You know what I like about this forum (among many things), is that someone will ask for advise, and not only get a good thoughtful answer, but then get a heads-up of two about related or serial tasks. For me, I knew enough about the Pertronix stuff, but didnt know at all about Ted Eaton's tech on two barrel carb vacuum versus a manifold tap... a modification I now want to try.

It's like a rabbit hole, where one tunnel leads to another... Thanks, Ryan, for asking a "stupid" question.

Brian

Cylinder Index = 84

Current Experiment = `57 Tbird, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Some of us on here also run the Accel 2020 Points Eliminator Kit - I have installed those units on two different Y block distributors and they have worked flawlessly. The wiring diagrams and instructions are very easy to follow, and the kit takes the guesswork of points/condenser out of the equation... not that points are guesswork per se, most of us ran points when we were kids I guess... for a long time.

For a driver that gets a lot of use and to keep parts from wearing out so quickly, (in addition to the benefit of your spark, etc) go with one of these kinds of kits to eliminate your points and give you spark. With my Accel units, I run a stock coil with the 56 and up resistor in line. It would definitely be easier to run a coil that had its own resistor inside.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

What Daniel said. The later distributor vacuum advance will not work properly with the vacuum signal for the Load-o-matic on your carb. The newer distributor needs 'ported vacuum' which Ted's write up explains.

And yes I know some of you disagree with the 'ported vacuum' and run 'manifold vacuum'.

I was using a Ignitor I to trigger a MSD 6A. As I admitted to earlier I left my key in the 'on' position and burned up my Ignitor I while fiddlin' around... . The Ignitor II and III have built-in protection for this. I have since gone with a Ignitor III with the Rev limiter and Multi-spark.. With the Ignitor III you don't need the MSD.

Make sure you get the Pertronix Ignitor for the distributor you are using. Different model for Load-o.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

If you have the small 2 barrel carburetor (the 2100 or the 2110), check Ted Eaton's website. He has an excellent write up on there about modifying this carb so that the vacuum signal would work with a later model distributor. It is very easy to do.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Guys, I can't thank you all enough for the help. This site is great, with a great bunch of guys, glad I found it.

I think I am square, ordering all my parts today, can't wait to fire this up!!!!!

Thanks again!

~Ryan

The use of a resistor depends on what coil you are using and which version of Pertronix you are using.If in doubt email customer service at Pertronix.On my setup with Pertronix 2 and Flamethrower coil the resistor is not used.

  

Go the ignitor 3 if you can its multispark and with a rev limiter built in, also go the matching flamethrower 3 coil , its not much extra cost, hunt arount.. Oh and grab a set of Mr Gasket 925D dissy springs while your at it !



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

First of all, there is no such thing as a stupid question, a question is asked because somebody wants to learn something and there is nothing stupid about wanting to learn something you dont know!

2nd you mention resistor, the resistor cuts down the voltage from 12 volts to 6 on the coils after startup. your solinoid has 2 prongs, one gives the coil 12 volts while your key is in the start position and after starting in the on position of your switch it routes the current through the resistor to cut the voltage down to 6, this just prolonged the life of the points etc.

As far as running the petronics with the resistor, on my car I have plugged it in for some periods and run it, then unplugged it and run it and I have not been able to tell a difference in the power of the car whether it was plugged in or not but the instructions do say it should run on 12 volts so you would want to run it without the resistor in that case.

The resistor is a little ceramic thing on your firewall or I have seen them on a motor some times with a coil of wire that has one wire in and one out, the out wire will go to your coil. noting special but they do get warm, thats why they are in ceramic.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

If you haven't thought of it, you have to plug the vacuum hole in the carb (assuming it is a 2BBL) that the old distributor used. And you have to find a vacuum source for the new distributor.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Nice to meet you Ryan - you've got some great salvage yards over there in NM - I'm always drooling over the fences on the way through Roswell....

Assuming your 272 is a '56 - the '57 distributor will fit right in there, it has the proper cam drive gear combination. The reman distributors for these motors are just about all from CARDONE - the major rebuilder. Ask for the distributor for a 1964 292 cubic inch F100 truck engine. Cardone number is 30-2808 - expect to pay from $85 to $100 if you don't have trade-in core. It won't coime with a cap or rotor - but the same year parts (1964) will do the job and are readily available. It will have both mechanical and vacuum advance equipment on it - and many have arrived with a useful set-up right out of the box.

When you shop for the Pertronix - ask for the same year of parts as the distributor - 1964 Ford.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona