I'm looking to upgrade to Electronic Ignition in my 1970 Barracuda. It's a base 318 car so nothing fancy. Do people recommend the Pertronix conversion kit or should I go with the Mopar Performance set up?

I have had both in my roadrunner. The Pertroniox is way better at least for a street driven car that you constant reliabilty.

I replaced the points on my 65 Fury Wagon with a Pertonix ignitor kit. Very simple install. Pull the points and condensor,pop in the pickup plate and collar,gap them with the little plastic piece they provide. Install the the rotor provided. Run the Black Wire to - on the coil and red to + on the coil. Reinstall the distributor cap and your done.Also a good idea to replace the coil with a higher output one such as a Flamethrower.I didnt replace the coil on my Fury and it still runs ok,but has a tendency to occasionally fuel foul the plugs since the conversion.

Good idea to always carry the points and condensor in the glovebox to convert it back over in case the ignitor fails and leaves you stranded as Pertronix arent normally available over the counter at most parts stores.

The Mopar Performance kit,while more expensive and requiring more wiring,is probably a better choice,IMO.

You have to install an electronic distibutor,the wiring harness and control box. All these parts are available over the counter at parts stores,if the parts in the kit should fail on a road trip.

Pertronix,....no headaches, if you follow the instructions, best to delete the ballast resistor from the system, and DO PURCHASE their Flamethrower coil, (black or chrome avl, looks stock) as it has a different ohm rating to work with their Hallcell trigger, if you can install point(s) and tune a car, you can install a Pertronix,....I would recommend you purchase a rebuilt point distributor, so your install/conversion starts with a "new" dist,.....if you decide to eliminate the ballast(smart move) you should just buy a double ended Stak-on electrical blade connector to tie the 2 ballast connectors together,.....recheck your timing, as the Pertronix install will bump it up a little, if you perform it in the car with out changing the dist current timing position, and if your timing is already highly advanced, and your car may not start, and you'll be pulling your hair out wondering why,......the Mopar Performance ignition set up is just a redundant MESS, that actually impeeds your engines full potential, the system is designed to modulate the spark, basicaly retarding the ignition,.....the first install I ever performed of a Pertronix, I noticed instantly quicker ignition while cranking, more advance timing out of the same dist, no more carbon arching in the caps, no high rpm ignition break up.......until somethimg better comes along, I wouldn't use anything else IMHO

I've used both with good success. Petronix is cheaper and looks stock. It's also real easy to put the points set up back in if it goes belly up on a road trip (never happened, but better safe than sorry). With the MP set up, I always carried a spare ECU for the same reason (did I mention I hate to get stranded? ).

the mp conversion does get you a new distributor, where as how many miles does you distributor has on it..ever check how much wear there is in the bushing in the shaft?

mp does have a chrome box that is available..since most people believe that the orange box retards the timing in higher rpm..

also the new mp distributor has a faster advance curve for additional performance...and the vacuum advance can be adjusted.


there is another thread on here about HEI ready to run distributors that require only two wires to hook up and run.

I put the MP type kit (had a very nice distributor & a stock module already, so I bought the $20 wiring harness), and as long as you're comfortable cutting one connector off your stock harness, and crimping/soldering 2 connectors, and drilling 2 holes to mount the box, its an easy install. It took me LESS than an hour, and if you use an aftermarket coil, you don't need the ballast resistor with a 4-pin module. It certainly ran better than the points ignition ever did.

Removing/re-installing distributors in at least a small block is a 5 min job. I turn the crank over to TDC, take a picture of the relative location of the vacuum can and rotor position, and then I just use the same cap and rotor. Mine fired right up.

I did the conversion on my Dart /6. I dont wanna screw around with points based on how tight the Dizzy is against the fenderwell.

I didnt use a MP kit I did it piece by piece and it only ran me about $100 in parts. Most parts are readily available at a parts house of your choice.

$40 for the Electronic Dizzy
$20 For the Harness
$2.99 For the Ballast
$30 for the Ignition Control Box

Of course if You can find a junker somewhere,then the parts may be even less.I recently pulled a complete electronic igniton out of an 80 Dodge truck. The guy told me to grab all I want off of it before it went to the crusher. But then again, buying new gives you a warranty.