Tired with my engine...

[73pony]

Here is a good set of instructions with photos.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/engine/173-0310-pertronix-ignitor-ignition/

Also see pic below. The bare copper wire must be there.

 

[Don C]

Yes, the case must be grounded. The black wire on the module connects to the negative side of the coil and provides the same close/open (ground/open) function the points did, to charge and discharge (fire) the coil.

 

[Vinnie]

Clear as crystal now. Somebody must have ripped that out before I bought it. I gotta fix me a little cable now. I wonder if this causes the problems or part of it... Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[Don C]

That's undoubtedly the cause of your problems. You have to use very flexible wire for that, with no insulation. Normal stranded wire is too stiff and will interfere with movement of the breaker plate. The wire used for multimeter leads will work if it's a heavy enough gauge, just strip the insulation off. The wire shown in Jason's photo is correct and is comprised of 4 or 5 strands of wire, with each of those strands comprised of many strands of very fine wire.

 

[Vinnie]

ok, UPDATE!

I bought stuff and made myself a wire:

Then I installed the wire:

And then I started my car:

[video=youtube]


I was SOOOO pleased It fired on the first attempt! I cannot believe that I've had rough to no starts because some previous owner had that little wire ripped out.

Also I felt the engine was shaking about less (the whole car actually) and running a bit smoother.

Thanks so much for pointing me in the direction of that little wire guys!

Now I hope it will fire the first time in the future as well ;-)

PS: What do you guys think of the sound my car makes? Normal? Nothing funny?

 

[Stanglover]

Vinnie, I only just took notice of this. The car does sound nice and steady.

I see you are using a Pertronix Ignitor II. Do you also have the Flamethrower II coil to go with it?? A Pertronix tech informed me that you will not get the best out of your ignitor II if you don't use a matched coil. I had a III coil on mine and it definitely ran better when I switched to a II.

+1 on the ground wire. It's critical and a good job making one.

This where I'm no expert, but unless your distributor is set up 1 tooth off on the cam gear, (which means nothing as long as the cap is matched to it) your vacuum can is pointing to the retard side. How much total mechanical advance are you getting and how much vacuum advance. Is your car an auto trans or manual. Where is your initial timing set? I say all this because this plagued me for years, not getting optimal timing. Only this year with the help of our friends here, was I able to tackle and learn the distributor curving thing for these cars. Perhaps this has already been gone over in great detail, if so I'm wasting my time typing all this!!

Here is were I'm set at on my '71 351 C 4 V manual. 20 deg. crank ( L10 slot, which I had to weld up and file to dimension) + 14 deg. initial + 3-4 deg. vacuum advance connected to the timed port on a Holley 670. It runs really strong at this, but I could slow the advance down a tad with a spring adjustment to be done later.

Many will say not to use the timed port, but I don't want vacuum advance while at idle with 14 deg. dialed in.

Please accept my apologies if I'm re-hashing this information.

 

[Vinnie]

I do have the Flamethrower II to match. The timing I still have to check so I can't answer your questions about that, sorry.

 

[Don C]

Good job on the wire Vinnie. Looks as good as the originals, better actually, with the solder. What did you use? I'm guessing test lead wire.

 

[Vinnie]

Thanks Don It's actually copper wire that can be used to soak up solder, it's very fine and flexible.

 

[73pony]

Very nice job on the wire. And car sounds fantastic.

 

[Don C]

Thanks Don It's actually copper wire that can be used to soak up solder, it's very fine and flexible.

Nice, I have some of that in a flat braid, never thought about using it. I have a spool of test lead wire that comes in handy.

 

[Stanglover]

I do have the Flamethrower II to match. The timing I still have to check so I can't answer your questions about that, sorry.

That's good that you have the matching coil. Apparently most are not aware of this need.

Timing is something that I am learning and playing with. What I did find to my cost was that most reman. dizzy's are way off on crank advance. The one I bought ( Motorcraft from Cardone) came with a generic L15 slot or 30Deg. This may be because the factory initial timing was only 6 deg according to my manual. Again, I'm working with a manual trans and it could well be different for an auto, but I had pinging like you wouldn't believe. Set at 14 with 20 + 3-4 it is smooth and strong. A good timing light is a must if you don't have one.

Good luck with it.

Geoff.

 

[Vinnie]

Went back yesterday to give it another go and guess what? It fired on the first attempt again! Now that's what is making my Christmas very merry this year!

 

[Vinnie]

... and today I took the car for a spin and I can confirm that it never started and ran as good as it does now! I had no problem starting cold or hot, after a short or longer break. The engine idled better than ever before.

Me happy

 

[will e]

That's great Vinnie, it's so much fun when you can take it out and it just 'works'.