" coil and HEI module (it's a custom setup of mine, using reliable silicon technology) for track days more than I would a K-66 setup.

5) You are certainly free to run any setup you wish. It's your car, your time, and your money. But before you try to lecture someone please consider the remote possibility that that person might actually have professional training and substantial experience in that area.

 

69427 Biography

Twenty four years at one of the big three automakers.
Integrated Circuit and ignition module designer.
Powertrain ESC calibration engineer.
ECM and PCM designer.
Multiple driving schools (road course, oval, and dirt track)

Schooled?