[Sun Tuned]

Customer at a large antique car storage facility has a customers Vette they're doing work on. The guy has several cars stored of which a nice 69 judge convertible clone.

The chevy runs badly and the actual mechanic doing the work calls me to look at/work the distributor. Hands me a new in box pert. I frown but that what the guy payin the bill wants...

New pert out of box is shixt! Someone had cooked it and loaded it into the box and returned it. I call Mike and tell him and he gets another one on way...They order another new one from Oreilleys... it shows up. I was going to be out for the afternoon do I finished the distributor and carried it to him he's gonna put the new pert in.

He calls me and says swing by if I got a minute. I got back and went by. All sorts of random popping and such. They come walking up with the box it came in and it is in a Standard Ignition box?!?!?!

Guy at oreilleys says they're changing over a lot of stuff...

So has Standard bought pertronix too?

Boy oh boy point distributors are gonna be worth their weight in gold before long if they did...

Just curious if anyone has bought a pertronix lately??

[64speed]

I have had three pertronix fail on three different vehicles. Never again

[Sun Tuned]

Just got off the tech line talking to Frank, and frank says they have "NOT" been bought or acquired by Standard.

Thinking oreilleys has a very serious issue internally with taking electrical parts back and not actually checking what's being brought back...

[tom s]

The last one I got was from you!Tom

[66beaumont]

Bought one last spring for the goat. Had one in the Beaumont for 4years till I sold it. 0 problem with either of them

[Sun Tuned]

Tom, yours was brand new in an un crumpled box. Plus yours I tested, quite extensively. Your good. And yours came from the main hub, I had my regular guy order it.

This seems to be some internal collierville oreilleys issue. Like guys taking stuff back for their "friends" that are trying to hang parts...

There are about 4 pages of volt/ohm tests that can be done on these things to verify functionality. These are not printed in the instructions.

I may have spoken too soon. What the guy at osmileys said about lots of stuff changing hands didn't sit well so.... I spent 25 mins on hold listening to some really wonderful "hold music" while waiting to talk to Frank at pertronix...

Nice guy! Very eager to help if possible. First time I ever had to call em. He seems to be of the notion we just got two bum boxes of product that's out of their control...

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by Sun Tuned

Thinking oreilleys has a very serious issue internally with taking electrical parts back and not actually checking what's being brought back...

This.

I stopped shopping at Oreilly due to the new manager at our local one refusing to warranty or return ANY electrical part I had bought from them because apparently corporate was making them jump through hoops to prove it was truly bad before sticking them with the bill if it for some reason wasn't. That they are having trouble with their distribution and bad parts being sent back out again doesn't surprise me at all.

[Chief of the 60's]

Pertronix has been junk for a long time. But like SCAmsoil, E3 spark plugs and the Turbonator, if you market the hell out of it, people will buy it. It all falls under that, "there's an ass for every seat" or "a fool and his money" category. Do not fall for miracle fixes just because you heard or read how great they supposedly are.

[Cardo]

A good friend of mine bought one last summer for his 66 'Vette with a 327. It lasted less than a week and left him on the side of the road. He went back to points.

[Sun Tuned]

This was not designed to be a pertronix bashing thread.
I'd say 95% of failures are due to bad grounds on these things.. and as much as everyone thinks their car is top shelf I bet I could have a field day with a volt/on meter checking things that have gotten out of kilter in 50 years.
Most of the ground connections on these cars need serious attention. The reality of this is most never consider it unless there is a problem that warrants checking and correcting it. Not to mention with updated engines brings "lost" or "forgotten" ground straps.

Based off the nice email "Frank" sent me, wewill check into this and see what we got. Just generally saying a pertronix is a piece of junk without any scientific testing to back that statement up is just
Being opinionated and naive. The real questions that need answers are is it a piece of crap due to a faulty design? Or is it actually due to fundamental basic issues that keep a decent product from doing its job because the "basic" setup is inherently riddled with problems not due to the pertronix?

I'm betting a good 90% of the failures most have had are due to electrical problems elsewhere that really needed addressing even before the points were pulled in the first place.

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

the Turbonator

Arnold Schwarzenegger wearing a turban?

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

Arnold Schwarzenegger wearing a turban?

LOL! Its a power booster and fuel saver that goes in the intake snout of your carb or throttle body. Everybody should buy one.

[tom s]

Not sure how many engines I have built over the last 22 years or so but everyone except for 2 have had pertronix in them.As I have said before,I never mess with dist.I always have them professionally rebuilt,curved and pertronix setup in them.I will say many of the issues have been operator error.Tom

[KEN CROCIE]

0 for three with pertronics. Magnet fell out of disc on my 72 Riviera and 74 SD. Went up in smoke on my 64GTO

[Sun Tuned]

Ken yours just ran too fast and you slung the magnets right out of em! Lol.

Ya ,if the magnet comes out, that will do it...

[Cliff R]

I'm NOT a fan, and actually have removed half a dozen Petronix recently from distributors in vehicles brought here (several from great distances) to find out what's wrong with them and why they run poorly. The owners had exhausted all efforts to get local "guru's" to fix them, and of course there was significant "hacking" going on by the time they ended up here. To this day I don't know why there are so many folks still "stuck in the 60's", installing super quick timing curves to get all the advance in by 1500rpm's and plugging off the vacuum advance, or even worse installing an MSD billet distributor w/o a VA in a street driven car.

Anyhow, I've done several Buick GS 455 Stage 1 cars and a pristine Hurst Olds, and every single one of them was acting up and had a Petronix conversion in it and some sort of cheap off-shore spring weight kit and vacuum advance plugged. A good set of points/condenser and stock weights/springs and we were right back in business. A quick tune on the factory Q-jet, send the customer on a quick test drive, comes back grinning from ear to ear, I get paid and everyone is happy.

I've never liked the early Petronix that has crap hanging from the bottom of the rotor and spinning thru the pick-up. Not really very fond of later varieties and sooner or later they take a chit and it's NEVER in front of Summit or Jegs!.......FWIW......Cliff

[dhcarguy]

Originally Posted by Sun Tuned

This was not designed to be a pertronix bashing thread.
I'd say 95% of failures are due to bad grounds on these things.. and as much as everyone thinks their car is top shelf I bet I could have a field day with a volt/on meter checking things that have gotten out of kilter in 50 years.
Most of the ground connections on these cars need serious attention. The reality of this is most never consider it unless there is a problem that warrants checking and correcting it. Not to mention with updated engines brings "lost" or "forgotten" ground straps.

Based off the nice email "Frank" sent me, wewill check into this and see what we got. Just generally saying a pertronix is a piece of junk without any scientific testing to back that statement up is just
Being opinionated and naive. The real questions that need answers are is it a piece of crap due to a faulty design? Or is it actually due to fundamental basic issues that keep a decent product from doing its job because the "basic" setup is inherently riddled with problems not due to the pertronix?

I'm betting a good 90% of the failures most have had are due to electrical problems elsewhere that really needed addressing even before the points were pulled in the first place.

I think Sun Tuned is right. I have a Pertronix coil and module in my car. It has been in there for over 9 years and about 13K miles.
I did buy another kit that I keep in the car because of the Pertronix bashing I read on this site a few years ago.
I would like to hear from someone who has had it in their car for a longer time. I wonder how long it will last????

Dave

[Chief of the 60's]

Originally Posted by dhcarguy

I think Sun Tuned is right. I have a Pertronix coil and module in my car. It has been in there for over 9 years and about 13K miles.
I did buy another kit that I keep in the car because of the Pertronix bashing I read on this site a few years ago.
I would like to hear from someone who has had it in their car for a longer time. I wonder how long it will last????

Dave

Go to the HAMB. There are plenty of Pertronix threads there. Many of which are not flattering and only a very few have made it as far as you. Keeping an extra Pertronix is a good idea. Kind of like keeping an extra ballast resistor in the glovebox of an old Mopar.

[GTO JONES]

My son bought 2 of them, both failed went back to points no problem.

[400 Lemans]

Had one that lasted maybe 1000 miles and went out at about 60 mph just like turning the key off. Ended up on side of the road and had my spare points to replace it with. Slung module by the power wires as far as i could throw it. Back on the road again.