electronic ignitions

randyle · 06-22-1999, 03:35 PM

I a looking for opinions on the variety of after-market electronic ignitions available for the 914. MSD, Crane, Prematune, Pertronix, Jacobs, (any more?). I own a '75 1.8ltr, L-jet. Thanks in advance.

oredith · 06-22-1999, 05:10 PM

can't really give you advice, since i've only used one of them.. but here's my experience..

I bought a pertronix system for approx. $59.00.. and the entire installation process probably took less than 40 minutes (after i called up Tom to figure out which side on the coil is positive and which is negative).

My car used to ALWAYS require two crankings in the early morning to start, now, starts on the first try everytime. I'm not sure about the claim on horsepower gain, but definitely better throttle response, and smoother idle.

I'm sure the MSD system is better, but for the money.. i think the pertronix is going to be hard to beat.

Jeff

sastam · 06-22-1999, 09:18 PM

For simplicity (no boxes to mount, no wiring harnesses to augment, etc.), Pertronix should be a good bet. I have had one "fail" however. The positive lead pulled away from the sending unit. Upon distributor plate movement the engine would shut down (i.e. deceleration, acceleration), creating a very unnerving situation. Perhaps this was an anomoly.

6isbest · 06-30-1999, 05:04 AM

May not apply, but I picked up a MSD 6A ($129.00) & a Blaster coil ($28.00) from Summit Racing (summitracing.com) and breakerless points from Automation for $89.00.
On my carbed 1.7, the difference was like night and day; instant starts, better fuel burning (was very rich), great low end power, clean spark plugs....
Definately worth the money.

splinter · 06-30-1999, 07:58 AM

My Pertronix died with less than 300 miles on it. My mechanic said to send it back and see what happens. So right now the Pertronix has some reliability issues.

dave914 · 06-30-1999, 09:35 AM

My Pertronix was great for 6 years, never had to touch the timing. It has been used by VW folks for years also.
I killed mine cause i was doing a compression test, all four plugs out, and I cranked it over, but i should have pulled the 12 volt wire to the coil, cause when i did crank the engine, the spark had no place to go, and i burnt out the transistor in thePertronix. Bought a new one after that, and never had a problem since.
Best $60 bucks I ever spent twice on the car. Highly recommended. dave

MJHanna · 06-30-1999, 06:40 PM

MSD6AL- in use for last 7 plus years, four years as street / track car the rest as a track car > It’s great!!! I can limit electronically the rev’s. MSD’s do like MSD Spark plug wires. If you do the MSD Distributor the 6 AL plugs right in. On a carb car, they really make a difference. They smooth out the idle to where it sounds like a FI car. Even with a WEE bit of a cam, untill I idle to the grid, then you can here the Thump thump of the cam.