Petronix honest long term opinion from drivers

I have had the pertronix black module for over 10 years with no problems. Just remember not to leave ignition in the on position for a length of time. If I am doing any testing I pull wire off coil. I do carry a spare module just in case and spare points dizzy. I am well covered.
If you have the red module it will be protected.
Glenn

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Oh, thanks: Id almost forgotten.

:woozy_face:

In the 1970s I had a Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. Lovely Car other than rustā€¦

I installed Jacombs system that took just a signal from the points and then amplified it into a massive spark. Spark plug gap could be opened to 45 thou.

It was the leading edge!!

Now my car has a Pertronix and it works well

Dennis 69 OTS

As Paul says, my understanding is that its not, strictly speaking, a stovebolt, but the definition of ā€œstoveboltā€ is sufficiently fuzzy that it might fall into the ā€œmore modern versions of the stoveboltā€ category, still having only 3 siamesed intake ports and 3 siamesed exhaust ports. Pic below. Iā€™ve removed that ā€œThriftmasterā€ sticker since as I do not believe it was correct for that engine.

Considering that its a 3.85L engine, it is really, really lazy. Iā€™ve read that this engine only has two issues: 1) It canā€™t breathe in, 2) It canā€™t breathe out. I have been wondering if somehow making a 2 carb or 3 carb jag intake manifold fit onto the engine would yield any gains making that effort worth while.

Still, with the little output it has, I can still maintain a comfortable 65mph on the open road (despite that air brake on top of the windscreen.)

I know nothing about Chevy 6ā€™s but looks very similar to the Blue Flame 6 like in the first Corvettes. If so I bet there are already other manifolds etc that might help it perform better. My '71 Vega 4 cyl has the same ā€œcanā€™t breath in, canā€™t breath outā€ problem. Years ago I bought a single Weber DCOE manifold that will fit it and also an Offenhauser 4 barrel manifold. Both were cheap when I bought them. Have not ever used them since have not done all the head, cam and linkage work to make them worthwhile. If there is stuff like this for the Vega engine I have to think there is much more for a Chevy straight 6 at a reasonable price.

David
68 E-type FHC

Gee you think the unit went bad?
I never touched the distributor or timing since I bought it and it ran like a Swiss watch!
There are BLOW holes on BOTH sides of some of the contacts.
I did see a video where the curve and the shaft get out of alignment creating an off spark
I have a complete 123 coming
I switch the coil too just to see before I pulled the cap
She is junk my friends
Hopefully I will have the unit by next week
Gtjoey1314

My ser1 Etype had a Pertronix module inside oe Lucas distributor when I got it. It was ok but started missing at high load. I recently installed a 123 distributor and so far Iā€™m incredibly pleased.
I think the advance weights were sticking and maybe the springs were tired on the old dizzy. One of the best features of the 123 is that advance is all electronically controlled. No more weights and springs. It does have a vacuum connection but that just gives the little circuit board a signal. It doesnā€™t move anything mechanically. Iā€™ve never had a better cold start or smoother idle and she pulls like a train all the way to red line.

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John mines on the way did you look at the pictures under the cap
Thatā€™s how mine started under high load it starting breaking up then more and more

My understanding is the ā€œstoveboltā€ 6 was first produced on in the early 30ā€™s as a 194 cu. in. straight 6 and production continued through 1962 with a displacement of 235.5 cu. in. That engine was replaced with a new straight six that displaced 230 cu. in. (later enlarged) and that engine wasnā€™t strictly a ā€œstoveboltā€ although being a 6 and looking similar is generally referred to by many as a ā€œstoveboltā€ engine. My first car was a 63 Chevy Belaire with a 230. It was a darn good engine, at least as I remember it.

Back in the day manifold manufacturers, Offenhauser comes to mind, made performance manifolds for the Chevy 6s. Looking at Summit racing, I see they still do. Perhaps they have one to fit your engine.

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If you are interested in upping the performance of that engine post a question in the pub. I would be surprised if you did not get some very practical information. Carl would likely be quite knowledgable and I am sure there are others.

Now that i can see the pushrod side, it IS a stove bolt: note the panhead screws holding on the one-piece tappet cover, around the periphery.

THATā€™S the hallmark of Stovebolts. When that cover became two covers, fastened at their centers and not the periphery, was the distinction between real Stovebolts and the later analogs.

As for performance mods that actually do somethingā€¦ not that much that can be done, bolt-onwise.

Its breathing isnā€™t really limited by the carb or exhaust manifold: its the poor head design.

Thanks Paul!! Nice to be sure now. Well, the Pertronix certainly did help even on this mule. Starts much easier now, idles and runs really smooth and Iā€™m convinced that she is giving me everything sheā€™s got (at 4700ā€™ AMSL).

Thanks Geoff, more power would be nice, but in this case, Iā€™ld rather go the whole 9 yards and plug in a V8 with a 700R4 before trying to improve the 6. Too often I have been told these 6ā€™es really donā€™t have much potential. I wonā€™t be driving it much, so it will stay as is.

I know several people with the original distributor who also carry a spare set of points, along with a condenser, rotor and distributor cap in case their components fail on the road.

In the 54 years Iā€™ve been driving my distributor failures score is points 2, electronics 0. Of course that could change tomorrow. :laughing:

Wanna hot 6?

Get a Jimmy 270: hot rodders used it a lot, in the early 50s.

There are indeed ways to make Chevy sixes scoot!

http://oldchevytrucks.com/blog/index.php/category/high-performance/

This must be the Australian made copy. We had multiple of these in our cars as a boy. The ultimate iteration did have three ZS carbs.

images

I had a customer, for whom I built a hot 250: Moldex crank, Pink rods, Edelbrock aluminum 12-port head, 45 DCOEs, crank saddle, and a bunch other stuff. Put an alloy M22 'box behind it.

In a '70 Nova, he turned low 11 second quarters.

Great engines, along with the 292.

In the early 70ā€™s I bought a 49 chevy PU with a 235 and 4 barrel manifold and carb. Didnā€™t seem to be any real performance gains, and was replaced with a 327 vette engine. I survived that and learned many lessons about hot rods.

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Almost undoubtedly, there wasnā€™t, because in the entire stock system, the single barrel carb is not the main limiting factor.

I had the identical set up except that the 327 came out of a full size sedan so probably a bit detuned from the corvette specs. Surprisingly the v8 bellhousing bolted up directly to the truck 3 speed standard and torque tube.