The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay ballast or not?

i'm working on a 1957 235. it has a petronix coil and modual in the disturburtor. when i talked to the folks at petronix, they said that i didn't need to run a balast between the coil and the ignition.

today i noticed that the coil was pretty hot so i just pulled the wire from the coil to the ignition and let it cool down. i'm thinking i do need that ballast. any opinions? what else could cause that to happen?

also, the truck is a complete rebuild so although it has been started and ran up to temp, it has zero road time on it.

thanks

The coil gets hot with the ignition on with Pertonix. If you accidentally leave it on over night, it will melt the plastic end of the coil, dump the oil out of it, and roach the Pertronix unit.

My friend has the same setup in this truck. Coil kept getting so hot engine would die. I gave him a GM racing coil plus ballast resistor. No trouble since.

Does anyone know what kind of amps that coil wire should be pulling on a 12V system?

Your second sentence stated the problem pretty accurately- - - -"it has a petronix coil and modual in the disturburtor". The GM HEI module stops all current flow through the coil primary until the module senses at least 100 distributor RPM. Pertronix hasn't figured how to do what General Motors designed into their system in 1975. High energy ignition systems in general flow approximately 15 amps when the primary current begins to flow initially. Good designs (like GM) incorporate a current limiter into the system once the coil reaches full magnetic saturation. Foreign-made clones of the GM HEI module eliminate the current limiter, since it's expensive to manufacture.
Jerry

If they say you don't need a ballast, then you don't. Coils get hot as Carl says. If it is their coil, ask them about it. Maybe it will cool a little better when more air flows at cruise speed. Raise it up into the air flow.

Rhetorical Commentary not aimed at anyone.

"So, other than those things.......how is the Pitatronix working out?
There are really only two choices:
1. Keep the points.
2. Install a GM HEI.

These two systems never have any problems except they eventually need tuned up/serviced. Like plugs do, like filters do, carbs.......

and you don't need no Fire Power, Super Lightning Bolt, MegaVolt, Mother Blaster coil... you are lighting a little pressurized gas fumes. You can pet a cat and get a spark. You can blow up a gas station getting out with your Kilt on. (oops! just brought Carl out of the closet)

In my sole opinion.
You either restore the truck using an original ignition system or you upgrade using time proven GM parts. You don't mess with Mr. In-between.
This opinion is meant for those having trouble with this unit, which there are many.
It is not meant for those who are happy with this unit, which there are many.

I think that whatever reason there is for this "P" unit, it is a false premise. Whether it's reliability, original looking dizzy, hotter spark or peer pressure.
There are a Brazilian points systems out there. A Shady Grove of trucks with them. A Mountain Home of experience.
Butcher Holler at us if you need help going back to your roots. Mechanicsville has a good shop."

You could get one of Tom Langdon's mini-hei distributors and be done with it. They look very close to the original, drop right in and use GM parts in case you need to replace anything. Friends of mine who have used the Pertronix gizmo say so many bad things about it, I've started wondering if it is being made by communists.

Bingo! I sure hope they are still selling them.

If not, they aren't all that difficult to make. The basic donor distributor is an early-1980's Chevy 2.8 Liter V6 item with centrifugal and vacuum advance. The housing, shaft, and drive gear have to be modified by some pretty precise machining. I made one a while back, using a new overseas-made clone of the GM distributor. If you do that, trash the foreign-made module and replace it with an OEM Delco-Remy item.
Jerry

I think Tom is on vacation for a couple of weeks, but last time I talked to him he was still selling them.

I believe Tom has retired and family took over. Website has a 2019 copyright and is offering the GM HEI for $190-$210. They indeed are on Vacation.
Glad this option is still available.

thanks for all the responses. i have to say that i believe i'm to blame as i think i left the key on! the ignition switch is old and i don't think i had it turned enough to shut it off! duh.

anyway, i pulled the key out last night, hooked it back up, and this AM, cool as a cucumber.

on the other hand, i've heard the same from many, why not just go GM HEI. i just had the engine rebuilt using a mild cam, dual zeniths and fenton duals, etc. i've made some mistakes with choices during the rebuild, wish i would have went with a single carb set up and a few other things, maybe i need to rethink the distrubutor.

is tom's set up drop in? as you can guess, original is not what i'm going for. more of a old style hot rod look

Yes, it is basically a drop and play set up. 🛠

Consider going back to points if not the HEI. The HEI is a really really good ignition. I have run them in race cars and they work very well. Tom sells his version, Deve (a member here, also Deve's tech net) has a method of converting a stock distributor to HEI. I have his parts, just have not gotten around to doing a conversion yet.

That being said, in a restoration, running an HEI does require some wiring modifications to be able to take advantage of the improved spark of an HEI. If you are not inclined to mess with the wiring, points are a pretty good option.

Here is the thing though. Using points, or for that matter even a Petronix, is only as good as the condition of the distributor. So for example, a 1962 2403 distributor (55 and up regular production, over the counter replacement for the earlier models) is now a 57 year old unit. Two years ago I purchased and rebuilt a Sun 404 machine so I could rebuild my distributors. I have put about a dozen used 2403 units on the machine, one grungier then the next, and none of them came up to specification with respect to the mechanical advance, and a couple of them have had main shafts so worn as to be unusable. As to the mechanical advance, its either broken pins, springs, rusted advance weights, or sludge so thick nothing can move. Once cleaned up, weights polished, lubricated and put back together, and the rest of the mechanics check out (not overly worn lobes), you can install good quality points and a fresh condenser, make sure the dwell is within specification, and off you go. Good quality heavy duty Echlin points or Standard points are good to at least 5500 rpm. Good, reliable and not all that troublesome.

The Petronix is not a high performance ignition. Its just a replacement trigger for the points. So instead of giving your ride a tune up once in a while (which I think is just pure therapy, that and a cup of coffee on a nice Saturday morning to do that tune up), you theoretically don't ever have to think about doing anything other then change the plugs, cap and wires.

So you have some alternatives. BTW, if you don't have access to anyone who can rebuild a distributor, here is one excellent resource.

http://www.masonracingignitions.com

A good guy, quiet, immaculate shop, knows what he is doing, fair pricing. He freshened up a vertex magneto for my 261 this past spring that I had not run since the middle 90s. He did a terrific job and fair pricing. Has all kinds of vintage ignitions, Mallory ect. that he can build and is a wealth of knowledge on that stuff.

Good post Mike!

thanks,

great info!

ok so... thanks to all the folks on this forum because after many problems and countless questions, i've just driven the old panel out of the shop and around the block. although the thing was running with open hedders and i didn't have the floor pan installed over the trans, it was the best ride i've had in a very long time!

i'm not finished yet and i don't want this to sound like an acceptance speech. i just wanted to say thanks to all the folks who helped.

so, thanks.

We all know that feeling. I look for buildings with big long windows so I can watch myself drive by.

I thought I was the only one that looked in windows.

I look at other people's smiles, and thumbs ups. I do not like all of the horn honking. It forces me to look in the tiny rear view mirrors to see what fell off this time...