• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Petronix Ignitor installation

Share this page

CharlieCarpenter

CharlieCarpenter

Senior Member
Offline
Was thinking of replacing the points in my original BJ7 Healey distributor with a Petronix Ignitor. I'm sure many of you have done so. Any problems, special instructions, things to look out for?

Charlie Carpenter
 
What Polarity are you using in your car.?? But, do not use crimp fittings solder all terminations. do not force the magnet cam on to the distributor rotate it until you find a position where it will slip on with moderate force.Cut the leads to a reasonable length do not leave them all floppy. Make sure the existing ground wire inside the distributor is in good condition.Dress the leads insde the distributor so as to avoid any rubbing on the cap.Fwiw---Keoke

PS put /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gifAway until you finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

OH! I almost forgot:when you finish the installation simply start the engine and set the timing with a timing light.Do not play roll around to set the timing or you may just burn the module out! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
Hi Charlie,
Just make sure that you have the correct unit for your car. A red & a black wire for negative ground. A black wire & a black with white tracer for a positive ground car.

Follow the connection diagram EXACTLY, you only get one try. If it is connected wrong, the module goes poof.

Make sure that your coil has a minimum of 2.7 ohms primary resistance or the unit will overheat.

Do not leave the ignition switch turned on for a long period of time with the engine not running. Unit will overheat.

Make sure that the magnet rotor is seated firmly down on the distributor cam & is not holding the rotor up so high that it contacts the distributor cap. If there is not clearance, look for a rotor with less height or a cap with more height.

Pertronix makes a great ignition, but it doesn't have some of the safeguards that the more expensive ones have.
D
 
"Pertronix makes a great ignition, but it doesn't have some of the safeguards that the more expensive ones have."

Hi Dave. Would you recommend another brand?
What safegards?
Or do you recommend simply staying orginal, stock, not going electronic?

I have a BJ8 positive ground.

Thank you, Roger
 
Hi Roger,
Some of the more expensive units have reverse polarity protection & current limiting or shutdown to prevent overheating if the ignition switch is left on with the engine not running.

Depending on the resistance of the coil that is being used, the Pertronix can be left on quite a while without overheating, but usually not for hours.

In my opinion, the Pertronix is a definite improvement over the points & at fairly low cost. It just won't withstand being installed or wired wrong. If a person pays close attention to my above suggestions the Pertronix will work very well & last for a long time. Just no careless installations tolerated. I have had four of them that lasted for years with no trouble, no points setting, checking, replacing, timing checks, etc. The "Hall Effect" timing sensor on the Pert. is less affected by dirt than the optical sensor types, & less sensitive to parts locations than the magnetic types.
D
 
Well ASMHKL, If you are not in love with that positive ground system. Installing the Pertronix unit is simplified when the car is converted to Negative ground. Mine have been running some 15 years and no complaints---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Hi Keoke,
I don't plan on changing from Pos to neg. I do do have a radio, nor do I plan on tapping into the cars electric to run my shave while you drive. And certainly not my cell phone. PLEASE, hang up and drive, people.

That being the case. Would you guys suggest staying stock, or going positive electronic? Pertronix, is what I should use, if so?

Thank you, Roger
 
I installed a pertronix in my pos ground BJ8 about a year ago. The car starts easier and idles better. That is not to say that it wouldn't have run better if I had properly adjusted the points, but with the pertronix it is simple. Installing was a little confusing, especially when you are told that one mistake and the pertronix is toast.
The pertronix unit for pos ground has black and black/white wires. For installation (I think, disclaimer) I disconnected the white wire that attached to the SW side of the coil, then connect that white wire to the black wire from the pertronix. The black/white wire from the pertronix then connects to the SW side of the coil. The Black/white wire (one of two wires originally connected to the CB side of coil) that originally went to the distributer now needs to be connected to ground. I added some length to the wire and grounded it under a screw by the heater blower. Good luck. By the way I do have a radio, and although I had to isolate it from ground had no problem installing it. I like the originality of keeping these cars POSITIVE ground. That's one of the things that makes them different.
 
There are positive and negative ground Pertonix models for most distributors (where applicable). (Google "retro-rockets" to check for sure). If you really want to keep the positive ground you should be able to.

Pertronix also has a Pertronix Ignitor-II series which was recently released. I suspect these will NOT have the positive ground versions (at least not yet). The Ignitor-II incorporates a lot of the features Dave is talking about. There are only two negatives I know regarding this new design. 1) It costs about 30% more, and 2) It will not support zero-speed firing (this means you can't static time the car with Ignitor-II).

If you are careful during your installation and make it a point to switch your ignition off when not driving, the standard Pertronix is a good, inexpensive electronic ignition. I have also used the Crane/Alison ignition which is optical. The obvious drawback to that system is the control box is external. I got one wet and managed to short it out. I've been sold on Pertronix ever since.
 
AUSUMHLY:

It's easier to alternate between points and Petronix ignitions with the BJ8 since the distributor lead(s) are at different and more convenient locations than early model BJ7s and 3000s. The conversion is simple because there are no modifications to be made. Originality is also closely maintained.

As mentioned in a previous post that I alternate between the two ignitions in my BJ-7and any differences experienced are subjective. With Petronix installed the engine requires a slightly richer cab setting; appears to have better throttle response at lower the RPM range but trailing power at higher (~75mph up Sunol Grade). With Points there appears to be more “raw” or robust power delivery at all RPM ranges. Perhaps this has more to do with the sound of the engine rather than engine performance. And since driving these cars has everything to do with the senses, I’m biased towards keeping point ignition installed.

If you’re the curious type, and you should be as a Healey owner, then I would recommend you try Petronix just for fun and formulate your own impressions. Let us know how it turns out. GONZO
 
Back
Top