Had the distrib in 69 updated to pertronix few years back. I believe at same time modern alternator too. Not 100 % positive but I think voltage regulator was modded to work with it. Car just sits most of the time. While my daily driver ,a68 / points keeps plodding along the pertronix is prone to hard to start flooding, And frankly I'm sick of it. What is required to put points in. ?.?
Pertronix 1, 2, or 3? Some 1 and 2 versions were tricky. The 3 is in mine and love it. It has a rev limiter, full time multifire, easy to install advance weight travel brass arms to blueprint the advance system. Great for cold starts and power. I got the hot Pertronix 3 coil to match it.
I have an pertronix coil as well. I got it going took brake clean + sprayed plugs. Replaced a couple had crack ceramic . Spayed some brake cleaner into carb. Checked inside of new cap and rotor. Made sure msd boots weren't burned tried to get a fram air cleaner. No luck, but took 68 to store and it fires up soon - as soon as starter turns - it's running
I learned the other day that I have a Pentronix system and started troubleshooting it. A video that I found was a useful introduction was this: Although the title is quiet arrogant least to say, the video content is informative. Then reading up on the manual for the 1181 unit, the installation procedure is very specific: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0247/6913/4628/files/1181.pdf I could see they got many parts wrong on my car. Then there is a myriad of other things that can fail in an ignition system I for instance found out today that my distributor has completely worn out bushings and shaft.
I felt that today it should have fired right up.. But cranking + little else . No big deal cause I have pulled plugs so many times - it has become easy . One of yesterday's clean plugs became today's badly fouled ones. . Put 4 new in check gap on others. Removed anti seize on threads and drop of oil instead. Cleaned outside of carb and couldn't see daylight thru air cleaner filter so changed that. I told myself if it starts I would change oil - so after it fired I replaced oil. Put coil wire away from ram air cleaner support as it was laying across the metal . I'm gonna locate breaker plate per points and make sure I have correct screws. I can't remember what happened to OG coil And pretty sure resistance wire was changed. But my dist is like new. Rebuilt new / new gear.
My 69 had a Pertronix Igniter III and matching coil, in the original distributor, when I got it. I had a lot of similar no-start and/or weird timing readings. It was set up for a constant 12V (using the resister wire to trigger a relay with full 12V). I tried a lot of things to get it to work and could not get it right. So, I bought a FAST XRi module, PS20 coil, and a new old stock rebuilt distributor. Put that all that in the car and eliminated the relay and resistor wire, and it worked fine... until I added an MSD 6AL to it, but that's another issue I created. Anyway, the old distributor I removed was pretty worn out and had a ton of end play. In their defense, if I had only replaced the distributor, I'm sure it would have worked fine. I have read that they do not work well with a worn distributor and I would imaging the FAST set up would be the same, since they both are lobe sensing systems.
I bypassed the resistor wire on my 67GS many years ago. It would shut me down anytime. Take a half hour cool down to re start. Ran a big read wire from fuse box to coil. Perfect with hei, then pertronix 3.
I did the same as Gary on my '64 (nailhead), P3/Igniter3, replaced resister wire with 10awg to coil, been driving it over 5 years. Have HEI on my '68 BBB, and it works fine. (spent Pertronix money on other things...)
That's what I did too, when I replaced the Ignitor III and Flame Thrower III coil. That allowed me to get rig of the relay set-up, too. The FAST (ex-Crane) set up was OK, though the coil was starting to give me issues. I put the MSD 6AL back in it with a new Blaster 2 coil now, still using the FAST module to trigger the MSD box. Seems to idle and run better, but hot starts can be a challenge some times. If it keeps this up, I may put a quality set of points back in the distributor, to trigger the MSD box. I have a theory that modern coils and electronic lobe sensing modules have a difficult time with the heat they see from the mounting locations being at the front of the motor, and tucked down in like they are on the BBB and SBB motors. I was tuning on my 400 the other day and noticed when the fan clutch kicks in, that air hitting the front of the motor is HOT.
I've had the Pertronix Ignitor III and matching FT III coil in place since 2010 with no problems. Earlier models were very problematic. The resistor wire cannot be used...I bypassed mine when I put the system III parts in.
My engine compartment stays rather cool. Less damage to electrical, rubber, fuel, etc. 1. Jet hot coated headers 2. No exhaust crossover in the manifold. 3. Aluminum radiator. 4. TA water pump
I do have the aluminum radiator and the car runs 170-180F almost all the time. It's just the heat at the front of the motor... where the coil and distributor are.
