Looking into building the ignition system in one of my cars back to stock looking. 1970 Chrysler 300 with an old convertion to electronic distributor and orange ecu. Will a Pertronix Ignitor 2 bolt right into that distributor? And can I reuse the low resistance coil from FBO (stock looking).

I always use a reman. points dist. with the Pertronix points conversion and 40,000 volt flamethrower coil.

Then add the FBO mech. advance limiter plate.

IIRC, pertronix does have a conversion for electronic dist.

main thing it needs to fit in place of the reluctor wheel.

on a points dist the plastic wheel with green tape/magnets fit over the points rubbing block.

can you get a points dist from auto parts store over there?

runs about 30-40 $ here from autozone

the P II recommended coil is .6 ohms so I doubt the FBO one you have is less that so you should be OK there. I went to the FBO site & couldn't find their flamethrower coils for some reason. As scratchn said you need a point dist with tight bushings for minimal shaft runout. You might contact "joesixpack" on here for a pair of bushings and the bottom one goes in flush and the top one is 1.163" down from a straightedge across the dist rim (a bit above flush). Or you might be able to order a rebuilt point dist (if needed).

Pertronix does have a conversion kit for the Mopar ELECTRONIC distibutors...I'll post the PN# when I can

Mike

Thanks all! Great news Dayclona. Hope you find the part number:)
Might look into new bushings, Robert. What is acceptable runout (could not find a better word) for the distributor shaft at the rotor?
Lars

There's no one part number for the Pertronix kit, there are several for the Mopar electronic distributors; find your distributor part number and enter it in their search engine:

http://www.pertronix.com/support/ignitor-kit/

That is an excellent/common sense/logical question & actually I ain't sure what an acceptable limit would be.

Lars,


2 kits available for the Electronic Mopar distributor,

Ignitor I pn# CH-181
only 2 Pertronix coils available for this application PN# 40001 (chrome coil case, oil filled) and PN# 40011 (black coil case, oil filled) these are 53 MA 1.5 OHM coils

Ignitor II PN# 9CH-181
3 coils available for this kit, PN# 45001 (chrome, oil filled) and PN# 45011 (black case, oil filled) and PN# 45111 (black case Epoxy filled) all these coil are 59 MA 0.6 OHM


Ignitior I is the basic Hallcell kit 40K volt with no protection perimeters against voltage overload/burnout

Ignitor II is an upgraded kit 45K volt, with Hallcell/module shutdown protection against overload/burnout

A few things if you run a Pertronix, Copper terminal dist cap only, use the correct coil rating for the system chosen, eliminate the ballast resistor's function, if you desire that the ballast resistor stay for appearance/ OEM correctness, gut the resistor coil from the back of the ballast resistor's porcelain body and solder in place an INSULATED #10 gauge copper wire to maintain the circuit...
If you chose the Ignitior I, don't leave the ignition key in the run position for more than 20-30 seconds without the engine running as you will damage/destroy the Hallcell module
Don't run soild core spark plug wires, don't remove the green tape from the magnetic pick up

Mike

Or...

Procure a tan DC...

Hide the box(Properly grounded)...

And fuggitaboutit...


Been running an OEM electronic for many years...

No issues...

We have had more petronix failures on Customers cars than OEM. Additionally replacement parts are available at any parts store.

Hmmmm, I tend to find it just the opposite, installing Pertronix kits and dist's in customers car to rid them of OEM component failures/unreliability, esp OEM electronic systems, I've yet to have a Pertronix system/component fail on my personal toys/DD's or customer's vehicles, and I've been installing Pertronix systems since the late 80's in cars, trucks, boats, Industrial equipment like fork lifts, generators, etc

Can't tell you how many Mopar and Ford, and assorted other OEM point and Electronic/Lean Burn systems along with aftermarket MSD, Accel, etc hit the trash can

Yep, if nothing else compare the number of and complexity of the OEM components compared to the Pertronix.

I don't see the complexity of a reluctor, a pick-up coil, and an ECU...


And like was mentioned, parts available anywhere if'n you get in trouble...


Zero problems here in 20 years, and 20,000+ miles...

Funny thing regarding "parts availability", I have ZERO issues getting Pertronix kits or components in my neck of the woods, they're usually in stock sitting on the shelf at most Auto Zone, Advance Auto and Napa stores

I recently tried to locate/purchase a ECU Mopar unit for a 72 Cuda, never mind the fact no one had one, no one knew what an ECU was, nor able to locate it in their computer parts system!...

Yet a Petronix kit was available a few towns over! for an electronic OEM Mopar dist. conversion...guess what I chose?

It's the luck of the draw Mike...


I can walk to a local auto parts store that has Mopar EI components...



Chrysler OEM electronic ignition powered millions of vehicles...


Mine adds one more...


I too have heard beaucoup horror stories about Pertronix...

Have no interest, personally...

I figured my comment would stir the pot

I have run the Mopar systems since about 1977 and can't ever remember a failure on my own cars. We have seen a few on customers cars and they were always traced to poor connections / bad grounds. The GM HEI's weak link has been the module in which were have several fail for no apparent reason. Ford's, zero failures. Petronix about 10 or so. The availability of replacement Petronix units at parts stores in Omaha is ZERO to my knowledge including the more popular GM units. But I have no problem obtaining parts for the OEM systems. The above data is from owning a restoration shop in Omaha for the last 20 or so years.
Maybe one lives in an area where the population density allows the corporate bean counters to keep the petronix units in stock. not so here. And what if one travels 150 miles away and the petronix craps out ??? better call a HOOK,
In closing the petronix units are OK IMO but if given a choice, I'll stand by my opinion and go OEM.

Wow! Lots of comments coming here. The car I'm working on is a matching # 300 Hurst that was converted to electronic ignition back in the day. The coil went south and I replaced the system with one from FBO that I had on the shelf and the car ran noticably better before the new ecu went dead after a few weeks. I put the orange ecu back in and it works good but this car should not have the ecu and extra wires under the hood so that's why I ask. To be correct I should get a stock points distributor but I was thinking for now the electronic dist looks correct enough and I don't care for the points. Ofcours if the Pertronics have a habit of failing I might rethink this.
So the Pertronic really should not use a ballast resistor? If the coil used is a 9 volt unit wouldn't that coil run hot? What happens if ran through a ballast? A friend had issues with a Pertronic - car would quit when hot - he ran a ballast.

Think about how parts stores decide what to have on the shelf.

Parts that sell, the more they sell the more likely it is to be stocked.

You find Petronix stuff easy to locate, why?

You find stock EI stuff hard to find, why?