FE Dizzy & Ignition System

[jayb]

That's the way the F.A.S.T. distributor is triggered, and I didn't have any trouble with it up to 6000+ RPM.  I did pick up power when I switched to a crank trigger setup, because the signal to the XFI unit from the distributor got noisy above that level, but that may have been due to my installation.  The permanent magnet/Hall sensor setup itself will not limit performance.

[Kerry j]

Well, I ordered one of the Pertronix plug & play distributors with the II module; no rev limiter and a AL6 CD box to run with it.

My plan is to run this set up with the 496 I'm about ready to dyno. Once I get it dialed in and see what kind of power and RPM it makes, I'll swap distributors to the Pertronix III converted 427 Duel Point distributor and see if it makes any difference in power or RPM.

I'm betting there will be no discernible difference...

[AlexS]

I used the Accell/Mallory Unilite conversion on mine, Still using the original distributor and cap so it all looks factory

[RoyceP]

Maybe my Pertronix conversion kits are different than the ones Jay is talking about because the last one I bought was twenty years ago. In any case the trigger unit is a plastic sleeve that slips over the stock points cam. The plastic sleeve contains a bit if steel embedded at each firing interval, the outside of the trigger piece being round and smooth.

In any case it seems to work fine up to 6500 RPM. Mine is what they call an original Pertronix, or possibly a Pertronix 1, although it was the only type of Pertronix back when I bought it.

[C6AE]

Hi - I have been over at the FE forum for years,  finally arriving here...
I have been using the Pertronx stuff since the 80's when they were still Per-Lux, and am pretty familiar with them.
To add a bit to Royces post, the plastic sleeve that fits over the OEM points cam has individual magnets in it and is a significantly larger diameter than the cam itself giving wider spacing between signals. The points cam is accually a very accurate fixture for this part.
(The magnets used to be secured into the plastic ring with a band of tape and at something north of 6000 rpms they would occasionally fly out of there - it was a pita to orient them them north and south to repair it - LOL. They are one piece molded these days.)
The pick-up simply senses the magnet going by (Hall effect). I have found them to be very accurate and reliable. It is most important to ground the pick-up assembly to the distrubutor housing using the same basic ground wire as the original points used.  A bad ground here will cause, among other things, an erratic timing signal and make a tach appear to be bonkers.

(I like the spell check feature)
Jake

[jayb]

Welcome Royce and Jake!  Glad to see you guys here.  I am not familiar with the Pertronix setup you are talking about, and it may well be that the one I've worked with is a prototype or something, because it came right from Pertronix to the company I work for, and used the stock distributor cam as the trigger wheel.  (We were testing the magnetic sensors that our company manufactures with their setup to see if they would work in their application.)  I assumed all the Pertronix setups were like this; I was not aware that they offered a setup with a permanent magnet ring that slips over the distributor cam.  That would be a much better setup than trying to use the stock points cam.

[rcodecj]

All the Pertronics igniter conversions I have had or have ever seen from years ago until now have all had the plastic magnet sleeve that slips over the points cam.
I have ran the Pertronics and MSD ready to run on the same car at the track and saw no difference in performance.
The MSD was easier to change advance springs and easier to change the advance limit.

[C6AE]

I have had good results using the old YL dual point Mallory distributors with the Pertronix conversion. Retaining the "Old School" look, they don't interfere with the surge tank or oval aircleaner and are pretty easy to change the advance limit using the "key".
Plus they can be had without or with an vacuum advance unit for street use, and you can find them for peanuts at the swap meets.
The pin to retain the gear is small but the hole can be easily reamed out to a larger size.

(I suspect there is a crab cap to fit these but have not tried it).

[lovehamr]

That Mallory YL is the same thing that I'm using but locked out and with one set of points to trigger an MSD 6AL Programmable.  I figured the only ignition problem that I could get from the points would be spark scatter or point bounce and since my 462 FE makes max power at 5700rpm that doesn't seem like much of a probability.  In fact, while it was on the dyno I held a timing light on it while it was revved (not a pull) up to 6k and the timing was rock solid.  So I get a vintage look with CD ignition power and a programmable advance curve that no one will see because the MSD is up under my dash.  Oh, almost forgot about the reliability aspect, since the one point set only carries a few milliamps from the MSD white wire the points cam might wear out before the points!

[Barry_R]

I am obviously very late to this party....

I have had mixed luck with Pertronix on the dyno, but it seems to have improved over the past couple years.  First item is taht I have not seen any differnce between comparable systems that are working properly - MSD billet, Ford Duraspark, or Pertronix conversions all seem to deliver comparable power.  Crank trigger stuff is a whole 'nother deal...

The first Pertronix I ran was a really poor performer UNTIL I found that it needed a ground wire from the upper to lower breaker plate - an item that was missing and at the time not referenced in the instructions.  Once I figured that out it ran fine.  We've run several since then with good results even though they look kinda flaky they seem to work.

These days we use either a Ford Duraspark triggerring an MSD6AL box - or an MSD billet in most of our builds.