Re: Pertronix question

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When the truth serum kicked in, gbhx@domain.elided (George Humphrey) blurted out...

>        I finally received my Pertronix ignitor in the mail yesterday. I
>assume it won't make any difference but should the spark plug gap be
>changed? The instructions don't say anything about changing from stock
>specifications. 

George,

While you don't *have* to change the spark plug gap, with a Pertronix Ignitor,
you can get away with... and benefit from... increasing the spark plug gap.
But before you do that, you need to make sure the rest of your ignition system
is in top shape.  Make sure your coil, spark plug wires, distributor cap and
rotor are all in like new condition.

As you increase the spark plug gap, the voltage in the secondary ignition
system will also increase.  Therefore, if you have a marginal set of plug
wires, you could get arcing through the insulation to engine ground... or get
shocked when working around the engine.

With a high quality coil and plug wires, increasing your gap to .050" would be
fine.  That's what I run mine at and it seems to run better than at the
original plug gap.  The idle is smoother and starting is easier.  I can't
really tell the difference at highway speeds and there was no change in gas
mileage.  I find the main benefit of the larger gap is the plug seems to stay
cleaner, although it wasn't bad to start with.

But again, don't increase the plug gap until you make sure the rest of the
system can handle the increased voltage.

Regards,

John L.
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