Hi Guys,

I am in the process of installing a Pertronix ignition set and I have a question.

As per the photo below -



There is a resistor / capacitor thingy to the right of the coil on the bracket and my question is whether to keep it or not.

Is it there as a noise suppressor for the radio?

Question 2 is whether I need to use the Ballast Resistor? I just have the standard coil if that makes a difference.

Many thanks,

Matt

The capacitor at the side is nothing more than a radio noise suppressor so you may as well just leave it there. It wont negatively affect anything.

The kit instructions should tell you if you need an external ballast resistor or not although most electronic units dont need one. The catch on a MK2 is the ballast is built into the loom so the easiest way to bypass it is to run a new wire from the ignition switch to the + side of the coil and leave the factory wire disconnected.

G

Thanks G,

Where's the best place to take the power from the ingnition?

Can I take the wire from the ignition switch itself or is there a better place?

Cheers

Matt

Hi Matt
Leave the balast there, the coil will get hot if it is meant to have a balast resistor and doesnt

The Petronix thing is really only a swith or trigger so i cant see it caring if the coil is balasted or not

Chris

There is no ballast resistor at the moment but the pertronix kit came with one.

Should I use it or not?

I think I am just overthinking it.

Cheers

Matt

HI Guys,

I have installed everything but car won't start.

I have spliced the wires from the ignitor into the wires that go to the coil but they (the wires from the ignitor) aren't actually touching the coil itself.

Is this the problem?

I will change it so they are and see how that goes.

It's frustrating when things don;t just work straight away and you have to problem solve.

Just the joys of the home mechanic I guess.

Cheers

Matt

Tried the above and no go.

I am using the standard coil and have hooked up the ballast resistor as there wasn't one there before. Is the standard coil acceptable?

What size gap do you need to set the between the rotor shaft and pick up point on the ignitor?

Also what spark plug gaps are people using as I have read that the gap works best when increased a fair bit?

Can anyone give me some pointers on things to check. What was supposed to be a half hour job is doing my head in.

Cheers,

Matt

quote:

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Originally posted by Matt75

HI Guys,

I have installed everything but car won't start.

I have spliced the wires from the ignitor into the wires that go to the coil but they (the wires from the ignitor) aren't actually touching the coil itself.

Is this the problem?

I will change it so they are and see how that goes.

It's frustrating when things don;t just work straight away and you have to problem solve.

Just the joys of the home mechanic I guess.

Cheers

Matt

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im confused about this part..
black wire goes neg coil, red to pos coil.
red/green on pos, pink [tacho] neg.
put new terminals on all wires and secure with nuts on the coil posts.

put new teminals on on to go over the coil pins.

is the pertronix air gap set right?

any corrosion on rotor cap or button?

any spark at all?

with all wires on coil, put key to "ON" and check voltage at the coil.

Hi James,

I am sorry if I was unclear.

I joined the wires from the pertronix unit to the wires that were going to the coil so the wires were not actually conected direct to the coil if that makes sense.

I agree it seems easy but I am having no luck.

What is the pertronix air gap supposed to be? I have just set it so there is eough gap so the rotor doesn't hit it.

Rotor is new as is the distributor cap.

Will check for voltage & spark tomorrow.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of the ballast resistor?

Cheers

Matt

P.S. Photos are to show the air gap. Not suer what it should be.

i think the air gap should be about 1.5mm? my kit came with a small flat bit of plastic which was to set the gap.
the ballast resister drops the voltage to the coil from 12v to 7v. it depends on which type of coil you use as some can only run 7v.
im not sure if there is any real difference between running a ballast resister or not.
if you dont have the ballast you may cook the coil.
it might be a good idea to buy a new Bosch GT40 /R coil. i picked one up from supercheap for ~$50 the 'R' model is the resister type.
also just wire the dizzy straight to coil, and run separate wires for power to the coil.