Ron,
After your reply I started going over the theory behind ignition points, in
my head. Then I realized that our cars use a ballast resistor to cut the
12v power down after the engine starts. To like 6v or so. And the primary
reason for that is so as not to overload the coil and the ignition points.
But... with a Pertronix there are no ignition points to worry about
burning, so the Pertronix should be able to handle whatever voltage you
throw at it.
So the question I have for you Pertronix users out there is as follows:
When you installed your Pertronix, did you install a non-ballast coil and
bypass your ballast resistor? That should effectively double the spark
going to the spark plugs. The setups I've seen keep the ballast resistor
and stock ballast coil.
I may try doing so this weekend and test the results. I suppose I should also
widen the spark plug gaps to allow for the higher voltage to jump the gap.
Fred - So.SF
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Plugs and their gaps
Author: Ronnie Day <ronday@home.com>
Date: 4/6/2001 12:46 PM
>I have found big performance gains from properly adjusted ignition points
>versus the breakerless ignition. And this is on three different roadster
>engines with three different Pertronix breakerless setups. If anyone has a
>way to set dwell on the Pertronix to get a better spark then I'd like to
>hear it. Pertronix setups just seem to provide anemic power.
Interesting that I wasn't even thinking about the Pertronix when I wrote
my previous post, rather just adapting one of the later Nissan units.
These also have bigger caps that tend to resist cracking and carbon
tracking better, particularly if you use OEM or the quality parts from
NAPA . Course the top of the line system would probably be the
Electromotive crankfire setup that does away completely with gears,
shafts and the distributor itself. Gross overkill for a street car and
not exactly original. ;>)
Bottom line, whatever you do, make sure that everything is right from a
mechanical and electrical standpoint. Too often folks tend to band aid
symptoms rather than find and resolve the root cause of a problem.
FWIW, Ron
Ronnie Day
ronday@home.com
Dallas/Ft. Worth
'71 510 2-dr (Prepared Class Autocrosser)
'73 510 2-dr (Street Toy)
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