Electronic Ignition

Hi,

I'm considering a pertronix electronic ignition on '71 bus, all stock (except the 009). Is this worthwhile, or would I be better off leaving as is? If I do I'll uprate the coil too. I'm trying to increase economy whilst retaining power, and to smooth out the uneven power i get at low speed/low revs. I'm also after reliability, seeing as there is a high chance that I'm going to be touring in a couple of months. I've heard a solid state solution will do this for me, but I value your opinions.

Cheers, Anto

Reply to
Antony Hutchison
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Here comes the opinions , of which I will post *mine* real quick.

I had a great experience with the Pertronix, till my step-son decided he'd wire up the ignition after a remove and clean up session. Hook'm up backwards and they're toast...........a lot more expensive than points to replace, but they do work MUCH BETTER.

I even experienced better power ( or my idea of an increase ) when I put the Pertronix on.........mostly I'm sure because of the type of system and more exacting spark. Srarted much easier with Pertronix too.

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply MUADIB®

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It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

Reply to
MUADIB®

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 17:44:54 -0000, Antony Hutchison ran around screaming and yelling:

performance and economy increases are small(except that the engine timing doesn't change as points wear witha pertronix) but the "set it and forget it" is great....i do carry a spare distributor complete with points and condensor for and "emergency" install if the unit fails...i will probably use a pertronix or similar from now on out...points are great for the purists.. J

Reply to
Joey Tribiani

Thanks what I wanted to hear - they sound good, but the thought of wiring them wrong instantly killing them didn't even cross my mind!

Cheers Anto

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

I'm no purist, I want something that runs well and burns less fuel than a jetplane...

I'll keep the bits that I remove, should be trivial to put it back?

Cheers, Anto

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

Yep. It's like the old joke.

"Doctor, it hurts when I do this."

"Well, don't DO that!"

Max

Reply to
Max Welton

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 18:21:59 -0000, Antony Hutchison ran around screaming and yelling:

no different than doing a tune up(replacing the points and condensor)... J

Reply to
Joey Tribiani

I have had a Pertronix in mine for 4 years and it is well worth the $$. As has been said, the car always starts much easier than it did with the points, and never needs periodic adjustment. I do check the dwell when changing plugs just out of curiosity. The only regret is not having done it earlier as they have been around since atleast the late 80's and I have had the car for 12 years.

Also - I have seen a wide price range on the Pertronix. I bought mine for about $45 from So Cal, while Rocky Mtn., Real Source, etc. had it for $6x or higher. Shop around!

=================================

" ..... I ain't no bandleader!!"

Reply to
Jack Woltz

Anthony: I do not have a Petronix but I did install a CDI system and am very happy with the results. You might want to check it out. It will be a few more pounds than the Petronix but IMO a worthwhile investment.

Reply to
Steve

Pertronix and a CDI, car never started this easy before, gives you a little more umph at the very top end too...(as in right before valve float, makes a difference though..)

J.

Reply to
BergRace

Ok, I'm a little confused now - I thought the pertronix unit was a type of CDI? And what is 'value float'?

I've also read that I will no longer be able to time without a timing light - true or false? I'm still new to all this, and haven't tuned the engine yet, so I need to go one way or the other soon cos it desperately needs it.

I've also read that the bouncy power I have is due to a mismatch between the 34PICT3 and the 009, but no solution to this has been offered anywhere. Will electronics help with this, or should I adjust the 009, or the carb, or both?

I feel like I am opening a huge can of worms here...

Cheers, Anto.

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

Reply to
Braukuche

I did have my doubts when I bought it, 'all stock except one thing'...

Say I wanted to keep the 009, what carb would be better suited? Just an alternative way of looking at things.

Also, there must be something else I can try, like a stronger coil + the Pertronix? The more powerful spark might help here? I know I can't just uprate the coil and expect the points to survive. If anyone has an explaination as to why the 009 has these troubles it would improve my understanding greatly.

Cheers, Anto.

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

No it's not a CDI. It just replaces the points and condensator.

You can have a separate (more expensive) CDI unit to compliment your Pertronix, if you like.

Valve Float is when the engine is revving so fast that the valves can't keep up, the valve springs are too weak, too slow to force the valve to follow the rotation of the cam. Instead, the valve will "float" without contact to the rocker arm, and when it DOES meet it again, you get lots of rattling noise as a result. And loss of power too. Usually valve float begins at around 5500rpms in stock engines. And yes, it's a bad thing. Same thing can and will happen with points, the spring is too weak to return the points to the closed position fast enough, when the engine revs climb high enough.

Never thought of that. Why would you want to tune it without a timing light? GET ONE. Even a cheap strobe light is enough to get you by.

Both.

Adjusting the 009 is not for a beginner, you can easily go wrong. I'm planning to write an article on how to fine tune the 009 one of these days.

When it comes to the carb: you could get one step bigger idle jet and adjust the accelerator pump to give more gasoline.

Mileage will suffer some, but that's what you get with the 009. It lacks the vacuum sensing feature which is pretty much exactly what makes the stock type SVDA distributor yield better mileage.

It is, and I'd rather not complicate things any further by actually spilling everything out at once :) I don't claim to know everything either.

Jan

Reply to
Jan Andersson

Cheers, that all makes sense! I havent a timing light because I'm trying to avoid buying things to lug around, poor excuse, but hey... guess i will just have to get one.

Would a rev-limiting rotor be a good idea to prevent this floating malarky? Or is that just something else to go wrong?

I want to know why all the online stores claim the 009 to be the best you can get, when it's quite obviously not without changing a whole shedload of other stuff :-/

Thanks for all this help! Anto.

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

Especially with the 009. Those need to be adjusted to MAX advance, and that requires you to rev the engine up to 3000rpm while shining the strobe light at the timing marks.

It would prevent it, yes. But they cut out kind of rough. I'm not sure if it's good for the engine. However, they do effectively prevent you from over-revving the engine. Just as you will instantly know when you reach valve float, the noise is horrible. You would instinctively lift your foot off the gas pedal anyway.

There's no sense in revving a stock engine past 5000rpm, hardly any power left to be found past 4500 even. You would get better acceleration if you just shifted to taller gear.

Because uninformed, gullible people BUY them.

Jan

Reply to
Jan Andersson

Ok, now for the fun bit... what part number for the svda? I've seen one (113 905 271) for just £21, which is ok if it fits and works. Trouble is its listed as 'T2 distributor vacuum unit >73' and elsewhere as 'Vacuum Advance 4 hole', but my bus is a '71. I know its not the original engine, how can I determine if this is the right part before I shell out?

This is getting a bit heavy for me now :-(

I have just read this article -

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- one question on this:- Pinging/detonation, what does this sound like? Is it like a noticable ticking from the engine when revved? or more of a banging noise?

I know it's a lot of questions, thanks for taking the time to answer them! Cheers, Anto.

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

Ok, found two types now 2 screw and 4 screw -

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time to go and nosey at the fixings in the dark...

Anto.

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

Erm, I have no idea what I'm looking for... I think I'll go and cry in the corner for a while ;-(

I dont see any screws, so I guess that the 009 is totally different and isn't going to help me but looking at that?

Or am I completely wrong?

Reply to
Antony Hutchison

By contacting John Connolly at

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and telling him what you have.

Usually it's a faint ticking sound that occurs under load. But it's not always even audible, it can be too quiet to hear and still cause damage over time.

Jan

Reply to
Jan Andersson

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