Pertronix Ignition VS Crane/Alisson Ignition?

[skikir]

I have a Crane/Alison XR700(?) Ignitions system. I've had it for about 20 years. It's been in my three TR6s and an old 68 Chevy van I had years ago. It's never missed a beat and always given great spark even when the battery was just about dead and in general I don't have a complaint about it's performance. But it puts more wires under the hood and looks kinda funky plus the installation under the cap is just a little fragile looking. I have been looking at the Pertronix Ignition and was wondering about the out put of it. I was wondering if the Pertronix Ignition gives as good of spark as the Alison or at least better than stock. I have an Crane performance coil on it now.

 

[RonMacPherson]

You ask several good questions.

I wonder what warranty Petronix has. Allison used to be lifetime warranty. But then they sold out to Crane who only offers a one year warranty. But if something goes, it usually goes right away. I've read numerous reports of people's problems with the Petronix. The only problems I've ever heard about or encountered with the optical Crane/Allison has been installation errors.

I myself have the Allison/Crane in my 6 with the MSD 6, had it since around 87.

I prefer it.

 

[bluemiata90]

I've used a Petronix system in TR3s, Mustangs, VWs, etc. and never have had a problem. I just installed a Crane system in my TR8 cause it was highly recommended. It also seems to work great, but is a little more complicated to install. My opinion is both systems work good and will serve you well. If you want to try a very similar system to pertronix, but at about half the price. I found a system named Hot-Spark and appears to work like a Pertronix. I bought 2 kits for a Volvo 1800 and my second TR3, but haven't installed them yet, so I can't really state how they work.

 

[poolboy]

The pertronix is basically a switch, just like contact points are a switch. It will give the coil more time to build up voltage because I'm told that it does increase the dwell time.
You can take advantage of that by opening up your spark plug gap.
The spark will arc across the plug gap as soon as enough voltage develops. If you get a so called hot coil and don't open the plug gap the coil will only produce the same voltage as your standard coil or so says Dan Masters in the last part of this article.
https://www.vtr.org/maintain/ballast.shtml

 

[poolboy]

I wonder what warranty Petronix has.

The Pertronix I installed about a year ago has a 30 month warranty.

 

[StagByTriumph]

Just make sure you order the upgraded unit that has reverse polarity protection built in. The old design, hook it up reversed once and poof, voided warranty and dead unit.

 

[70herald]

I bought and installed the Crane (XR700) unit in my car recently.
Mostly I went with the Crane because the newest version is smart enough to shut of if the power is on and the engine isn't turning. As far as I am concerned, that is a design flaw in the Pertronix. In fact the newer Pertronix units also turn off automatically but they don't have these for the Triumph engines.

In terms of performance, there should be no difference. Both units are basically just electronic switches. They will both be better than points but mostly because they don't wear and are less sensitive to wear in the distributor.

Likewise unless you have a very high compression engine, the high voltage coil is overkill. Of course I ordered a high voltage coil from JEGS when I ordered the Crane mostly because it looks nice. That is the only real performance "benefit" That I could possibly get from it.

I am not concerned about the fastener for the pick up unit on the Crane, if it isn't strong enough then you have much more serious issues to solve. I just put a drop of locktite on the screw to prevent it from slipping.

The only bad part about the Crane is that the instruction manual sucks, but the actual installation is very easy.

 

[dklawson]

I had the Allison ignition in my GT6 for years and it never failed me until I killed it. I decided to wash my engine bay and I soaked the remote module. Apparently the potting material was cracked or something and water got inside. That was the end of the Allison unit. After that I installed a Pertronix unit because all of it fits under the dizzy cap. I've been equally happy with it.

I think they're both good systems but there is an additional caveat to the Pertronix Ignitor. DO NOT leave it on for more than three (3) minutes with the engine NOT running. The module will overheat and fail. Most Pertronix modules are the familiar Ignitor which as described above is an electronic points replacement. There is also a new product Ignitor-II. This is a more sophisticated module that addresses some of the original module's shortcomings. However, I don't know which Lucas and Delco dizzys it's available for.

Should you decide to go with Pertronix in place of Crane, be sure to Google for "Retro Rockets" using the additional keyword "Pertronix". Whenever I've checked, they have had the best prices.