Resistor wire - installed Pertronix I

[BobCT]

I ripped out my old 80’s Motorola box and installed a Pertronix I the other day. I’ve read a few posts about the resistor wire and its actual removal.

I have the Pertronix wired to the relay on the firewall (‘69 MK III) so I get IGN switched 12v there. For now, I have the resistor wire at the coil end capped. I am using a Pertronix coil.

I haven’t done anything at the IGN switch end and didn’t really think I needed to since it starts and runs. In one post, one person wired theres exactly like I did but went on to say they “removed” the wire altogether and that the car ran better after doing so.

Isn’t the resistor wire out of the equation the way I have it wired?

Thanks
Bob

[1Bad55Chevy]

12v at the coil in run there is no resistor wire in the circuit.

[BobCT]

That’s what I thought, I’m not sure why people wired it the same way and still physically removed the wire?

[1Bad55Chevy]

Probably just to make for a cleaner install. I don't understand how you hooked your system up. I hooked my coil/Pertronix drop in distributor to the voltage regulator. I truly doubt they completely removed the wire from the circuit because that would involve pulling the dash and dragging out of the wire loom. If you were going to do all of that you would have been better off leaving the stock wire in place and removing the resistor wire from that circuit so it would look completely stock.

Is your car running better now?

[Lee]

You'll burn a Pertronix 1 up if the coil primary is <1.5 ohms. I think the stock coil is more than that, but you should measure. If it's less than 1.5, you do need to run the ballast resistor.

Oops, I see you got a Pertronix coil, but the same minimum resistance rule applies.

[BobCT]

Yes, I have their flamethrower coil so impedance matching is good.

For the wiring, I wired the coil to the window relay on the firewall which gives me IGN switched 12v to the Pertronix.

That was the easiest way to wire and bypass the resistor wire. The MK III’s (maybe other models) had issues with the IGN and wiring right at the switch (not on the wheel this year). I’m waiting for a new switch and updated wiring harness and will disconnect the IGN side of the resistor wire when I do this the next few days.

For now, no real change in the idle with the new ignition installed but it cleaned up the wiring and no longer have a box mounted on the firewall.



Bob

[Dan Szwarc]

Isn’t the resistor wire out of the equation the way I have it wired?

Thanks
Bob

You're fine. This is exactly what I did. As a warning, do not leave the ignition in the ON position for more than a few minutes without the car running. It may burn out the Pertronix. This is a problem solved in the II and III versions.

The issue is that there is a chance the distributor magnet alignment may leave the Pertronix I in an ON state continuously and that version has no thermal overload protection.

That said, I've had one of these in my 66 since 1998 and over 50,000 miles and 27 years of ownership. Your results may vary.

[BobCT]

Ok, I’ll consider this done thanks. Yes, I’ve read about the key on issue.