Distributor options-pertronix or 123 or?

[rockiemosley]

Hey Folks,
Ive been investigating the different electronic ignition options for my 74 GTV. Ive thought about the 123ignition, but I keep comming back to the option of installing a pertronics unit in my Marelli S103BA distributor. I am thinking the MR-LS2 unit listed for the S103B distributor will fit, but does anybody know the difference between the S103B and the S103BA? Is there anything about the advance curve on the BA model which is less than optimal.
I hope to one day put some hot cams and a HP Spica pump on the car but for now I am running the stock cams and a spica pump from a 79 spider. If I would be better in the long run with the 123ignition distributor, I could go that way, but Ive used pertronix before on a BMW 2002 and it made a huge difference.
Any thoughts?

[gprocket]

I have both a pertronix and a Crane XR700. They are both a great improvement over the point and condensor and work especially well with the SPICA. Frankly the Pertronix is cheaper and doesn't require the additional black box to be mounted on the firewall so I would go that route.

As far as a HiPo iginition, I would wait until you do the rest of the work. You won't get any tangible improvement until the rest of the motor is dealt with.

Good luck!

[rockiemosley]

Another distributor question on this thread, instead of starting a new thread. Pertronix is comming out with the Ignitor3 which is supposed to be pretty tricked out, but wont apparently have it for out cars, but will have it in their billet distributors for VW's. I am wondering how different out dizzys are from VW's as Bosch was found in both cars. Could you change the gear on the VW dizzy and run it in the Alfa? The pertronix3 billet distributor is supposed to be a pretty trick item. Any chance in that working?

[Alfajay]

Rocky:

You can research this by comparing the dimensions given on the 123ignition website for the VW distributor against an Alfa dist. See 123ignition electronic ignition systems for classic cars (yea, I know you are looking at a Pertronix, and not a 123 distributor - the 123 website is just a good resource for distributor dimensions).

My guess is that the dimensions will be the same, except for the "foot" that attaches to the base of the shaft, and engages the oil pump (longer on the Alfa than on the VW). So, if my guess is correct (and I'm not sure it is, so check), by swapping an Alfa "foot" onto a VW distributor, it will fit.

You may run into difficulties with the advance curve, however. My memory is that VW's run with a lot less advance than Alfas. I can't explain why this should be, but this fact popped out from somewhere in the dusty reaches of my memory - can anyone confirm?

[rockiemosley]

Jay-
Thanks for the link. I am not sure why the 123ignition folks dont list the alfa distributors as there are several places that sell them. Can anyone point to a similar drawing of an alfa distributor?

Thanks

[180OUT]

Rocky, you might also think about the Centerline distributor/ignition setup. The distributor has an advance cuve developed by George Willet who is on the bb.

[braddo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockiemosley Ive used pertronix before on a BMW 2002 and it made a huge difference. Any thoughts?

[alfacorse1965]

Hello,why you don,t consider to use an original AR electronic ignition ,Marelli or Bosch ? I use a Marelli sistem and I am very happy with it.

[rockiemosley]

Braddo-
you asked about the benefit of the pertonix over points. With points, as your cam rubbing block wears, it changes the dwell of the spark, not to mention the spark degradation that occurrs as the sparking surfaces of the points begin to get pitted.
When I installed the Pertronix on my BMW 2002 (1972) the engine idled much smoother and seemed to rev more smoothly throughout the range. With the pertronix you get a hotter more precisely timed spark which does not deteriorate between tune ups. It was an immediate performance enhancement on the BMW. it also compensates somewhat for wear in the distributor shaft as sparking is electronically triggered, vs mechanically triggered with points, so there is no rubbing block riding on the cam, you dont have the dwell variation introduced by the points rubbing block riding on a cam that might wobble due to wear in the shaft. Anyway , I think the performance change is something you will definately feel, not like nitrous but it is there.
That is my non-expert explanation of the benefit of electronic ignition vs points.

[Todd]

Anyone have any experience with the adjustable advance billet distributor that IAP sells????

[dpberner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfajay Rocky: My memory is that VW's run with a lot less advance than Alfas. I can't explain why this should be, but this fact popped out from somewhere in the dusty reaches of my memory - can anyone confirm?