I have a old ford dist  # B9AF12131B   with another marking 12127.  How do I tell what Pertonix will work?

I won't try to tell you what's best,but I can relate my experience with Pertronix.A few years ago,as a U-haul dealer and service shop,I can tell you that until Ford went to electronic ignition,all of U-Haul's thousands of vehicles were converted to Pertronix.Many of them had over a million miles on them without a problem.I personally used one Pertronix unit on 4 different vehicles over a period of 20 plus years and a little over 200.000 miles.The only reason I'm not still using that one is because of a major brain fade wherein I left the key on overnight and roasted that unit.Old age will cause things like that.Old age on my part,not the Pertronix.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

If you(oranyone else)goes with Pertronix at least buy the Pertronix2.That way if you leave the key turned on by accident when working on the car-you dont burn out the module.I dont know why anyone would buy the original unless they weren't aware of this fact.

  

Here are some links to past threads on converting the stock distributors to Durapark ignition.

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic5574-3-1.aspx

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic10359-3-1.aspx

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic13825-3-1.aspx

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic21100-3-1.aspx

 

Performing a search on this site will also bring up some more.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

The other day I was looking at the Pertronix site and Im sure they do the ignitor III for 57 dissy onwards.. Seems to be a good unit as its multi spark throught the rev range and has a rev limiter and variable dwell etc, not too pricey and if you put it into a recon dissy would work out pretty cheap for what you get. Ive been running to Ignitor II with the mods Steve and Mark suggested, been going great!



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

I have Petronix in two of my cars, 57 Bird (tach drive dist) and 65 Galaxie, using MSD6's. In my 66 F100 I have a Duraspark FE distributor with the same MSD6 box. I have had good luck with all of them, no failures. I have been from the California coast to New Orleans and back in the truck, and I put hard miles on the Galaxie. Being of the age when Duraspark was the ignition used by Ford, as a dealer tech, I changed lots of Duraspark distributor pickups and ignition modules. With right tools I can change a Duraspark pickup on the side of the road in 15 or 20 minutes. But it is a pain in the ass; if you drop the roll pin for the stator you're in big trouble. A Petronix is much easier to change under these circumstances; bad weather, tired, middle of the night, etc.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

The Ford Duraspark II system works very well and can be back fitted to most OE distributors from '57 and up.  They are dirt cheap, easily serviced and reliable.  You can transplant the guts of any '76 and up distributor and then use it to trigger the module or box of your choice.  The early iterations of Duraspark distributors used a small cap so no one will know if you desire an original look or the big cap and HEI style wires can be used if that appeals to you.  Best of all, most parts stores stock individual replacement parts. 

I've been runing a Crane unit for 6+ years.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Crane+Cams/271/750-1700/10002/-1

You gotta have the right tools and know how to use 'em.

TC - Austin, Texas

Tim - There are several electronic modules that simply screw onto the point plate and will run your engine - and there are "fans" of virtually every type. Common choices are the Pertronix and the Accel units. Be sure and protect yourself against an unexpected failure by carrying a spare - or even a set of points for a re-fit (to get home). The biggest problem is that getting a replacement part can take time - that you don't often have - and fellows have been stuck at the side of the road with some expensive toys.

Be sure to make yourself aware of how many OHMs the coil and ballast resistor have to total in order to give reliable performance. If you go too low - the transistor in the controller will have to carry too much current  - and module life will be limited. If you go way too high - you will lose some ignition performance.

Be sure the point plate has a proper ground - right to the block. The grounding transistors of the various modules take extreme offense to intermittant grounds.

Don't get too thrilled about opening plug gaps with an electronic module. Ted has dyno proof that the standard plug gaps are just as effective - and sometimes produce more power.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I must say that I agree with you Dave, they are a beautiful distributor and of course they are brand new as against our stuff which is at least 40 odd years old. But on most budgets it is hard to justify the price difference. Depending on your luck on eBay, I picked up an Accell system for $30 + postage to Oz and the MSD start around $380 + post. Bought locally they are around $500.

The big thing with any of these systems is to make sure everything is clean, voltage is correct and earth has good contact. of course installations as per instruction is most important.

Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!