Pertronix and Hello

[gwittman]

First, I would like to introduce myself. I am new to this forum but have been around Coupes for a long time. I purchased my current Coupe in Jan. 1980 and had a 2000 CS before that. I am sure I have met a few of you guys here over the years and I do know Murray(blumax). That does not make me particularly knowledgeable regarding the E9 Coupe, it just make me an enthusiast.

Now to the Pertronix. I recently installed one and like the set up but have a couple questions. I noticed the square grommet for the wires interferes with the vacuum advance plate. Is that normal? I cut a portion of the rubber off to clear the advance plate. Did I make a mistake by doing that?

I checked the dwell after installing the Pertronix and it is out of spec realtive to what it should be with points. Is this normal and something I should not be concerned about?

I have been doing my tuneups for many years and have always tuned it a little advanced (@ about 1650 rpm). This time I decided to time it at 1700 rpm as the manual states and now it does not seem to pull as hard at higher rpm like it use to. Does changing the timing that little make that much difference?

 

[Honolulu]

Does changing the timing that little make that much difference?[/quote]

Well why not time it at factory spec and see? You may have "adjusted" something else during the Pertronix install - setting it to factory might tell you.

 

[gwittman]

Honolulu, I did set the basic timing at factory spec this time as opposed to being slightly advanced as I have in the past. The car runs very well now but does not seem to accelerate as fast once it gets above around 5,000 rpm. I think what I will do is leave it as is for a while to get a chance to be more familiar with the way it runs. Then in a couple weeks; I will set the timing a little more advanced, like use to, and see if the high rpm performance improves.

I did not purposely change any other settings during the Pertronix install but it is possible that I inadvertently changed something.

 

[blumax]

Welcome to the E-9 message board

Long time--no see GW.
I agree--knowing blumax certainly WON'T make one knowledgable about these cars no matter how long one owns or cares for an E-9.

For those who don't know you I'll certainly vouch for your driving skills as you left me wanting a couple of years back on the 91 just outside Riverside at the end of a nice Coupe outing that Sunday afternoon--and for those who may not be familiar with the 91--it was heavily travelled as usual and our newly checked in early 2800 CS caretaker easily showed me his exhaust pipe as he moved away in the distance--a VERY SKILLED hand at moving the wheels of that #65 2800 CS--you must have had the advance and dwell spot on !!

 

[gwittman]

Hi Murray. I see you still have your keen sense of humor.

As to the 91 Freeway, I am sure it had nothing to do with driving skills, timing or dwell. Most likely luck by getting a lane that kept moving.

 

[gwittman]

Just an update. This weekend I decided to reset the timing at 1650 rpm like I use to do. The performance I normally expect is back. So, that little bit of timing advance IS enough to make a difference.

I also contacted La Jolla independent about the dwell change. I was told it is normal for the dwell to be different with the Pertronix compared to facory specs with points. I am good to go now and am glad to not have to deal with the points anymore. However, the points and condenser will be in the trunk as a backup just in case.

 

[saveacs]

hi,
what is the new timing setting? what octane do you run?
thanks,
B.

 

[gwittman]

saveacs, I don't know what the actual timing is because I don't have an advance wheel on my timing light. I just do it the old fashion way and time it at 1650 rpm instead of 1700 rpm per the BMW specs. Since the Pertronix may like a little more advanced timing so I am going to play with it a little until I get it optimized. La Jolla Independent recommended that I keep advancing it in small increments until I start to get detonation under full throttle and then back off the timing a little.

I use 91 octane pump gas and some times I will spike it a little with a gallon of toluene or 110 race fuel to bump up the octane a little.