Pertronix Ignitor installation question

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Sam M. Shiver
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Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#1 Post by Sam M. Shiver »

Installation says to remove all wires on the negative coil terminal except the black wire from the Ignitor module. There was a black wire on the negative terminal that I removed.
What is that wire and what happens if I leave it disconnected? It runs behind the cooling shroud in the same loom as the ignition wire which goes to the positive coil terminal.
Sam Shiver
1964 Champagne Yellow 356C coupe
Marshall, North Carolina

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Wes Bender
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#2 Post by Wes Bender »

If this is your "C", that is the sensor wire for the tach. Go ahead and leave it disconnected and if your tach doesn't work, you'll know that is needs to be connected. Do you have a wiring diagram for your car?
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

Sam M. Shiver
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#3 Post by Sam M. Shiver »

Many thanks! As soon as I solve my carb issue that is keeping the engine from running, I'll check it out...
I have a wiring diagram for a B, but it doesn't show how the tach is hooked up. Matter of fact, all my literature only goes as far as the B T6.
Sam Shiver
1964 Champagne Yellow 356C coupe
Marshall, North Carolina

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Doug McDonnell
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#4 Post by Doug McDonnell »

Time to get the C supplement from Charlie White's daughter.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.

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David Jones
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#5 Post by David Jones »

Sam, I hope your car has been converted to 12 volts because if it is 6 volts as soon as the battery is a little weak or it gets really cold you may not get any spark on start up. I would rather run the stock system than a 6 volt Pertronix.
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
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Sam M. Shiver
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#6 Post by Sam M. Shiver »

Thanks Doug - I didn't realize she was carrying on Der White's good work. I'll do that today.
Dave, I'm still running 6 volts. Hope to dodge the bullet - I'll keep an eye on the battery, and as for the cold, they use a combination of salt and nuclear waste on the roads here in western NC in winter at the first hint of ice or snow. She's a garage queen until springtime.
Sam Shiver
1964 Champagne Yellow 356C coupe
Marshall, North Carolina

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David Jones
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#7 Post by David Jones »

Sam, for what it is worth I bought one of these for my cabriolet. Not that I needed it just that I am a sucker for new technology but it works as well as anything I have tried so far and it is simple to install and cheaper than a Pertronix. It has the added advantage that upon removal you can revert to stock ignition in less than 5 minutes. It is also small and strapped to the side of the coil is barely noticeable. You can see the size in this picture when I first installed it, and yes that is a Permatune box above it. As I said I like to experiment.
http://gammatronixltd.com/epages/bae94c ... ER%206v%22
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If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
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Dave Wildrick
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#8 Post by Dave Wildrick »

David Jones wrote:Sam, for what it is worth I bought one of these for my cabriolet. Not that I needed it just that I am a sucker for new technology but it works as well as anything I have tried so far and it is simple to install and cheaper than a Pertronix. It has the added advantage that upon removal you can revert to stock ignition in less than 5 minutes. It is also small and strapped to the side of the coil is barely noticeable. You can see the size in this picture when I first installed it, and yes that is a Permatune box above it. As I said I like to experiment.
http://gammatronixltd.com/epages/bae94c ... ER%206v%22
David,
This appears to be a reincarnation of the Pazon Energy Booster II from New Zealand, which was sold out a few years ago and appears to be unavailable. See: http://www.pazon.com/ignition-system/en ... earth.html

However, the gammatronix is cheaper.

I had 6V Pertronix units fail on me in both of my C coupes--takes 3 to 5 years for them to quit.
I considered the Pazon unit, but was swayed by the copy on the 123 Ignition and opted for that instead.
Dave Wildrick
Houston, TX
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64C coupe
65C coupe

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David Jones
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#9 Post by David Jones »

Dave, I went with the Gammatronix because it was cheap and although the 123 looks excellent it does not appear to offer enough of an advantage to overcome my cheapskate tendency. I have so far found that the 6 volt Permatune boxes I bought back when they were only $100 pre-abused and then the 6 volt Crane cams for same price new with optical trigger unit which is no longer available but was ultra reliable. I still prefer an ignition system that allows me the option of quickly returning to a stock system in the hopefully unlikely event of failure, without dismantling the distributor to do so hence my final choice of the Gamma and Permatune.
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
Cymru am byth
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Sam M. Shiver
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#10 Post by Sam M. Shiver »

David, how do you like the Gammatronix? Since I've installed the Pertronix, I'll stick with it for now and hope to surpass the 3-5 year failure point.
Sam Shiver
1964 Champagne Yellow 356C coupe
Marshall, North Carolina

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David Jones
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#11 Post by David Jones »

Sam, the Gamma was easy to install and so far has not shown any downside to it's use. It is the primary ignition on my 59 cabriolet that also has an EMPI 009 "high performance distributor" this is a distributor that used to be sold by CIP 1 VW with 40 degrees of advance for about $50 which I bought as a cheap spare but after modifying it to have only 30 degrees of total advance and trying it out in my cabriolet I just left it in with the gamma and so far I see nor discernible difference between it or stock or Permatune. Nothing changed enough for me to say definitively that any one of them is better except for the fact that the only one that needs a capacitor is the stock system and the points never pit with the others, but the cam rubbing block wears as with any points system.
If I had known I would live this long I would have pushed the envelope a little harder.
Cymru am byth
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Wes Bender
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#12 Post by Wes Bender »

Plus ONE on David's advice. The 6 volt Crane Cams unit was great, but unfortunately no longer available. The 12 volt Pertronix unit seems to be reliable (Per others. I have no experience with it.) The 6 volt Pertronix has components that are just too critical on voltage, resulting in two possible failure modes. Unless everything is working perfectly, the starter can drag the system voltage down below that required to fire the Pertronix. At the other end of the spectrum, the Pertronix people informed me that the reason one of my failed 6 volt units died was excessive voltage. My system was making about 7.8 volts at speed and I guess that was more than the Pertronix would take for extended periods.

On the other hand, if you are fortunate enough to have a 6 volt Pertronix whose components are at the better end of the spectrum and your car's electrical system is functioning properly, your 6 volt unit may last a long time and start the car reliably. The first symptom I got of the potential "excessive voltage" failure was the electronic tach starting to fluctuate once in a while at highway speeds. The replacement Pertronix unit they sent me would only fire the plugs just as I released the starter key, indicating the voltage was too low.

For the record I'm currently in Kettering's camp, i.e. standard points and condenser, although I could be convinced to try one of the other electronic systems.
Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints.....

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Dave Wildrick
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Re: Pertronix Ignitor installation question

#13 Post by Dave Wildrick »

David Jones wrote: I still prefer an ignition system that allows me the option of quickly returning to a stock system in the hopefully unlikely event of failure, without dismantling the distributor to do so hence my final choice of the Gamma and Permatune.
I still have some 050 Brazilian distributors. So, I just carry one of those, already timed to the car, in case I need to swap for a dead 123. I bought some 050s from a Bosch parts distributor in Oklahoma City in about 2001, when you could get them for $60.
Dave Wildrick
Houston, TX
#10230
64C coupe
65C coupe

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