Pertronix Solution

HB Chris

HB Chris

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I thought I would post one final thread on what I discovered regarding Pertronix. I sent the message below to them so hopefully they will update their catalog which showed nothing for our coupes.


I bought the 1867A from Royze Inc, owned by my friend John Lazenby. Installed it today, fits fine and car started right up. The points sit on the right side of the distributor shaft, my Bosch Distributor ID is JFUD6. The ring on the rotor sits below the bottom of the sensor but no issues. Wires could be 4 to 6 inches or so longer, other have noticed this issue as well. This fits all of the BMW M30 engines from the 1969 2800CS through 1974 3.0CS which are carbureted cars. The sedans of this era, the 2500, 2800, Bavaria and 3.0S, all carbureted as well would use this same unit. I believe but can not confirm that the injected cars use a different unit, probably the 1868 that is listed for the 3.0Si sedan in your catalog. BMW lists a different set of points for these cars, including the 3.0CSi and CSiL, built from 1971 through 1975.

I hope this helps others.

Chris
 
Pertronix

Thanks Chris
I just ordered an Ignitor II on Monday - hopefully the shop selected the right one!
Cheers
Ivor
 
+1 Pertronix

Thanks to this forum, and Chris's note below, I've ordered a Pertronix 1867A, Kingsborne 8mm wires, cap/rotor/plugs from BMW for a general purpose tune up. I couldn't find a casting or model number on the distributor - so took a leap of faith on the 1867A. Goal is to get the car reliable enough for a trip on it's own wheels to Mario, who will hopefully be able to give it a once over for Saratoga. Weber Carbs need some love.

If anyone in the Boston area would like to stop by while I wrench this weekend, more than welcome to join/have a libation/offer advise. Marblehead, Massachusetts. (weather permitting). Tom
 
Thousands of miles and decades of use including over 20 track days at high performance driver's schools. Never paused once. Zero!
Steve
 
FYI-
I am a new coupe owner and happened to be at a Summit Racing store outside of Atlanta.
I was walking around looking at all the displays and saw one from Crane Cams Ignition.
Interesting item similar to the Pertronix but the triggering is optical instead of hall effect and it eliminates the ballast so you get a hotter spark.
Link- http://www.cranecams.com/406-407.pdf

Approx. $137.00

Optical triggering is extremely accurate.
It has a wheel that mounts under the rotor and then the triggering unit replaces the points.
 
The Crane is a good unit (I've had one for 10 years) but it has a 2" x 3" (or so) black box in addition to the optical sensor that has to be hidden somewhere, usually to the right of the radiator next to the air intake opening, and some find that not very attractive. The Pertronix is much more elegant in that everything is inside the distributor....
 
m5bb said:
it eliminates the ballast so you get a hotter spark.
Click to expand...

Yes the ballast is a resistor, so for a given voltage it results in less current flow, which in turn would lead to a cooler spark. But electronic ignitions - be they Crane, Pertronix, MSD, or ___ apply > 12 volts to the coil. So I don't think you can conclude that just because one system retains the ballast and another eliminates it, that the latter is somehow "hotter".

Optical triggering is extremely accurate.
Click to expand...

It is yes. So is Hall effect triggering. Just about anything is more accurate than mechanical points.
 
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So, I hear that Pertronix works well for many of you.

But are there any tangible benefits?
- more power?
- improved mileage?
- better idle?
- better top revs?
etc

Would be fun to hear.
 
johanaxelson said:
So, I hear that Pertronix -any tangible benefits?
- more power?
- improved mileage?
- better idle?
- better top revs?
.
Click to expand...

Power, mileage - perhaps a marginal increase
Better idle - yes
Better top revs - Probably not (only if the points system that you replaced was in really bad shape)

Other benefits would be:

Easier starting
Consistent and longer performance. Points degrade over time, while an electronic system works as well after 100,000 miles as it does on the day it is first installed.
 
Thanks, was just curious.

Any noticeable change in emissions?

I am moving to Megasquirt and wasted spark in mine so I will see for myself in a few months but it is always interesting to hear about experiences from others on their tuning work
 
I was at the parts counter the other day and a guy walks in with a distributor. Being nosey, I over hear "marine application, chevy 350, internals have come apart, new distributor if one could be found $500+" I asked to take a look and I see immediately that this had a Pertronix conversion and the magnet ring had disintegrated. The plus side is the guy walked out the door with a new kit for under $100 and I had made his day. The down side is that this is the first time I had seen the kit fail in catastrophic manner.
 
Just got the 1867A installed today, but only problem I got right now is that I made a mistake of removing the distributor to install. Now I don't know which position the rotor should be pointing at. I assumed that the distributors are similar to my air cooled VW's, which has a off centered base so it will lock into correct position but the E9 does not.

What s the correct procedure to reinstalling the distributor? I tried using timing hole to get TDC and I rotate the engine and I see two ball markings. One has the letter "Z" with a ball marking and another has "OT" with round ball. So what does the "Z" and "OT" refer to?

Thanks,
David
 
My dist popped up once when I loosened it too much. I replaced it by finding TDC on #1 cylinder by removing the plugs so the engine would turn easier then put a vacuum hose into plug hole #1 to feel the compression while watching the timing mark on the damper in front so it lines up with the mark on the block. When these coincide with the compresson you're there. Then turn the rotor to about the 5 oclock position inside the dist housing and install - it will drop in and the rotor should move and now point at the mark on the dist housing, about the 8 oclock position. See here:

http://www.e9coupe.com/tech/autobooks/chapter3/autobooks_manual_050.htm
 
It's worth noting the distributor still needs to be lubed with oil down the center of the shaft from time to time. Perhaps an argument for keeping points. :)

I pulled the distributor out of my 911 and it could not be turned by hand. The motor ran perfectly, but clearly that maintenance item had been ignored for some time.

So, these triggers remove some but not all of the maintenance required on the distributor.
 
OT is top dead center, but don't ask me for the correct German. Similarly, dunno wat the Z means. Perhaps if you look in the Blue Books.... or someone with a better knowledge of the language of Hans, Fritz and der Vaterland will chime in.
 
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