electronic ignition

[Biggy72]

so can you run the same electronic ignition as in a vw? I've used petronics in my vw's and they seem to work great. Any info would be greatly appreciated

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yes, you can.

But the quality of Pertronix seems to have gone downhill in recent years. Quite a few people have had them die...

There is a different part number, I am told, for distributors with vacuum advance/retard. Using the non-vacuum version in a vacuum distributor will result in some rubbing unless you take a Dremel to some of the bits. The actuating arm for the vacuum dashpot interferes a little bit.

--DD

[Biggy72]

well what else is suggested to use other than petronix for under a hundred bucks? I'm looking to improve mileage and maybe add a little power but with fairly easy installation

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Compufire seems to have a better reputation, at least at the moment. They should be about the same price (~$70). They are also Hall-effect sensors like the Pertronix.

I like the Crane Cams optical setup myself, but that is more expensive. You also have to put an extra box somewhere in the engine bay. But the optical sensors seem to be a little less sensitive to distributor shaft movement than the Hall-effect ones. Not much of an issue unless your distributor is getting close to dying anyway, but still... I have a vague notion that the signal to the coil is also a little bit "cleaner" somehow. But no data to back that up.

--DD

[JmuRiz]

Too bad this:
Crane XR-i
Isn't available to any non-musclecar V8's. This thing looks way easy and cool. Maybe someday they'll make one for other apps.

Nathan