I think it's luck of the draw. For 75 bucks, you can't beat the ease and simplicity of the Pertronics. I ran one for years and never had any problem. I've heard the Pertronics II's were more prone to issues.

 

Points or electronic? This is the 3rd millenia...

 

I'm glad someone brought up price. I'm not saying it's true in this case, but in most cases, you get what you pay for. I am VERY willing to dump a bit of loot into an ignition system just for piece of mind. I would also carry a spare in the trunk cause you really just don't know.

69mach, +1

Points are out. I really wouldn't bother with them. Spending the dough to replace them with something a little more modern is def worth it. I don't care how concourse you want your build to be, dump the points.

 

Yeah, I have the ACCEL Billetproof Distributor, my car was stronger with the old Ford distributor w/ a Pertronix Ignitor...but there are SEVERAL variables contributing to my loss of power with the new distributor (most of it being timing, the lack there-of,and an ill-adjusted carb).

Most of the problems surrounding the Ignitor II is the requirement of the Flamethrower II coil, most people believe that the Flamethrower I is good enough and this is where the problems start. My ACCEL calls for the low-ohm Super Stock coil, if I used a regular coil then my distributor would quickly fail. It's all about following instructions, if you do the 9 times out of 10 you won't have any problems (that 1 time of failure is usually just bad luck).

 

I purchased a "High Energy Ignition" (HEI) on Ebay for 60 bucks. Nicely machined housing out of aluminum, with a steel shaft supported by double ball bearings. Coil is contained in the distributor Cap, and the unit is all solid state, with a performance curve and adjustable vacuum cannister. Looks exactly like units costing $250 or more. Exceptionally well made, (probably in China) and works great. It made my engine idle smoothly for the very first time after almost 20,000 miles of driving with a Pertronics conversion. The pertronics was a good unit, but my distrubutor was just "tired" and had lots of play in all the parts.. The HEI unit works great, is affordable, and that huge red cap looks cool under the hood!! Just search for HEI on ebay and bid low!!