Anyone with Pertronix Igniter 2?

Ok guys I think the time has come to upgrade the ignition to the Pertronix Igniter II.

Other than being more reliable than having points, is there a performance increase from stock?

Do you recomend installing the FlameThrower coil also?

When installing the Flamethrower coil, are there any modifications that will have to be done or does it just replace the stock coil?

I remember reading about some resister that has to be removed?

Thanks for the info.

I upgraded to Petronix in my 73 Convert, but it is a six banger, 250 CID. I did the Flamethrower Coil too. The only things I remember removing were the points and condensor. Nothing about a resistor.

I've read on another forum that you can use the stock coil, but you loose some of the performance.

The car has idled and ran better with the Petronix than any time that I have owned it since 1974. Good Luck!

I upgraded to Petronix in my 73 Convert, but it is a six banger, 250 CID. I did the Flamethrower Coil too. The only things I remember removing were the points and condensor. Nothing about a reistor.

I've read on another forum that you can use the stock coil, but you loose some of the performance.

The car has idled and ran better with the Petronix than any time that I have owned it since 1974. Good Luck!

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Thanks for the response!

I installed one in my sons 72 351c no problem with it.

I installed one in my sons 72 351c no problem with it.

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You will burn up the stock coil after a while with the Petronix. Ask me how I know.

I installed one in my sons 72 351c no problem with it.

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You will burn up the stock coil after a while with the Petronix. Ask me how I know.

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Did you replace it with a Pertonix or another stock unit?

What coil did you install ??????????????????? We want to know ..

i'm running a pertronix II with a stock coil. Its a cheap made in china yellow top coil, knock on wood I've gotten 4 years out of it so far.

So i've run points, P1 and a P2.

with my ignition system in good shape i never saw a difference in performance.

now when i ran a high power coil there was a little more power over stock.

Stock plugs, stock gap, stock wires, stock distributor, and the points and p1 and p2 all ran the same.

but what is the difference?

The problem with points will always be they need adjustment, the more cheaply made the points are the more it will drift.

points can't take a high powered coil either, that said its harder to maintain the ignition at peak performance for a long period of time.

A high powered coil will also deteriorate the resistance wire, the plugs, the ignition wires, rotor and cap faster.

installing an electronic ignition removes drifting points out of the Equation as a maintenance issue.

since the electronic ignition switches the coil firing from analog to digital you can run a higher powered coil if you feel your spark isn't hot enough. With points the higher voltage when the contacts come together just wears the switch out faster.

installing a P2 gives you the benefit of adaptive dwell which adjusts spark timing at high rpms to try and prevent misfires, with points at high rpms the points can skip and cause engine misfires. it also autosenses startup and its suppose to make cold starts easier.

personally i never saw a performance difference from a p1 to a p2 as far as cold starts. nor did i have an issue with my points skipping however i don't drive around at 5000rpms 99.9% of the time.

I think the p1 is more reliable then a p2 the p1 is older technology while the p2 uses a microchip inside its much easier to damage a p2 then a p1. of course either a p1 or a p2 could die out of the blue and leave yo stranded so everyone carries a set of points in the trunk just in case.

I've run a p2 for the last 3 years continuously and pretty much i forgot it was there.

the year before that i ran points and a p1 unit, i had a magnetic sleeve go bad on the p1, and used the points for like 9 months straight, and i was constantly having to make adjustments to the points after long trips, it would just drift all over the place.

there are other electronic ignition systems, people love Malory or Accell systems.

I've been happy with the p2 so far.

I have a new Pertronix Ignitor II but I got the complete billet Distribuator. The old Dist. was tired and worn out, so the little extra money was well spent on a complete unit. I also have a 45,000 volt epoxy filled Pertronix coil but haven't installed it yet. I also need to research the resistor wire issue so I can be sure a full 12 volts is hitting the new coil.

Thanks for the info guys.

This morning I'm going to pick up the Igniter II and try it with the stock coil and see how that goes.

Thanks for the info guys.

This morning I'm going to pick up the Igniter II and try it with the stock coil and see how that goes.

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I went with the Pertronix coil. Actually I know have the Crane unit in my Mach1. They are out of business now :-(

Rex

Finally installed our new coil over the weekend! No wiring needed. I assume that the previous owner already bypassed the resistor wire. It was totally plug and play for me! I noticed easier starting but I haven't had it on the road yet to see any performance gains.

Finally installed our new coil over the weekend! No wiring needed. I assume that the previous owner already bypassed the resistor wire. It was totally plug and play for me! I noticed easier starting but I haven't had it on the road yet to see any performance gains.

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I installed my Pertronix III and the 45k Flamethrower Coil last weekend. I tried to located any type of resistor wire but couldn't find one inline. Is there a specific place I can look for it? 73 Mach 1

the resistor wire is buried behind the dash its a pink wire taped into the main harness.

the easiest is run a bypass.

I have never used an Ignitor in my '72, as it's always been very happy with points. I installed a II in my other car, a '65, because for some reason it hated points. (They would only last three or for months.)

With the II, my '65 runs better than it ever did, even with new points. I use a stock-type coil, but I am able to do so because I left the resister wire intact, so it only has 5A going through it.

That being said, if you want to run a stock -type coil and leave your resister wire unmolested, you MUST splice into the ignition circuit before the resister wire for a 12v power source to the Ignitor unit (the red wire). The Ignitor comes with some very basic schematics that illustrate this. A stock coil will not last very long with 10A going through it, and the Ignitor will not work for very long (if at all) with a 7v power source.

I don't think there is anything really special about the Flamethrower coil. If you want to bypass the resister wire, I think any coil rated for 12v will work just as well.

Well then it looks like I will be getting with my wiring diagram to find where i need to run the ignition wires. The idea with everything I do to my car is that I can easily return it to factory (pretty damn close to concours) condition with little to no hassle.

The car starts and runs fine with the current set up minus some fuel feed issues, but thats another story. I will probably try and test the voltage my ignition is providing to the coil. I should be able to put a voltmeter off the ignition post to ground and see what it is providing right? Assuming it is not ~12v then I will begin some type of alternate scheme. Here's to hoping all is fine.

To get an accurate reading off the coil positive post, check it with the ignition on but the car not running, and with the negative side grounded. This is because any time the points are open, you will always read 12v because the circuit is incomplete (Kirchoff's law). When the engine is running, the voltage will fluctuate so fast between 14v (points open) and 7v (points closed) that an accurate reading is impossible without an oscilloscope.

The best way is to leave the stock resistance wire alone, leave it going to the + side of the coil unmolested.

Connect the negative igniter to the - neg side of the coil, then run a separate ignition key 12 volt power tap to the + red wire of the igniter. You will have a common ground in the engine block.

1 problem if you have a factory tach in the dash, if you bypass the pink resistance wire in the dash and place a tap comming out of the ignition switch, the tach will not receive signal and won't function.

I just use the original resistance wire with no bypass and it has worked the last 5 years

That's how I wired in mine. I have a Rally-Pac tach, and didn't feel like doubling the current through it. I've been told it would still work, but they're way too expensive to burn up prematurely because I was too lazy to run a new wire.