Sweptline.ORG

I sit here this evening thinking about getting the W200 ready for the battles of hunting. Last year the old Rezdog did amazing in southwest Montana. I had to bust through deep snow, break ice, and drive on the highway during the area's worst snowstorm (paved road speeds were reduced to about 35 MPH if you were feeling brave). That all being said, the pickup never let me down.
I am starting to fear it is getting ready for an overhaul in the engine department. That is another story. But I recently moved halfway across the state of Montana with a very heavy U-Haul trailer (they dont make a light one I belive) and a bed full of stuff including a Harley. My friend who followed me for a little ways said that the pickup was running very rich, like he was high just from a few blocks. That makes me think I need a new carb, especially with the fuel econ of about 8. I'm now looking at getting a factory new 2 brl. My brother is saying if I'm going to be putting money into it I should look at getting a pointless ignition, he suggests pertronix. So I ask my fellow sweptline owners, is the $80-100 pertronix system worth it?
Or should I just leave the points system in and drive it tell they start acting up? If so what are the cues of it acting up?

It's a good and bad experience with Pertronix. I didn't like them. I changed from points to Pertronix then back to OEM electronic . I can go Into any parts store. You might consider HEI conversion. It is pretty popular or buy a ready to run distributor. Your points dizzy is probably worn out. Acting up starts with a miss or complete no start.

Go to your local boneyard buy a factory electronic distributor, get a gm hei module, and get a coil rated to run a constant 12v. Wire it up and don't look back.

What year would i find a factory electronic dist?

About 73-86, just dont get the lean burn one. Should be 2 wires with a vacuum advance unit on it.

Just for curiosity, other than availability of parts, what issues did folks experience with using the Pertronix system?

My pertronix worked great for about 8 years and then left me stranded. Wemt to mopar electronic. The Hei and blaster coil I hear is a good way to ditch the ballast which I have had fail also. I keep a spare now.
jim

marklein wrote:About 73-86, just dont get the lean burn one. Should be 2 wires with a vacuum advance unit on it.

So when i find this dist. it should in theory just drop in inplace of my oridinalg one correct? Do you happen to have a picture of how the end product should look? I'm much better at building something to a picture instead of just words.
I have been doing some research and looking for something a little better to do this system? I'm also thinking about making it a class project as I'm a shop teacher. Between google and youtube I think I can get something figured out. But pictures would be a lot better.
Thanks!
Ian

Yes, it is a drop in piece. Just google gm hei conversion and look for the pic of the wiring diagram. Simple wiring, made my 360 idle like it never had in the past. Have fun.

After fiddling with points for a while on mine - I switched to Pertronix about 4 years ago at the same time I replaced the plugs, wires, coil, etc... I have had zero problems. But, as a back-up, I keep a set of points in the glove box. This has been by second experience with Pertronix - I used them in a 67 Ford car I used to have for several years.

So in summary, my experience has been quick easy starts, smooth even running and no reliability issues after several years of use.

behindthebadge wrote:After fiddling with points for a while on mine - I switched to Pertronix about 4 years ago at the same time I replaced the plugs, wires, coil, etc... I have had zero problems. But, as a back-up, I keep a set of points in the glove box. This has been by second experience with Pertronix - I used them in a 67 Ford car I used to have for several years.

So in summary, my experience has been quick easy starts, smooth even running and no reliability issues after several years of use.

Ditto on Pertronix. I keep a spare Pertronix in the glove box. .

marklein wrote:Go to your local boneyard buy a factory electronic distributor, get a gm hei module, and get a coil rated to run a constant 12v. Wire it up and don't look back.

Exactly.

The Chrysler electronic ignition is really the best there is as far as the distributor goes. The control box with the large TO mounted transistor was great in its day too, but the HEI module does the same thing.