converting 1973 E to electronic ignition

[tmctguer]

i am thinking of converting my 1973 911E to electronic ignition from its stock points configuration. our host sells both Crane & Pertronix units.

can I get a few tips or recommendations for the best one to buy?

any installation things I should be careful of?

thanks.

[kucharskimb]

I have a Crane XR3000. Installation took a couple of hours and has been relatively maintenance free for 8 years. Every couple of years I ensure the alignment is still correct and every oil change i take the air nozzle and blow out the inside of the distributor to remove any accumulated dust. (It is an optical pickup)

You end up having to replace the coil and wires, however, as the new ignition is not compatible with the ballast coil or the beru wires. I used the PS91 Coil and Clewett wires.

You will be able to open up the plug gap. While this is a controversial subject, Crane Tech suggest .042" gap on copper plug. I'm running .045" on platinum plugs.

The XR3000 is the middle step between the simple optical trigger XR700 and their HI-6. Despite what the box says in the photo, it is not a 700/3000, you have to look at the part number. The 3000 is a complete unit and has dwell control built in. If you simply go with the trigger, you still use your stock CDI. If you go with the HI-6, you need an additional trigger, ie optical or magnetic.

Crane's recommendation was the 3000 based on street/track with a compression ratio under 10:1 and naturally aspirated.

At the time, my Tach did not work anyway. But the stock CDI produces a sine wave signal, and the electronic units produce a square wave, so you will also have to have your tach rebuilt, get a newer one, or run a signal converter.

If I had to do it over again, I would probably investigate going Ignitor to an MSD 6 box. But you might run into all of the same problems...

On a scale of 1-10
Have I been happy with it? 9
Price to convert. 8
Installation. 9
compared to stock points and CDI. 10

[74-911]

I've been running the Pertronix Ignitor in my 2.7 for about 5 years with nary a problem. Very easy to install and no other modifications were necessary. From my experiences I highly recommend it.

[cmcfaul]

X 2 on the Pertronix. 5 years and works perfectly. Best mod I ever made!

Chris
73 911 E

[lateapex911]

Me too. I have a MSD 6AL as the ignition source. I did find the installation of the optical trigger to be rather klugey, I wish it was better made and cost more, but, that said, it's been darn reliable. better than points!

[jpnovak]

Been running a Crane optical trigger for 7+ years and now have one in each car. No problems.

btw, Crane now sells the optical trigger that operates independently of the XR3000 and XR700. All you need is the photodiode assembly and a mounting kit. This will trigger your stock CDI with no problems.