I am sure someone on this sight has converted their points distributor to electronic. I want to keep it as "stock" looking as possible. I am considering the Crane and Pertronix units. Any thoughts good/bad or otherwise on how well they installed/performed?
I am also using the Pertronix Ignitor on my '69 400. It is very stable and reliable so far. Suggestion though, go to the Ignitor II for a few dollars more. The original Ignitor prefers a few second delay between ignition on and start for it to "charge up". Both are invisible once installed other than the extra wire to coil +. Installation time was about 20 minutes once distributor was out to remove points, condenser, grommet and replace with screw, Ignitor, and new grommet.
Vikki 1969 Goldenrod Yellow / black 400 convertible numbers matching
my brother has the mallory unilite in his pantera. it quit working after several years but not so many miles. the main problem was waiting for the new unit to be shipped. he carries a points set in the car now just in case.
i want to get the petonix, but will still carry an extra set of points in the glove box.
Another alternative.....maybe not so stock looking, but Pontiac nonetheless, would be HEI from a mid 70s Pontiac. I converted to HEI. Simply replace the resistance wire from the fise block to the distributor with 12 guage wire and eliminate the wire from the distributor to the starter. Works like a champ.
I plan on sticking with points in my '68. I used a Pertronics in my '81 TA when I put my 400 in it, did not like it's performance, it missed out in the upper RPM's badly, ran better with the points set-up! If I ever use electronic ignition again it will be HEI.
I swapped mine out in my 68 to the pertronix about a year ago. So far no problems. I am not a distributor guru either, but with the instructions it only took me about an hour.
I have not had the chance to run it but I went with the Daves small body HEI. He converts the points distrubutor to HEI by mounting the HEI modual on the bottem of the distributor. That way you will never get stranded by a bad mail order part. Pertronics seems to get a lot of mixed reviews. Cran also sell a similar unit with a built in rev limiter. The story I got was the rev limmiter fails on many of these units and they won't replace it. Dave did a excellent job in my opinion. He rebushed the shaft, polished the outside and made it look better then new. He is a little sticky on how you send it too him but his work was excellent in my oppinion and it looks stock.
Are you absolutely SURE it is related to the HEI? It wasn't draining before? I installed an HEI and "thought" it might be causing the battery to drain over a few days. Of course prior to that I always disconnected the battery. ANYWAY, it turned out to be the voltage regulator. I replaced the original internally regulated alternator and external voltage regulator with a 140amp CS130 internally regulated alternator. Problem solved....NO more battery drain. I haven't driven the car around the block in over a month went out last night and turned the key and she fired with up.
