Pertronix Ignition Installation Tips

[Stanley_P]

There is a transparent wire that runs for the pos. side of the coil to the fuse box that keep blowing now. In the wiring diagram it state that this is a resistor cable wire. Do I need to remove this wire?? Also, since owning the car the gas gauge bounces back and forth, sometimes pegging itself to the left or right really hard.
I've checked the ground wires and purchase a new sending unit by still does it. I just replaced the Alt. and Voltage reg with new ones and it still is doing the same thing. Is there something I'm over looking? Do the dash or gauges run thru a relay or regulator? The gas gauge is the only gauge doing this....

[Stanley_P]

After checking all the wires to the fuel gauge, I decided to remove the sending unit and there you go........after removing the casing around my brand new sending unit....the wire that allows the float to slide has broke........It must have been that way from the start......fixed wire (hope it holds) and everything works fine. I also found my short blowing my fuse....The bracket that holds the radio in the back was touching the wires from the cig. lighter that happens to run to the blowing motor wires causing that fuse to blow........I hope this is all........

Stanley_P

[kwilford]

Stanley,

Gad to hear you have found the answers to most of your questions. I was surprised that someone hasn't jumped in regarding the Pertronix wiring, but it HAS sorta been covered. Kinda to death....

But to repeat, here is what you need to know and do. The clear wire is a "resistor" wire, of something like 8 ohms over it's total length. It is analagous to a "ballast resistor", in that it is meant to supply a reduced voltage to the coil, to prolong coil life, but mostly to prolong point life. It is bypassed during the "start" event by a wire from the solenoid, but this wire is only energized when the starter is cranking over. If you are using stock points or a stock (or non-resistor) coil, it is essential to keep using this resistor wire.

For a Pertronix installation, the resistor wire should ONLY be used to supply the +'ve terminal of the coil, and only then if the coil you are using doesn't have an internal resistor. You can measure this using an ohmeter. According to the Pertronix instructions, the coil should have at least 3 ohms.

Now here is the IMPORTANT part. The Pertronix itself MUST be powered with a full 13.5 volts, so NOT by the resistor wire. You have to run a parallel 14 gauge wire from the same terminal on your fuse block (which is switched by the ignition key) to the red wire on the Pertronix Ignitor. If you are using a non-resistor coil, the clear wire supplies the coil, and the new wire the Ignitor. But if you have a resistor coil (and the Pertronix 3 ohm Flamethrower is a perfect match) then you simply disconnect the resistor wire, and supply BOTH the coil and Ignitor with the new wire.

HTH

[Stanley_P]

Keith,

Thanks for taking the time to explain what is going on, it was a BIG help.........

Stanley_P