Upgrade to Electronic Ignition

[Larry]

I have a 1942 flathead engine that I am thinking about upgrading to electronic ignition. Has any one done this? Just wondering your results and what brand you used? Thanks you any input on this.

[Art Maurice]

I used Pertronics from speedway. Runs strong, and starts great, you will love it. Art.

[Lazy Jake]

I am just now in the process of installing the Pertronix in my '46 59AB. The engine started right up, ran for a short while and shut down. Did this repeatedly. Called the Tech at Pertronix and was enlightened to the fact (it was in the printed instructions) that you cannot use solid core wires. You must use suppression spark plug wires. Those wires are on the way from Speedway and when I get them installed I will have to determine if I did any damage to the pickup on the Pertronix. I will report that it seems to be a well made unit that fit right into my two bolt distributor so, I'm not going to give up on it.

[FlatheadTed]

I would think you need there coil as well .did one on a 9N they suggest using the stock coil ,but the stock one is 3 ,1/2 -4 volt it wasn't long before the module failed .ted

[jimTN]

There are some Pet. units on ebay now, both 6 and 16v. If you dig in the archives, the 6v units gave a lot of trouble. Hopefully that has been fixed by now. They definately do away with having to do precision work on the dist. to get it to fire right.

[1936 ford pickup]

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Larry,

I have a '36 Ford pickup with original style (3 bolt) "diving bell helmet" style Distributor. I wanted to retain the "stock" look somewhat, so I sent it up to Portland, Oregon to have converted to electonic ignition with Pertronix module. Company is Philbin Manufacturing and you can Google their web-site. I also went with the one-wire 12 Volt Alternator. You can see my video on you tube just search by 1936 ford pickup bruce smith.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Smith
Modesto, Ca.

[Talkwrench]

If I was in the U.S. I would call Bubbas and get them to knock one up.
I have a complete speedway unit with matching coil and I have had zero problems with it, my pickup runs daily. The only thing is that is doesn't have vacuum advance this has never worried me as 99% of my driving is stop n start traffic. Also it is all 12 volt too.

[Noswal]

I just ordered a Pertronix unit. Never installed one in a 59A. Any special instructions?

[joe plumber]

Just follow the instructions. I changed to Petronix about 8-9 years ago .Havent had a single problem. Make sure you get the right coil also

[Drbrown]

My '47 59AB with 12v system has been running a crab with Pentronics for some time. No problems; starts great; runs strong. Bubbas just now sending me a duplicate, including coil, which will join my trunk "stash" for long trips. Enjoy !

[FlatheadTed]

Any one using 6Volt

[Roger/Sacramento]

It all sounds great until it goes out. I installed a Pertronix dist. on the chevy motor in my '32. It ran fine until one day it quit when I was waiting in line to enter a car show. Don't know why it quit, it is an expensive experiment to me. Had to get hauled home. I am staying with the crab on my '41 pickup. It will probably be trouble free for a long time.

[koates]

The trouble with any add on electronic ignition units is their reliability. How long will it keep working ? If it packs up out on the road how do you fix it unless you carry a spare module (more money) with you and know how to fault find your system. An original points system is very reliable also, provided it is kept in good repair. Carry spare points, condenser, rotor, cap & coil. You still need some fault finding skills here also, but you can fix it on the side of the road. On a 1932 to 39 ford V8 6 volt system the ignition coil on top of the distributer operates on 4 1/2 volts through the under dash resistor. If a 6 volt pertronix module were fitted to one of these 4 1/2 volt systems it would not fire the coil reliably if at all. Most early distributers which are electronic have been converted to 12 volt systems. I have an early mustang and a falcon (12 volt) which are pertronix fitted and they have had no issues at all over some years, but I carry a spare pertronix module in each car along with points and condenser to convert it back to original if I am caught out on the side of the road. All my vintage 6 volt fords have original points ignitions and run well. Its the only way in my opinion. I have over 50 years in the auto electrical trade and if I don't know what works well by now then I had better give it away. Regards , Kevin.

[Noswal]

Can the Pertronix be installed with the distributor on the car?

[koates]

Noswal, Which model car ?? Generally a pertronix unit can be fitted to any car fitted with a vertical distributer while it is still in the car. Usually a half hour job. Regards, Kevin.

[Lazy Jake]

Originally Posted by Noswal

I just ordered a Pertronix unit. Never installed one in a 59A. Any special instructions?

It probably goes without saying...take the distributor out of the car. If your 59A is installed in a stock '46 behind the generator belt, fan belt, and fan, you will play hell trying to get the old out and the new in. And, as I mentioned above, make sure you have suppression spark plug and coil wires as the Pertronix will not work with solid core wires.

I installed mine on a 6 volt positive ground system with the Pertronix coil.

Dale

[TStiles]

Had a Bubba's Chebby distributor installed on an 8BA for about a year now with Bosch coil. Highly recommended.

[Kahuna]

I've been running a Pertronix converted 'Helmet" type distributor in my 39 Coupe for 25 years without a problem. To me, that's reliability.
I did have a coil failure, but that wasn't the Pertronix fault
Just my experience

[FlatheadTed]

The problem with the points if the car is left for 6 months in damp conditions it will not start, I work on a lot of them this is likely by far the cause of most of the fallers out of any I work on .Ted

[Chris Nelson]

I remember reading somewhere that if you go to a solid state ignition, it would be wise to go to an alternator rather than the generator. As I understand it, the generator puts out dirty electricity which the modules don't like, causing them to blow out. I'm sure Jim Linden at Bubba's would be able to shed light on this. Check your daily grocery getter and you will probably find it uses both a solid state ignition and an alternator.