|
Ignition
Upgrades
for Early Fords
I'll never
forget my introduction to "points" style distributors. I had only owned
my classic mustang for a few days, and had been using it as a daily driver.
While sitting in stop and go traffic during one evening commute, the engine
started to sputter and threatened to cut out. This symptom came and went
for a few miles, until it finally made good on its threat and left me
stranded in the center lane of a four lane freeway. I got the car pushed
off to the shoulder, and after letting it cool for a few minutes, tried
turning the key... low and behold, it started right up. I ended up repeating
that scenario three more times that evening, before finally making it
home.
The problem was a set of burnt points, a four dollar fix, but not a cure.
A friend recommended I spend the $60 or so and make the ten minute conversion
to an electronic, solid state ignition system. He claimed that it will
not burnout like points do, but will also provide better throttle response,
acceleration, and mileage. I took his advice and bought the Pertronix
Ignitor, and six years later it works without a glitch.
So when my friend brought his stock 1968 Mustang over with starting and
driveability problems, I immediately popped of the distributor cap and
said "ah ha!". He still had the archaic single points in there, and they
looked fried.
Points function to trigger the transfer of coil voltage to the distributor,
by the means of metal contacts. The minute you put a set of new points
in a distributor, they begin a cycle of heat, friction, and wear. Eventually
the gap between the points increases, which changes the dwell (amount
of time the contacts are together) and thus the amount of voltage being
passed through from the coil decreases, or ceases all together. All this
results in poor driveability, hard "hot" starting, poor fuel economy,
and terrible performance.
Pertronix has a very simple solution that will far exceed the output of
the stock points, never wear out, and best of all it fits under the distributor
cap of a stock distributor. For folks who want a stock looking engine
compartment, the Pertronix is undetectable. F/M
|
The
Pertronix Ignitor module and sleeve(#1281 for single point
Fords). We highly recommend you upgrade to a hotter coil,
better plug wires, and fresh plugs to handle the increased
voltage. Shown here are the Pertronix Flamethrower coil
and 8mm MagX2 wires.
Pertronix
Inc.
440 E. Arrow Highway
San Dimas, CA 91773
800-827-3758
|
 |
 |
 |
| 1.
One bone stock 1968 289 'C' code engine. The
pertronix ignitor is also available for big-block
Ford Distributors. |
2.
Removing the cap and rotor reveals the stock
single-point setup and condensor |
3.
Remove the two screws that hold the condenser
and points in place. The single black wire shown
connects to the coil, disconnect it as well. All
of this can be removed. There is no need remove
the breaker plate. |
 |
 |
 |
| 4.
In comparison, the Pertronix module takes up less
space than the stock points and condenser! |
5.
Feed the black and red wires through the hole
in the distributor. The Pertronix module is attached
with a single screw at the back of the module
base. Leave this finger tight for now. There is
and also a small tab under the front of the module
base that fits in a corresponding hole in the
breaker plate. Note the stock ground wire should
be reattached under the retaining screw. |
6.
Slip the magnetic sleeve over the distributor
shaft.
The module and magnetic sleeve work on the principal
of the hall effect, whereby a magnetic field,
for more information on the hall effect, and hall
switches, click
here.
|
 |
 |
 |
| 7.
Use the supplied gauge to properly space the module
from the sleeve, then tighten down the screw which
holds the module to the breaker plate. |
8.
The factory mounted the coil on the intake
manifold. Since this is an area of high heat,
we choose to mount the new Flamethrower chrome
coil on the side of the head as shown here. The
red wire from the Ignitor connects to the positive
terminal on the coil. The black wire connects
to the negative terminal. |
9. A new cap and rotor, along with the
Flamethrower wires, complete the high-voltage
tune up. We also installed new Champion plugs.
The higher voltage output of the Ignitor system
allows for larger plug gaps, which will result
in better combustion. We gapped these plugs to
.038"Check your timing and all connections before
setting out for a road test. |
x
|
