Poly electronic ignition - best options please

[DarrellG]

Hello everyone,

It's been a while, my 1965 D200's been sitting idle for over two year in my back yard after she decided to "run like crap" - it's time to get her on the road again! Tonight my Dad and I pulled the heads, I have two dead cylinders, burnt valves, going to the machine shop tomorrow. My Dad (the REAL mechanic) says he thinks it'd be a good idea to convert to electronic ignition to make her a true daily driver while I'm spending $$$ and we've go it apart. Last time I was here was a couple years back, you guys were a great help. It's time again!

So - what are my options? I'd prefer all new - of course money's always an issue but "do it once, do it right" is my mantra.

318 poly, auto, looking for electronic ignition - what are my options?

I searched the forums but not exactly what I was looking for so, heck, why not go with my own post and get specifics? (o=

Thanks everyone in advance,
Darrell

[Hobcobble]

I've gone the MoPar Performance Electronic Ignition Kit route on three of my Sweptlines
and my Coronet R/T. I've had great performance with zero issues after years of operation.
Some have used the Pertronix kit, some have gone the HEI route and others have hit up
their local boneyard and pulled an electronic ignition system from an old MoPar and have
had good results..... just to give you a few options.....
John

[truckluvr]

I have Pertronix systems in all my rigs. Hands down the easiest and most reliable system on the planet... Plus you get a 30 month warantee which helps also. Fits right inside your existing distributor and with the Ignitor 2 module and flamethrower coil you can eliminate the ballast resistor also so all you have to do is join the start and run positives together and have one single hot wire go to the distributor, one to the coil positive and the neg. from the dist. to the coil and VROOM! But If you do go with the Ignitor 2 system I HIGHLY recommend buying some MSD or Taylor low resistance plug wires because there is too much energy transfer for cheap plug wires (they'll burn out). I went from points to Pertronix in my 318 and went from 12mpg to 14mpg and from stock electronic to Pertronix in a 440 and went from "wow that's a lot of power" to "HOLY CRAP SLOW DOWN YOUR SCARING THE S#!& OUT OF ME!"

[HellBelly]

I had the opposite experience on my BB 383:

Points: Pretty decent performance when the points could keep up.
Pertronix: Pitiful performance, i yanked it out the next day.
Mopar Electronic ignition: 110% better performance, worth every cent of the $200.00

That is just my experience with the Pertronix system on a Big Block

I do run the Pertronix system in my /6 and it does just fine.

[CSS-Registry]

i have the pertronix in my 64 with a 440 and a stock purple cam.

so far i like it but i don't think it is any better than the mopar electronic ignition. i used the pertronic so i could maintain my dual point 426 street wedge distributor.

Ben

[Russ]

Pertronix seems to have a lot of devoted followers but I disagree that it's the "most reliable setup on the planet". I would give that honor to a stock Mopar electronic ignition like the ones that came on Mopars between the points era and lean burn era, the ones with a magnetic pickup and four or five pin box on the firewall. Parts for it are available anywhere but you will virtually never need any parts for it.
I've never used a Pertronix setup so I'm not knocking it, just doubt that it's more reliable than a stock Mopar.

[MowagW200]

I bought a Mopar SB electronic HP distributor, a high performance (45000V) Mopar coil and a Pertronix rev limiter (set at 4900 rpm) at summit racing. The only issue was that the blade of the new distributor is 90 degree off compared to the stock point distributor. So I spent about an hour to rotate the tooth wheel down at the camshaft until the finger was pointing to cyl 1 again. My engine runs smoother now. Very noticeable at idle when cold. I couldn't compare the performance because at the same time I swapped from a Weiand 7503 to a stock cast iron 4bbl intake manifold.
Kind regards

[SpecialOrder66D100]

You can buy the electronic ignition wiring harness from Mopar for less than $30, buy you a spark box, ballast resistor, and wire it up. Or you can cut the wiring harness from a '73 to about a 1980 or so Mopar from a yard and
do the swap even cheaper. Easy to do!

Getting rid of the points makes a world of difference.

[wally426ci]

and keeping your single wire alternator is even simpler! You don't have to hack into the original wiring at all, just run your coil wire and one to the left side of the ballast resistor.

I kept my eye for a Mopar Performance kit on eBay and landed a brand new set-up for $125