Pertronix Electronic Ignition Ignitor III Dual Point V8

Today, we're going to be installing an Ignitor electronic ignition conversion from Pertronix. Pertronix developed the Ignitor over 30 years ago to replace a troublesome point system found in classic cars. Anybody who has a classic car has at one time or another had a points failure due to the fact that points are a mechanical part and they're subject to wear and tear like any other part of your vehicle.

The system is designed to be an easy drop in module that anybody can install within an hour with basic hand-held tools. Pertronix offers three different versions of the Ignitor depending on the level of modification to your car and the amount of energy you're looking to produce.

This is the original Ignitor system produced by Pertronix for the last 30 years with over millions on the road. It's proven to be a very reliable upgrade to your vehicle. Best part about this system is installs in the distributor in the location of the stock points, requires no external modifications, and gives you that stock look that people like.

Pertronix recommends at the same time upgrading to a little hotter coil. The Pertronix makes the Flamethrower one designed for this particular system which will produce 40,000 volts and give you proper current to your ignition for a reliable system.

For higher performance applications, Pertronix offers the Ignitor 2. Ignitor 2 is physically the same size as Ignitor 1 and installs in the exact same fashion. The difference is it has a microprocessor built in to adjust the dwell, which will create more energy for higher RPM applications.

This will be better for your mildly modified or high performance motor. At the same time, Pertronix offers Flamethrower 2 coil as well, same design and physical shape as the Flamethrower 1 with increased voltage to work well with your Ignitor 2 ignition again for high performance applications.

Ignitor 3 would be the highest performance system that Pertronix offers. It installs slightly differently than Ignitor 1 and Ignitor 2, in that that you have to remove the breaker plate from your distributor when installing it. It comes with a built in rev limiter that allows you to adjust within plus or minus 50 rpm of your desired rev limit. It also produces the highest output of any system and is designed for high performance applications where maximum efficiency is necessary.

To recap, the Pertronix Ignitor 1 is an excellent choice for your stock or moderately modified vehicle providing roughly 50% more spark than your standard point system would. The Ignitor 2 will provide roughly three times as spark in your ignition system, while also having a built-in dwell control to allow you to have smoother power and higher RPM.

The ultimate performance is going to be Ignitor 3 which will include a built-in rev control and give you approximately five times a spark of the ignition point system. Before we begin the installation, you want to open up your Ignitor packaging and make sure everything you need is included.

They include clear instructions, hardware bag, solder-less connect, plastic feeler gauge to set the gap, the magnet sleeve, and the Ignitor assembly itself. For this installation, you need a flat blade screw driver, a wire stripper, a crimping tool, and an 8-millimeter ratchet.

We've installed our 289 engine on its engine stand to make it easier for you to do view the installation itself. Unlike what the air cleaner might say, this is a stock 289 with a four-barrel, which should be fine with a standard Ignitor ignition system.

Like any other electrical installation, the first step is going to make sure you disconnect your battery. In this case, it is obviously not a problem since your engine's already on a stand. You can start by removing the air cleaner to make it easier to access the distributor cap. Loosen the wing nut, remove the air cleaner and put it aside. Once your air cleaner is out of the way you want to move the main wire that goes to the coil. Simply pull and twist. At that point you are ready to remove the distributor out of the way to access the provisional point system in the car. There's two metal clips; one on the front one on the back. Once both clips are down, you can remove the distributor cap and place it out of the way so you can access your original point system. Once you're at this point, you'll also want to move your rotor and set it aside for later.

Next step in the process is to remove your initial points and condenser from the car. They're held in place by three flat head screws. It's easier to start with the condensers since that has a ground that will stay in the car. You want to hang on to the screws because you will need them for later. We've removed the screw from the condenser, now we can remove the screws and hold the points in place. Once you've unscrewed your condenser and your points, you can lift them up and move them out of the way and then trace the ground wire over to original coil. You want to remove the ground wire and then grommet you'll have to fish through to the side of your distributor. Push lightly and they should come right through. Fish your wire through, put the ground wire through the edge of the distributor and put your points aside. Once you've moved your points condenser out of the way, you want to re-ground the ground strap for the distributor. The hardware is very small, so be careful to make sure you get it right in place. Sometimes, it's easier to use the ground wire to hold the screw to put it down into where it goes. Screw in place and make sure it's nice and tight.

Next step is to install the Ignitor assembly on the distributor. First thing you're going to do is fish the positive and negative wires through the side of the distributor where you removed the ground from the point system. Pull these through and pull them over to where the coil will be where you'll connect them later. There's a grommet with this system that you're going to push through until it locks roughly in place where you want it. The wires can slide through the grommet so don't worry about having enough slack just yet. Make sure you have enough that you can pull through, without going too far through and then you are going to set the Ignitor over the original holes for your points. The rear-mounting hole for the initial point system is used as a pivot point to mount the Ignitor. Slide it down until you hear it pop into place. Then you twist it, and then you put the other hole right over the front mounting point and you grab your hardware to mount it. Using the screw you removed from when you first removed the points, we're going to remount our Ignitor system. Screw it in place. You don't want to tighten it all the way because you still need to adjust the gap. Just tighten it enough that it's not going to move out of place.

Next step you want to grab the magnet sleeves that's included with the kit, slide it over the center of the distributor. You'll turn it until it slides down in place. It will go down equal to the height of the ignition. Now, you want to grab the provided 30,000 feeler gage and stick that between your ignition system and the magnet sleeve that you installed. You want to turn the Ignitor until it is touching the sleeve, pushing up against the magnet, at which point you'll tighten down your front screw setting the correct depth. This time we're going to install the original cap and rotor in the car. Due to increase spark of the Ignitor, you want to make sure your cap and rotor are in good condition. Slide the rotor back over the distributor shaft, bring your cap back up front, make sure the cap is seated properly, grab the metal pins, and latch them into place. We removed the negative lead earlier, when we first remove the distributor; now, we're going to move positive lead from our coil. We're going to take both wires that came out of the Pertronix Ignitor and run them over to the coil. Remove the screws that are on the studs, the negative wire on the black side. Then we're going to put the positive lead from the Ignitor to the positive side of our coil.

The next step, you need to put a new terminal on our factory wire to be able to connect it to the Pertronix coil. You want to cut the wire, grab your wire stripper, approximately a quarter of an inch of exposed wire. Pertronix includes solder-less connectors. We'll put that into your crimping tool and grab our exposed wire, put it into the solder-less terminal, and crimp tight. That positive terminal will now go on to the positive lead of our coil and we'll put the retaining nut back on. At this point you want to grab your eight millimeter and lightly tighten both sides. Once you properly tighten the coil wires, grab your initial coil wire to your distributor, reconnect it to your coil making sure it has got a tight fit, double check your cap, and your installation is finished.

Now that you've finished the installation, you want to make sure that all your wires are secured out of the way so nothing has any kind of clearance problem. At this time, you can reconnect your battery, start the car, and set your timing as normal. Once you've done that you're ready to take your car for test-drive. The installation should take no more than half an hour even with basic hand tools, so you'll be back on the road in no time.