Fitting Pertronix to my 1962 Coupe

[rustytractor]

To cut a really long and boring story short I tried fitting a Pertronix (#1181) to my '62 390 Coupe to no avail. Tried shimming the magnet ring and adding spacer washers to the base but I got nothing whatsoever. Eventually returned it back to points and it ran fine so I've left the points in at present but want to fit the Pertronix ASAP.

The wiring showed options with/without resistor - I believe that the Cadi has an inline resistor sonwhere in the curcuit which I assume is causing the problem.

Can anyone advice as to the correct wiring procedure to get this to work - if not I've wasted $150 on a Pertronix kit which I can't use.

[Dan LeBlanc]

Other folks I know of run 12v from the power wire going to the wiper motor. It is live when the key is in the run position. Clip the cloth covered wire (resistor wire) at the coil and tape it off. The other wire will provide the 12v necessary while cranking.

[rustytractor]

Other folks I know of run 12v from the power wire going to the wiper motor. It is live when the key is in the run position. Clip the cloth covered wire (resistor wire) at the coil and tape it off. The other wire will provide the 12v necessary while cranking.

Sorry for being dense Dan - if I understand correctly you mean disconnect the cloth covered wire (currently twinned with another 12v input) and run an additional ignition switched 12v wire to the positive side of the coil. That means that there would be 2 x 12v inputs to the coil.

Correct ?

[62 driver]

You need a full 12volts all the time going to the coil when the engine is running.  The easy and shortest way is to use the wiper power.  I left all my wires hooked up and just added a new 12volt from center (I think) wire motor to coil.

[Scot Minesinger]

All the Cadillac from 54 thru 72 that worked on had a resistor, and I'm sure the 1962 Cadillac does as well.  You should use the "with resistor" wiring diagram.  Is it that the with resistor Pertronix wiring diagram with resistor is confusing?  The shop manual will tell you which wire has the resistor and where it might be, generally in the engine bay.  On a 1954 I worked on it was on the firewall as a ballast resistor, and on newer Cadillacs it is a resistor wire section.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Russel,
Follow what Dan has suggested.  Regarding "2 12 volt sources" I assume you mean the two wires now connected to the + side of the coil.  One is from the resistor wire and the other is a full 12 volts from the starter motor intended to give you a full 12 volts for starting. That wire will not hurt anything remaining.
One thing with Pertronics installations is be sure and follow their instructions regarding clearances. It is important.
Greg Surfas

[62 driver]

I can only speak for the 61-62 Cadillac. They have a resistor wire setups.  I have installed 2 pertronix 1181 model setups. One in a 62 and one in a 61. I have only used 1181 and know nothing about any others the models.  The 1181 must have a full 12 volts all the time to run at its best. They say min is 9.6 volts. The resistor wire gives you about 8.2 volts. That's why you need to run a wire of full 12 volts. The easiest is from the wiper motor. Understand you blow a wiper fuse your car might not start. Dave

[JVA]

I used the Ignitor 3 (71181) on my '67 with a 429 and had zero issues.

I went a little OCD and tapped the ignition switch at the connector under the dash, removing the resistor wire and running a new wire from that connector all the way to the coil*. Figured as much fresh new wire as possible was a good thing.

You need 12v for the coil, and 12v for the actual Pertronix module. Both need to be ignition switched. The Pertronix module needs a good ground to the engine. The coil ground is connected to the module. As others said, the air gaps are important.


* This is actually a lie. I used the 12v switched to control a Cooper-Bussman PRM mounted to the hood hinge bracket. The PRM switches battery power to a small fuse panel that controls the choke, coil and Pertronix module.



(This is immediately after install, it's much cleaner now )