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Posted by: ChrisReale Apr 9 2003, 06:15 PM

I can get one tommorow. My points so far have worked fine, no adjustments. I have reda of shoddy quality. Is it worth my time/money to get a pertronix?

Posted by: rdauenhauer Apr 9 2003, 06:35 PM

My opinion..Yes. I made this upgrade a couple of yrs ago.
Seat o Pants = No differance, But I truly havent had to think about the distributor since. Thats worth somthin.

Posted by: MarkV Apr 9 2003, 07:04 PM

I did the switch a few months ago. I hate screwing w/ points. My dwell was changing constantly. The cost is nominal & worthwhile for me.

You might check into the LED type they have a better reputation for reliability.

Posted by: Rouser Apr 9 2003, 07:25 PM

Yes. Once you install it properly, you don't think about it anymore.

No condensor to short, no pitting points to wear out or replace, and no hanging over the engine with a feeler gauge to get the gap and dwell "just right."

Go for it ...

Posted by: Bleyseng Apr 9 2003, 07:38 PM

Yeah, points no more but I have gone thru 3 of them this year. I have points in there now cuz it is getting expensive.
Geoff

Posted by: Racer Chris Apr 9 2003, 08:03 PM

I really like the elimination of the points, however, all the Pertronix units I have installed in the past had interference issues.
The interference was causing them to burn out until I realized that minor clearancing of the distributor rotor was needed. By shaving down the part of the rotor which is closest to the body of the Pertronix I eliminated the problem.
At first, when installing the unit I didn't notice any interference, but the distributor cap was pushing the Pertronix in against the rotor when it was clipped onto the distributor. By turning down the rotor where it came in close proximity to the black part which contains the electronics, I was able to move it inward. That way the distributor cap no longer pushed in on it and the rotor didn't wear through the potting compound.
Since learning this I have had the same unit in operation in my race car for many years.

Oh yeah, I may have clearanced the distributor cap as well.

Posted by: Doug Leggins Apr 9 2003, 08:35 PM

YES. I installed one about 2 years ago. No Problems at all so far. A great $60.00 upgrade!

Posted by: MarkV Apr 9 2003, 08:55 PM

Posted by: Bruce Allert Apr 9 2003, 09:14 PM

Mine have been in for 3 months now and I like 'em. Seemed to smooth it out and.....
MORE POWER (grahhh-grahhh-grahhh) hmmm, did that sound like Tim the tool man?

bruce

Posted by: TimT Apr 9 2003, 09:22 PM

Another really reliable point alternative is the crane xr-700

How reliable? I installed a system in my 911 in the mid '80s and it ran rock solid. when I converted my 911 to crank fire (about 2 yrs ago) I sold my old dist and igniton to a friend of mine.. its still going strong.

Ive heard rumours of pertronix failure... thats why alway have a set of points in the glove box (I still have the points on my 911 glove box and its been crank fired for 2 years LOL)

Posted by: airsix Apr 9 2003, 10:09 PM

Get the Crane/Alison kit. It's easy to install and solid. Because it's optical and uses a shutter wheel you get very consistent timing even with a not-so-tight dizzy. Magnetic pickup kits like the Pertonix don't deal with wobbly dizzys as well.

If the Crane/Alison kit is to expensive for your taste and you want to be a real DIY-er you could buy just the shutter-wheel kit and optical pickup without the CD box. Then add an igntion module from the junk yard, using it to power your existing coil. All done for about $50. (I've done this)


-Ben M.

Posted by: Brad Roberts Apr 9 2003, 10:20 PM

Crane/Allison (second vote)

I use both. The wife has put 18k miles on her Pertronix over the last year.

Foley, which Dizzy did you have to trim the rotor. I have had to do this in the past but figured out I was buying the wrong one. I have'nt had to trim one in several years. Now that I think about it.. I only had to trim the aftermarket rotors.

B

Posted by: Bleyseng Apr 9 2003, 11:37 PM

They stopped working, why I don't know

Posted by: Brad Roberts Apr 10 2003, 01:01 AM

This is what I see the most: People install them and this wire rubs until it grounds out.

B

Posted by: Racer Chris Apr 10 2003, 06:14 AM

I haven't had a 914 with stock EFI in many years, so it would only be in the 009 that I had problems in the recent past. I just went out and looked in the distributor of my street car. It is an 009 with the Pertronix, but I found no evidence of clearancing on either the cap or rotor. That leads me to believe it only affects some aftermarket products, not all, maybe some of the cap and rotor sets are a thicker molding than others.
I have never had a wire rub through, but I did hook one up backwards once a long time ago. Like someone's sig says, I let all the magic smoke out.