Cascade Crew

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:51 pm Post subject: Melting stuff

When I was rewiring the Merc I was reading on how you can remove the resistance wire from the ignition to the coil if you run an aftermarket coil and module instead of points.

And since I already had the Petronix Igniter in there, and Pertronix recommends that you run them at full 12V (I had mine jumped to the coil hot which had the resistance wire) I picked up an MSD Blaster 2, and ran straight 12V to the coil, and the Pertonix module.

Fired it up this morning, ran great, idled good, ran it for around 15 minutes to warm it up, and it just flat stalled sitting there. Fired it up again and it ran for a few more minutes before stalling. This went on for a little while and I eventually nailed it down to spark dropping out suddenly. So I popped the cap off the dizzy:

As Paul would say, No Bueno. Shocked

So now the car is dead in the driveway, behind the IROC, on Easter Sunday with no decent parts stores open. Bashy Bashy

I found an old set of points on the workbench, spliced the resistance wire back in, and reinstalled the ancient FoMoCo coil Fired it up and it idled like crap (didn't bother adjusting the points) but it ran.

Now I'm thinking I may go in a different direction. I've heard a few random-death stories about Pertronix stuff, and Duraspark systems are a common upgrade among the FE guys. Anyone use the Duraspark stuff before? And what killed my old module? Was it 12V, new coil, or was it just ready to tap out?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:03 pm Post subject:

Even with the pertronix I've read you need to run a Ballast Resistor.

I used an old Crane Points conversion kit. It would get so hot the box would shut down.

Popped a ballast on there and away it went. Was definitely noticable power loss though.

You really should get an aftermarket distributor and run a 12v coil then.

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:20 pm Post subject:

I found this:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/720237-whos-running-pertronix-ignition.html

I checked the MSD and it's like 0.700 ohms, while Pertronix's own coils are either 1.5 or 3.0 ohms.

BTW Paul, I was looking at aftermarket distributors on Summit, and there's a $200 difference between the Summit/Pertronix and the MSD. What's up with that much of a price jump?

chevymad · Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:05 pm Post subject:

Was going to say its the coil. I'm running a pertronix in my 454 but i'm using their coil with it. At a full 12v.

aaron_sK · Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:30 am Post subject:

Okay, so after a bit more reading I think I'm gonna pick up a 75-76 360/390 truck dizzy (only FE ever to run factory Duraspark), then run it with an MSD box and the coil I have now.

Reman dizzy is only 66 bucks from Napa, compared to $200-400 for an aftermarket billet dizzy from Summit. Shocked