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Triumph TR6 - Pertronix Ignitor Install in '74 TR6

I read a thread from last year of a Discussion helping Ignatius install a Pertronix unit in his 1974 TR6. I think I got the jist of it, but wanted to make sure I have it straight before I join the "the higher the hair, the closer to God" group. Not do I want to damage my LBC. Simple question - will this work:

Yup, me again.

The Pertronix Ignotor I received from Moss has one black and one red wire. The black goes to the - side of the coil. That's the easy part. From what I understand, the red wire should be hooked up prior to the ballast resistor so it will have a constant 12V while the ignition is on. The recent thread mentioned hooking up at the fuse box to the circuit with white-in / green-out. I've checked this circuit and have found it to only be hot with the ignition on thus making it the logical candidate. In a nutshell, can I hook up:

Black to coil ground
Red to unfused white wire having side of fusebox

all without killing myself or my 6?

I will need to replace the connectors on the Pertronix wires as they do not fit either place properly (female where male needed at - side of coil and female too small at fusebox) and are waaay too long.

Hopefully there is a simple and too the point answer. If anyone wants to email me a photo of their Pertronix setup wiring that would apply to my '74, I'll be in your debt.

Any and all help is appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Don Hasara
CF19053U (Feb '74) ran fine until I took the points out.
D Hasara

Hi Don,

It sounds like you got the jist of it. I also have a 74 and decided to run a wire from the fuse box towards the coil, and connected the red wire of the pertronix to this. I wire tied and taped this lead wire with the wires that were already running in that direction just to keep things tidy. I will send you a picture in a little bit.

Ignatius
Ignatius

Thanks Ignatius.

I think I've got it, but your photos will bring reassurance.

I received an off-list email from Rod (thanks for the photos Rod), but his ignition coil doesn't appear to be stock nor have a ballast resistor attached. Your description of your 74's coil and wiring sounds identical to mine.

I look forward to the photos.

Thanks in advance,

Don Hasara

D Hasara

Booya!

Wired the sucker up as described and she fired right up! Black to - on coil, red to fusebox right next to the white switched wire. Had a bear of a time setting the timing. Thought I was going to have to move the distributor one tooth to get it right... then removed the vacuum line from the distributor as I cussed myself for all the wasted time.

Now all back together. Rock steady idle, but a bit high. Is this to be expected or did my setting the timing (was off 3 degrees) cause this?

Winds out beautifully, no pops, backfires or hesitation whatsoever. I was almost afraid to drive it any distance before. The Pertronix was probably the best $100 I could spend on the car.

Will try opening the plug gap to .030 or .035 from .025 later to see if that gives any more improvement.

Thanks to all who helped me out on this one. Man! What a difference (well the timing was off to start to begin with).

Regards,

Don Hasara
'74 TR6 CF19053U
D Hasara

Don--Glad things worked out with your install. While my experience with the Pertronix has been excellent, others have had problems. Advise you keep a contacts & condenser set in your boot in case you need to do a road side swap.

Rick O.
Rick Orthen

Thanks for the feedback Rick. I've heard the same thing re: Pertronix. My old cap, rotor, points and condenser were in the boot as soon as they were removed.

I've opened the plug gap from .025 to .035 as discused in past threads. I haven't really driven it enough to see a difference. What should I expect that I already haven't seen.

Also had a difficult time setting the timing and kind of threw out the manual and timed it until I got what I felt was the best performance without detonation. Par for the TR6 course I'm suspecting!

Thanks again,

Don
D Hasara

What I've experienced are easy starts and no misses at all rpms. The steady idle is pleasing too. The only problem with the Pertronix I had was getting the wires tucked away under the cap so they wouldn't get chafed. If you run the Lucas gold coil with Bosch platinums, you can open the plug gap further to 0.040.

Rick O.
Rick Orthen

Thanks Rick.

I'm running a Pertronix Flamethrower currently. Would there be much of a difference with an extra .005" in the gap?

DonH
D Hasara

On theoretical grounds, more complete combustion should be the result of the increased gap (spark energy). Nothing seat of the pants though.

Rick O.
Rick Orthen

This thread was discussed between 07/09/2003 and 23/09/2003

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