Pertronix still the standard?

[rjnicholas]

I am finally going to get rid of my points. Is the pertronix ignitor still the standard system to go with?

I was looking on ebay and there is a little blue plastic unit for $35 that seems to do the same thing. Has anyone tried one of these? I don't think I'd risk something that cheap in my racer, but I was curious.

Also, this is probably a stupid question, but is racing fuel leaded or unleaded?

[Keith Carter]

We run optical. We had an issue with Pertronix and made the switch and haven't had an issue since.

[EYERACE]

racing fuel can be leaded or unleaded........and the designation is a relative thing - there is still a little lead in unleaded fuel, just not anywhere near as much a what's labeled leaded. Due to what N###AR did to be postured more favorably in a public relations way, the gas at Daytona last time was something like unleaded 110 octane but leaded high octane can still be had if you look for it out there

[Bob Wright]

FC cars in SCCA are required to run leaded fuel at the moment. There is rumbling (posts in Fastrack) that this may change in the future, but for the moment...Avgas LL100, Sunoco 110-112, various VP blends (VP C44 will make you go fast, but set you back about $50/gal- there are much cheaper, good VP choices), Powermist, and probably some others.

The MSD ignition system is also widely used in FC Pinto's(I've seldom ever had a problem with it, and you can integrate a rev limiter with a plug in chip)

[britjunkie1949]

Yes I tried that unit from ebay, poor construction, came with one of the mounting posts loose. it luckily just failed during a garage session while installing a rev limiter. Had me scratching my head due to the unbelievable coincidence of the timing of the failure!!! Obviously I don't recommend it.

I am finally going to get rid of my points. Is the pertronix ignitor still the standard system to go with?

I was looking on ebay and there is a little blue plastic unit for $35 that seems to do the same thing. Has anyone tried one of these? I don't think I'd risk something that cheap in my racer, but I was curious.

Also, this is probably a stupid question, but is racing fuel leaded or unleaded?

[FC63F]

My experience - was with the igniter II and the application was the Bosch distributor for the 2 liter pinto.

1. When they work - they work great and when they stop - figuring out what the fault is becomes a chore - I am not aware of any diagnostic tools to tell if it is working correctly

2. Pinto 2 liters have a readline of about 7K RPM - that really does not put much strain on the ignition system. If you were running a bike engine at 11K - then I would see a case for the electronics

3. My experience is that to make the petronics unit fit the distributor - there is much fine tuning of the mounting plate required to get it to fit - that really is not good - I would expect a direct fit - but maybe that is asking too much

4. Perfronics unit costs about $115 via the internet - at least two weeks ago it did.

5. I chased an intermittent ignition problem two weeks ago and ultimately changed the distributor and all back to points and condensor - problem solved

If you are interested in Pertronix - I have a brand new never raced unit for a 2 liter, plus a spare I ran for two years which may or may not run properly and I have the bosh distributor it goes into - e-mail me and I will make a great deal. Sandy built the distributor.

Kindest Regards

David Keep
mikeep63@yahoo.com

[Rick Kirchner]

I just did some research into this. Jay Ivey recommends the Ignitor I units because they dont' require distributor mods. However, Ignitor Is will burn up if the ignition is left on for too long. There's no ignitor II unit for the pinto, but there is for the VW009.

Pertronix was not helpful at all when I explained our distributors were not vacuum advance (that's why there's no Ignitor II for the pinto - the vacuum rod gets in the way) and they were not responsive to my request for a unit that was an ignitor II with the same mounting plate as the pinto Ignitor I - instead they left me to look at dozens of pictures - no drawings - of their parts on the webwsite so that I could determine on my own what might fit - and then they told me that it's use in a non-authorized application would void the warranty.

What is the optical unit referred to above?

[FC63F]

You are right - thsy do not have a ignior II for the oem ford distributor for pinto 2 liter application but they do have a 2liter pinto application associated with the Bosch distributor which is a direct fit for the pinto 2 L motor. They do not have an ignitor II for the oem ford distributor. I suppose the oem ford distributor is somehow different from the Bosch aftermarket piece

How I figured this out was I took the Part number on the box and looked it up on the petronix catalog and indeed it was an Ignitor II that fit this Bosch distributor which was an aftermarket replacement for the pinto 2 liter. More work than it deserves to be. Quicksilver built the first distributor / Petronix combination to Ray Granke specs and there was guite a bit of careful work to get a good fit. I copied the attachment plate template of QS the second time.

I don't have the parts close by but I will pass the PN's on after I see the car over the week end.

Regards

David Keep