Pertroniix 1281D

[mygt350]

Am considering installing a Pertronix 1281D dual point conversion kit in a 289 HiPo dual point distributor. Have always been old school but willing to step up to pointless ignition. 65 used a pink resistor wire to reduce voltage to coil. Appears the Pertronix device utilizes a collar with imbedded magnets that slips over the point cam shaft. As the collar rotates, the magnets pass the "trigger" and make/break signal to coil in same manner points opening and closing do. Thus, the electronic device mounted to the points plate is simply a electronic set of points. My question is, do I need to bypass the pink resistor wire and feed 12 volts to the coil or will the pertronix ! Ignitor work just fine with the pink wire connected? Secondly, can/will addition of a Pertronix ! Ignitor kill a original 65 GT350 tach?

[shelbydoug]

Am considering installing a Pertronix 1281D dual point conversion kit in a 289 HiPo dual point distributor. Have always been old school but willing to step up to pointless ignition. 65 used a pink resistor wire to reduce voltage to coil. Appears the Pertronix device utilizes a collar with imbedded magnets that slips over the point cam shaft. As the collar rotates, the magnets pass the "trigger" and make/break signal to coil in same manner points opening and closing do. Thus, the electronic device mounted to the points plate is simply a electronic set of points. My question is, do I need to bypass the pink resistor wire and feed 12 volts to the coil or will the pertronix ! Ignitor work just fine with the pink wire connected? Secondly, can/will addition of a Pertronix ! Ignitor kill a original 65 GT350 tach?

You need to run a 12v dedicated wire to the Petronix coil.  I put in a relay to lessen the load on the ignition switch but was running it before with an additional hot wire from the switch.
It doesn't affect anything else in the system so it won't bother the tach.

The pink resistor wire reduces the voltage to I believe 9v. The Petronix needs 12.

[mygt350]

Thanks Doug
Will by-passing the pink resistor wire to the coil with full 12 volts overload mustard top coil?

[67350#1242]

The attached diagram illustrates the proper hookup.

[shelbydoug]

Thanks Doug
Will by-passing the pink resistor wire to the coil with full 12 volts overload mustard top coil?

You need to use the Ford "solid state coil" or better the Petronix "Blaster" coil. The standard coil has the wrong resistance for the trigger unit. You need a coil that has 1 to 3 ohm resistance to work right.

Get the Petronix coil and paint the top of it yellow. It's more reliable then a Mustang yellow top.

[Bob Gaines]

Thanks Doug
Will by-passing the pink resistor wire to the coil with full 12 volts overload mustard top coil?

You need to use the Ford "solid state coil" or better the Petronix "Blaster" coil. The standard coil has the wrong resistance for the trigger unit. You need a coil that has 1 to 3 ohm resistance to work right.

Get the Petronix coil and paint the top of it yellow. It's more reliable then a Mustang yellow top.

To add to and clarify - Yes 12 volts will cook your genuine yellow top coil. Most will use the standard wiring to the genuine coil if you so choose the originality. A separate 12V wire from the ignition is run camouflaged in the gauge feed wiring wrap and coming out of the wrap to the short distance over to the distributor.  It is too bad the Chevy style Blaster coil is the most common alternative because it looks so hideous and out of place in a Ford engine compartment. You can paint it yellow but no amount of color change is going to make it better IMO.The only people it will fool is the people that don't know the difference anyway regardless of if yellow or not.  It is what it which is a standard generic Chevrolet style coil . The physical shape compared to a Ford coil is completely different IMO. I would try and find the the short stubby Petronix coil that was their heavy duty epoxy coil . It has since been obsoleted for the same thing but in the Chevy style coil. It very close to the shape and size of the yellow top coil. You can paint those yellow and fool even Ford people sometimes.

[Horsman]

The attached diagram illustrates the proper hookup.

Would this wiring diagram be the same for my 1967 GT K-code with factory tachometer? I am using the 1284 Pertronix kit.

Thanks in advance guys.

[shelbydoug]

If you are still using the yellow top coil then that uses the pink resistance wire so this is the correct diagram.
You may be able to find a switched 12v lead inside of the engine compartment. Look near the back of the left valve cover up high. Look for a red wire there coming out of one of the rubber grommets.
Test them with a multimeter. You will find one there.

[mygt350]

I called Pertronics and explained what I had and asked if I used the pink resistor wire to my yellow top, would it hurt my coil. His answer was no harm to the coil. If you do send 12 volts to the 5-9 volt yellow top, it will most likely fry it as Bob Gaines and couple others have mentioned  So I pulled the dizzy points plate and installed the 1281 Pertronics plate and pickup on my 65 GT350. Rotor was really nice as was cap contacts so they went back on. Mechanical advance was set to the 13L stop on the relucter giving me something like 26 degrees mechanical advance. Hit ignition switch and it fired right up. Set initial timing to just under 13 degrees giving me 39 degrees total advance. Haven't yet checked to see how close it is to the 39 degrees as I don't have that type light. Throttle response was immediate as was idle. Much more crisp than the points setup. Getting ignition upgraded and installing the 715 Drew P at Air, Fuel and Spark rebuilt has really changed the attitude of the engine. Although haven't taken it on road, it sounds like it really has an attitude now...Hardest part of the conversion was getting screwdriver on the plate screws without hitting (scratching) the fender to fender brace. Haven't yet reconnected the 65 tach as I will be installing a 2A inline fuse to help from frying it (thanks Bo).
Anyway, hope this helps.

[Bob Gaines]

I called Pertronics and explained what I had and asked if I used the pink resistor wire to my yellow top, would it hurt my coil. His answer was no harm to the coil. If you do send 12 volts to the 5-9 volt yellow top, it will most likely fry it as Bob Gaines and couple others have mentioned  So I pulled the dizzy points plate and installed the 1281 Pertronics plate and pickup on my 65 GT350. Rotor was really nice as was cap contacts so they went back on. Mechanical advance was set to the 13L stop on the relucter giving me something like 26 degrees mechanical advance. Hit ignition switch and it fired right up. Set initial timing to just under 13 degrees giving me 39 degrees total advance. Haven't yet checked to see how close it is to the 39 degrees as I don't have that type light. Throttle response was immediate as was idle. Much more crisp than the points setup. Getting ignition upgraded and installing the 715 Drew P at Air, Fuel and Spark rebuilt has really changed the attitude of the engine. Although haven't taken it on road, it sounds like it really has an attitude now...Hardest part of the conversion was getting screwdriver on the plate screws without hitting (scratching) the fender to fender brace. Haven't yet reconnected the 65 tach as I will be installing a 2A inline fuse to help from frying it (thanks Bo).
Anyway, hope this helps.

The pink resister is the Ford system and of course it will not hurt the Ford coil. The pink resistor wire is there for a reason. The reason is to protect your Ford coil which is not made with a internal resistor.  It is when you bypass the pink resister wire to the yellow top Ford coil that the coil will get a full 12 volts and eventually fry your Ford coil.  You did not say if you were running 12volts to your Pertronics or not . What did the tech say about the voltage to the Pertronics unit?  I have collected some discontinued Pertronix blaster 40,000 volt coils that are the smaller size like the Ford Yellow top .  I have painted the tops with a paint that closely matches the Ford Yellow top. They are much better looking then those long weird shape universal Chevy coils everyone sells. I have some that are designed to work with the Ford resistor wiring and some that are designed to work with straight 12Volts that is typically needed for the Pertronics module. I will see how many I have and post a picture of them for sale over the week end. They will be 90.00 shipped. I may have 4 to sell.

[Horsman]

If you are still using the yellow top coil then that uses the pink resistance wire so this is the correct diagram.
You may be able to find a switched 12v lead inside of the engine compartment. Look near the back of the left valve cover up high. Look for a red wire there coming out of one of the rubber grommets.
Test them with a multimeter. You will find one there.

If planning on using one of the Pertronix coils not the OEM yellow top, would I still need to run the 12V wiring modification?

[Horsman]

I called Pertronics and explained what I had and asked if I used the pink resistor wire to my yellow top, would it hurt my coil. His answer was no harm to the coil. If you do send 12 volts to the 5-9 volt yellow top, it will most likely fry it as Bob Gaines and couple others have mentioned  So I pulled the dizzy points plate and installed the 1281 Pertronics plate and pickup on my 65 GT350. Rotor was really nice as was cap contacts so they went back on. Mechanical advance was set to the 13L stop on the relucter giving me something like 26 degrees mechanical advance. Hit ignition switch and it fired right up. Set initial timing to just under 13 degrees giving me 39 degrees total advance. Haven't yet checked to see how close it is to the 39 degrees as I don't have that type light. Throttle response was immediate as was idle. Much more crisp than the points setup. Getting ignition upgraded and installing the 715 Drew P at Air, Fuel and Spark rebuilt has really changed the attitude of the engine. Although haven't taken it on road, it sounds like it really has an attitude now...Hardest part of the conversion was getting screwdriver on the plate screws without hitting (scratching) the fender to fender brace. Haven't yet reconnected the 65 tach as I will be installing a 2A inline fuse to help from frying it (thanks Bo).
Anyway, hope this helps.

The pink resister is the Ford system and of course it will not hurt the Ford coil. The pink resistor wire is there for a reason. The reason is to protect your Ford coil which is not made with a internal resistor.  It is when you bypass the pink resister wire to the yellow top Ford coil that the coil will get a full 12 volts and eventually fry your Ford coil.  You did not say if you were running 12volts to your Pertronics or not . What did the tech say about the voltage to the Pertronics unit?  I have collected some discontinued Pertronix blaster 40,000 volt coils that are the smaller size like the Ford Yellow top .  I have painted the tops with a paint that closely matches the Ford Yellow top. They are much better looking then those long weird shape universal Chevy coils everyone sells. I have some that are designed to work with the Ford resistor wiring and some that are designed to work with straight 12Volts that is typically needed for the Pertronics module. I will see how many I have and post a picture of them for sale over the week end. They will be 90.00 shipped. I may have 4 to sell.

Bob,

Sorry to drag this out, but wiring and electricity are not my best subjects. I would prefer to hook up my Pertronix positive and negative connections directly to the coil and have no fear of burning something up like OEM harnesses, tachometer, etc. Now if it is completely needed to run the new 12V power source like in the above diagram to make the Pertronix work properly I can do it no problem. When reading above you said  "I have some coils that are designed to work with the Ford resistor wiring and some that are designed to work with straight 12Volts that is typically needed for the Pertronics module." Does this mean one can run a special coil and not perform the 12V wiring modification?

Thanks for your help.

[Bob Gaines]

If you are still using the yellow top coil then that uses the pink resistance wire so this is the correct diagram.
You may be able to find a switched 12v lead inside of the engine compartment. Look near the back of the left valve cover up high. Look for a red wire there coming out of one of the rubber grommets.
Test them with a multimeter. You will find one there.

If planning on using one of the Pertronix coils not the OEM yellow top, would I still need to run the 12V wiring modification?

It depends. Some of the coils have a internal ballast resistor for use with a full 12 volts others need a external ballast resistor which is like the Ford coil which needs the pink resistor wire built into the Ford wiring harness under the dash.  My understanding is that the Pertronics runs best on a full 12 volts. If you run 12 volts to your Pertronix it only makes sense that you would run 12volts to your coil. That is unless you want to run one separate wire with switched 12v to the dist and the Ford wiring for your coil .  I know of people who run their Pertronix through the Ford resistor wiring which is less then 12 volts and it seems to work fine. I also know of some people who bypass the resistor wire in the Ford harness all together under the dash so 12 volts runs through the Ford wiring so as to be less conspicuous in the engine compartment .

[Bob Gaines]

I called Pertronics and explained what I had and asked if I used the pink resistor wire to my yellow top, would it hurt my coil. His answer was no harm to the coil. If you do send 12 volts to the 5-9 volt yellow top, it will most likely fry it as Bob Gaines and couple others have mentioned  So I pulled the dizzy points plate and installed the 1281 Pertronics plate and pickup on my 65 GT350. Rotor was really nice as was cap contacts so they went back on. Mechanical advance was set to the 13L stop on the relucter giving me something like 26 degrees mechanical advance. Hit ignition switch and it fired right up. Set initial timing to just under 13 degrees giving me 39 degrees total advance. Haven't yet checked to see how close it is to the 39 degrees as I don't have that type light. Throttle response was immediate as was idle. Much more crisp than the points setup. Getting ignition upgraded and installing the 715 Drew P at Air, Fuel and Spark rebuilt has really changed the attitude of the engine. Although haven't taken it on road, it sounds like it really has an attitude now...Hardest part of the conversion was getting screwdriver on the plate screws without hitting (scratching) the fender to fender brace. Haven't yet reconnected the 65 tach as I will be installing a 2A inline fuse to help from frying it (thanks Bo).
Anyway, hope this helps.

The pink resister is the Ford system and of course it will not hurt the Ford coil. The pink resistor wire is there for a reason. The reason is to protect your Ford coil which is not made with a internal resistor.  It is when you bypass the pink resister wire to the yellow top Ford coil that the coil will get a full 12 volts and eventually fry your Ford coil.  You did not say if you were running 12volts to your Pertronics or not . What did the tech say about the voltage to the Pertronics unit?  I have collected some discontinued Pertronix blaster 40,000 volt coils that are the smaller size like the Ford Yellow top .  I have painted the tops with a paint that closely matches the Ford Yellow top. They are much better looking then those long weird shape universal Chevy coils everyone sells. I have some that are designed to work with the Ford resistor wiring and some that are designed to work with straight 12Volts that is typically needed for the Pertronics module. I will see how many I have and post a picture of them for sale over the week end. They will be 90.00 shipped. I may have 4 to sell.

Bob,

Sorry to drag this out, but wiring and electricity are not my best subjects. I would prefer to hook up my Pertronix positive and negative connections directly to the coil and have no fear of burning something up like OEM harnesses, tachometer, etc. Now if it is completely needed to run the new 12V power source like in the above diagram to make the Pertronix work properly I can do it no problem. When reading above you said  "I have some coils that are designed to work with the Ford resistor wiring and some that are designed to work with straight 12Volts that is typically needed for the Pertronics module." Does this mean one can run a special coil and not perform the 12V wiring modification?

Thanks for your help.

If you want to run your Pertronix on less then 12volts through the Ford wiring and take the chance I know of some that do that and claim no problems . I think if you ask Pertronix they will say it is recommended to run a full 12v. You will have to ask them . I am not familiar with the newest greatest Pertronix systems. I started collecting the Pertronix 40,000 volt coils short coils when they were discontinued because I got tired of seeing the nasty aftermarket Chevy style coils everyone was using. I keep some of the high output special short coils on the shelf that will work with the Ford wiring without modification and some that will work with a full 12volts. It depends on which way you are wiring your set up.

[mygt350]

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