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PerTronix Flame-Thrower III Billet Distributor

12K views 35 replies 18 participants last post by  69ZL1 
#1 ·
I just purchased a PerTronix Flame-Thrower III Billet Distributor part # D7100711, I haven't installed it yet but it looks like a nice unit, I was told by pertronix that the distributor comes with a cast gear and cannot be used with my Lunati billet Hyd cam, so I phoned up Lunati and they recommended me a Lunati Everwear Gear part#8902,

I have never switched out a distributor gear before, how hard is it? just tapping out the roll pin? any tips would be great, I haven't checked out the end play on distributor yet, what should the end play be? I bought a Moroso Distributor Shim Kit part #26140 if needed

lastly when I'm ready to install the distributor I will have to check out the wear pattern on the gear for proper cam gear engagement, what's the best way to see the wear pattern, machinist dye? or assembly lube? and the wear pattern should be in the middle of the gear right? I also bought a Moroso Distributor housing Shim Kit #26150

any other tips would be great, Thanks Chris


 
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#2 ·
Yup. Drive out the pin, pop the gear off, put the new one on, and drive the pin in. Chances are you wont need to shim it. Though I dont know if this is one of their Chinese distributors. Wouldn't hurt to double check when you get the good Lunati gear on.
 
#4 ·
Yup. Drive out the pin, pop the gear off, put the new one on, and drive the pin in. Chances are you wont need to shim it. Though I dont know if this is one of their Chinese distributors. Wouldn't hurt to double check when you get the good Lunati gear on.
The housing and gear is made in China but the electrical components are made in USA, do you know what the end play specs should be?
 
#3 ·
Ive had my pertronix for a few years and I like it.I also had to switch my gear,but went with the gm melonized one because that's what they had recommended for their cam.
Did have to have a machine shop open up the gear to .5 for the aftermarket distributor.Yours should be already to go,but I would check all the same.
Also,mind where the shim is if you have one.
 
#5 ·
Ive had my pertronix for a few years and I like it.I also had to switch my gear,but went with the gm melonized one because that's what they had recommended for their cam.
Did have to have a machine shop open up the gear to .5 for the aftermarket distributor.Yours should be already to go,but I would check all the same.
Also,mind where the shim is if you have one.
was your GM Gear Diameter 0.491" or .500" my Lunati gear is .500", what do you mean by mind where the shims is??
 
#10 ·
"Have you tried calling pertronix? I'm sure they will tell you"

I really do prefer the real truth on this, I am an ignition system manufacturer as well, and am fed up with the misleading over hype advertizing not truthfully describing other's products.

Calling Jim Hairston/PerTronix is USELESS, their "techs" AREN'T real techs, and, their components are all made in China, with some very few assembly steps done here in the U.S.

Someone posted above that the electronics components are made in the U.S., I need to confirm the exact plant/facility they are actually made in, and so far, NO-ONE has done same, with PerTronix flat out refusing to do so.

At least, you didn't hit absolute rock bottom with this, you DIDN'T buy a Skip White/Pro-Comp bottom of the barrel mess. Not far off, but, really close to all the way bottom

Please advise, or, was it only cut and paste from PerTronix ultra hype advertizing?
 
#26 ·
That was 13 yrs. ago, things have changed, alot of your MSD brand components are made in mexico.

I just bought a Pertronix module & coil, The module from day one had issues, Something in the dwell was malfunctioning, It would kick back on the starter at 10* int. timing, pissed me off, Oh & the kicker, I called Pertronix, They said the module was USA made & the coil was made in china, i get the boxes, the coil is made in china, The module was made in costa rica :noway:
 
#16 ·
I have a FT3 distributor and matching coil on my 489, but it's the "as cast" (stock looking) unit.

Aside from re-shimming the gear because it had too much play, and fiddling with the advance curve, I haven't had any problems with it. it doesn't have many miles on it though so can't comment on it's long term reliability.
 
#17 ·
Save your money. I just sent back to JEGS my Pertronx 111 Billet dizzy and matching coil. This was the second one,by the way. I spent all last summer chasing a mystery miss in my 396,along with a mystery bog. The miss and bog did not have any rhyme or reason,and was not "at the same time" with the engine at any crusing speed or RPM. After going though everything but the dizzy,and I mean everything,I narrowed it down to the dizzy and coil. But I wondered,"How could it be this brand new dizzy and coil? It was supposed to be top notch stuff. It turned out to be the Pertronix 111 was bad-Jegs took it back-no questions and sent a new one at N/C. I called the Pertronix people and the answers I got started me to wonder. They wave the flag-Made in the USA. Not so,it has China all over it.
Long story short-Dropped my original AC-Delco dizzy with a 4 year old Ignighter,and a GM coil,all the problems went away. No miss,no bog,starts much easier,and runs like a charm...Bob
 
#18 ·
I hear mixed reviews, some guys say they make great products and other say that they had problems,
I talked to there tech and they told me an important step is to make sure all grounds are good and make sure you don't have too much voltage going to coil as this will burn the coil and cause misfires, I asked them where is the distributor made he said the distributor housing and shaft is made in China, the electronics are made in the USA and the coil is made in Mexico

also they make Doug's Headers so they can't be that bad of a company
 
#19 ·
I have no problems with the original Ignighter. I was not happy with the Pertronix Billet 111. If I do this over,I would either up-grade my AC Delco with the "kit", go HEI,or send my dizzy to Dave Ray...Bob
 
#20 ·
"Have you guy's used any of there products? if so please state what you had and what issues"

Yes, I see them EVERY day, broken, died messed up junk, didn't work form the start and got no help from the manufacturer, name it, lots per year. I'm the person that usually ends up getting your dead super-duper, whoopee doo ignition system well after it has completely frustrated you, to fix correctly.

"I hear mixed reviews, some guys say they make great products and other say that they had problems,
I talked to there tech and they told me an important step is to make sure all grounds are good and make sure you don't have too much voltage going to coil as this will burn the coil and cause misfires, I asked them where is the distributor made he said the distributor housing and shaft is made in China, the electronics are made in the USA and the coil is made in Mexico"

Yes, SAME manufacturer in China that manufactures Pro-/comp, same people in Mexico that used to make all the problem prone MSD Blaster coils, Pro-/bobbin, but, NO confirmation of any source in the U.S.A. that makes their electronics, NONE.

And, as I have always stated, and been flamed and called stupid over, too many volts to the system will turn one of those things into instant hamburger electrically. USE THE BALLAST RESISTOR, AND STOCK COIL, YOU WILL THEN HAVE A 50/50 CHANCE THE THING WILL LIVE.

With stock specs, the first Ignitor was/is still the best ELECTRICALLY, use stock ballast resistor or resistor wire, stock coil, good set of magnetic suppression, spiral core wires, 7 or 8mm, your choice, stock spark plugs with NO MORE THAN .035 PLUG GAP, and the Ignitor will have a good chance of living a fair life, nothing more than point system output. Later models, don't hold your breath.

As I said, I do ignition systems for a living, and I don't like over hype advertizing, nor products touted to be more than what they really are. That is shy I am so adamant in getting the real truth out, and stopping all the misleading info. For this, I get flamed, called names, said to be stupid, moron, idiot, and worse. If yu want a straight true answer, ask me, if you want smoke and mirrors, over hype ads for stuff that doesn't measure up, just sit back and wait for it to show up, you'll get more than you bargained for.

Now, does anyone know what company here in the States actually manufactures PerTronix ELECTRICAL components?
 
#21 ·
"Have you guy's used any of there products? if so please state what you had and what issues"

Yes, I see them EVERY day, broken, died messed up junk, didn't work form the start and got no help from the manufacturer, name it, lots per year. I'm the person that usually ends up getting your dead super-duper, whoopee doo ignition system well after it has completely frustrated you, to fix correctly.

"I hear mixed reviews, some guys say they make great products and other say that they had problems,
I talked to there tech and they told me an important step is to make sure all grounds are good and make sure you don't have too much voltage going to coil as this will burn the coil and cause misfires, I asked them where is the distributor made he said the distributor housing and shaft is made in China, the electronics are made in the USA and the coil is made in Mexico"

Yes, SAME manufacturer in China that manufactures Pro-/comp, same people in Mexico that used to make all the problem prone MSD Blaster coils, Pro-/bobbin, but, NO confirmation of any source in the U.S.A. that makes their electronics, NONE.

And, as I have always stated, and been flamed and called stupid over, too many volts to the system will turn one of those things into instant hamburger electrically. USE THE BALLAST RESISTOR, AND STOCK COIL, YOU WILL THEN HAVE A 50/50 CHANCE THE THING WILL LIVE.

With stock specs, the first Ignitor was/is still the best ELECTRICALLY, use stock ballast resistor or resistor wire, stock coil, good set of magnetic suppression, spiral core wires, 7 or 8mm, your choice, stock spark plugs with NO MORE THAN .035 PLUG GAP, and the Ignitor will have a good chance of living a fair life, nothing more than point system output. Later models, don't hold your breath.

As I said, I do ignition systems for a living, and I don't like over hype advertizing, nor products touted to be more than what they really are. That is shy I am so adamant in getting the real truth out, and stopping all the misleading info. For this, I get flamed, called names, said to be stupid, moron, idiot, and worse. If yu want a straight true answer, ask me, if you want smoke and mirrors, over hype ads for stuff that doesn't measure up, just sit back and wait for it to show up, you'll get more than you bargained for.

Now, does anyone know what company here in the States actually manufactures PerTronix ELECTRICAL components?
Ever since I've owned the car its had a HEI distributor, what brand and part # do you suggest for the ballast resistor? Pertronix made it clear that I needed a coil with 0.320 ohms on the primary, what brand of coil do you suggest part # please, I currently have a set of MSD 8.5MM Super Conductor, Spiral Core part #31199 that I installed not too long ago I needed to go with MSD because they offer the Multi-Angle Boots for my headers
 
#22 ·
MSD wire set is fine, no problems. A less expensive set would have been Borg-Warner "Select" series user cuts to fit, 8mm. These wires are made by the same people that make "performance" manufacturer's wire sets.

Coils, although they are Chinese, they work as well as any MSD Chinese coils, and many other "performance" big name ones, O'Reilly Auto Parts, 'Master Pro' series, 2.5195. This is for a remote, round oil filled coil. I NEVER use an epoxy coil of any kind, on anything I can fit the coil I listed. This coil works with, and without a ballast resistor, but, must be mounted upright, wire end UP, as in stock Chevy on manifold method, NOT ON ITS SIDE, nor up side down.

PerTronix DOES NOT MANUFACTURE AN HEI in a 'drops into your stock GM point distributor' Ignitor type system. I do believe they market a Chinese made large diameter, coil in cap HEI, mediocre at best, but it is an HEI, NOT small diameter, NOT a drop in type point replacement system. Ignitors just do not have the electronic drivers to extend dwell at all, let alone raise coil output, that is why the drop in systems don't need, and cannot fully use any better coil than dead stock, and resisted.

For ALL drop in PerTronix Ignitors, I use a NAPA ICR13 ballast resistor, stock Chevy, 1955 thru 1966, GM stock porcelain type. What used to be available as well, was a replacement resistor wire for GM, it is 7 - 1/2 feet long, and is the same type silver stranded wire that came in GM cars for decades. Both have 1.80 ohms. The whole PerTonix premise is that if the input current is increased, the output will also rise, NOT SO.

Uni-Lite Mallory will go blind with excessive un-resisted current input, they like between 6.50 and 9.50 resisted input volts. To get a Uni-Lite 5o like its input, two resistors need to be used, GM 1.80 from power source to coil, MOPAR points .60 ohms, between resisted coil + terminal, and Uni-Lite red feed wire.

The points I am attempting to make are to do it as you wish, but, when it blows to Mars, don't cry and blame others because it wasn't done the way it should have been. And, that some people here work with this stuff EVERY day, and have found much different proven fact that differs from what the advertizing and lack of tech hype really is. Now, the ONLY reason I ask about the factory PerTronix "U.S. Made" claims its electronics are made, is still NOT identified, and for some years now, no-one has ever come up with conclusive proof, in the from of the direct factory that is supposed to make this stuff, is anywhere in this country. Why all the secrecy from that "manufacturer"? Usually, we have NO trouble in identifying sources for our parts, why so much trouble, with NO confirmation on this issue? Only PerTonix knows, and they refuse to tell anyone, at least, so far. You'd think PerTronix would be proud to claim a real factory in the U.S., manufactures their products, they being an American company.

I still seek the source, and truth.
 
#23 ·
I get all my parts from New York state, and there's no O'Reilly Auto Parts stores in NY state, i had a look online and Advance auto parts has coils made by BWD, Mallory, AC Delco http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/c3...&vehicleIdFromReq=25139&vehicleIdSearch=25139

Autozone has there own brand of coils "Duralast" made by Wells Vehicle Electronics http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/1967-Chevrolet-Chevelle/Ignition-Coil/_/N-irglbZ9n80r

which coil should i buy?

is this the Nappa ballast resistor part # ECH ICR13 your talking about?

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...gnition-Coil-Resistor/_/R-ECHICR13_0158168738

anything else i should buy before i install this unit?
 
#24 ·
Now, the ONLY reason I ask about the factory PerTronix "U.S. Made" claims its electronics are made, is still NOT identified, and for some years now, no-one has ever come up with conclusive proof, in the from of the direct factory that is supposed to make this stuff, is anywhere in this country. Why all the secrecy from that "manufacturer"? Usually, we have NO trouble in identifying sources for our parts, why so much trouble, with NO confirmation on this issue? Only PerTonix knows, and they refuse to tell anyone, at least, so far. You'd think PerTronix would be proud to claim a real factory in the U.S., manufactures their products, they being an American company.

I still seek the source, and truth.
I asked Pertronix where there modules are made, and they said "we make our own modules in house Made in the USA" 440 East Arrow Highway San Dimas, CA 91773

 
#25 ·
I am not fan of some of the comments about the Petronix stuff. They have been a good company and helpful to me, especially Jim Hariston. I have used no less than 5 of the Distributors, both the I3 and I2, and have never had one problem or with the coils either. Their stuff is good. If they ever gave me a problem I would say. I started using them when the MSD ignition parts gave me fits. I have used ICE ignition systems from time to time because they offer two rev limiters which you can't do on a Petronix. Now I am not saying that they will never have problems because things happen but they are far from junk.
 
#30 ·
I have had GM, Pertronix III, & MSD.
I had issues with Pertronix but it may have been the way I wired it so I can't throw them under the bus. Pertronix was very good with service and warranty.

DAVE RAY - the real issue is the way you deliver your message - you might be super intelligent on ignitions you might be a total fool - but the way you deliver your message is to talk down to everyone, and pound the nail in with a sledge hammer.
Look at folks like CStraub, Wolfe - look at the respect they get and look at how they speak to other forum members, respectively. Dave Ray - I have watched you for a long time and this is the reason you get called names - I'm not calling names - please take it as constructive criticism from someone who makes their living working with others, some like me some don't, but I learned along time ago how to deliver the message so they will all work with me.
 
#32 ·
Imho I would never buy a single screw from someone with his behavior, just look at the way he has behaved when he has posted here. Dont care how good he is.
How hard is it to convert a point distributor with msd or ford style reluctor and pickup and a hei module?

Marcus
 
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#33 ·
Imho I would never buy a single screw from someone with his behavior, just look at the way he has behaved when he has posted here. Dont care how good he is.
How hard is it to convert a point distributor with msd or ford style reluctor and pickup and a hei module?

Marcus
I'll admit Dave could mellow out a bit and be a bit more pleasant to converse with on this Forum. I'm still waiting for him to answer my questions.

However, I might have to disagree with your last statement. Have you ever converted a points distributor to electronic (and I'm not talking about buying a kit that someone else has already done all the necessary engineering and machining)? Dave is the only one on this Forum (outside of me) that I've seen do it.

My apologies to anyone on this Forum whom I've neglected to include in the few people who have engineered and built their own distributor/ignition conversions. I would greatly enjoy seeing additional examples of members craftsmanship.
 
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