No spark - shotty wiring

[Stuckinthegarage]

Ok, so she lives another day.. I was able to start it up and drive around the block. Found a small gas leak on the supply side and went to put a new hose clamp on it and realized that I have an electronic fuel pump in the rear, but its not even hooked up. I noticed when I was driving it last summer right around 3700 rpm it would start to sputter. I was looking around and apparently the electronic fuel pump works in conjunction with the mechanical after 4,000 rpm. Can anyone verify this? Also, tried my hand at timing and now its running rough so I'm going to start over tomorrow. 

[Zed Head]

Sweet.  Your mechanical pump should handle the load just fine, alone.  The electric pumps were added for other reasons, associated with heat problems.

[Stuckinthegarage]

Hey guys - ok so I got my habds on a fully rebuilt d612-53 distributor with Pertronix Electronic Ignition already installed for a steal. I previous bought a 1.5ohm 40,000 volt coil and new ballast resistor. Is it better to run it this way or buy a 3.0 ohm coil and eliminate the ballast? Also, can I take advantage and run a larger spark gap? If so, what? 

[Zed Head]

Depends on if it's an Ignitor or an Ignitor II.  Ignitor II has adaptive dwell so should produce more spark energy with a lower resistance coil.  The actual specs on the Pertornix products are hard to find through.  They don't really describe advantages, I think they rely on their name for the most part.  If it's an Ignitor II you can run a coil as low as 0.45 ohms., no ballast.

https://pertronixbrands.com/search?q=datsun&dFR[vendor][0]=Pertronix+Ignition&hFR[named_tags.level_1][0]=Electronic+Ignition+Conversions

[Stuckinthegarage]

8 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Depends on if it's an Ignitor or an Ignitor II.  Ignitor II has adaptive dwell so should produce more spark energy with a lower resistance coil.  The actual specs on the Pertornix products are hard to find through.  They don't really describe advantages, I think they rely on their name for the most part.  If it's an Ignitor II you can run a coil as low as 0.45 ohms., no ballast.

https://pertronixbrands.com/search?q=datsun&dFR[vendor][0]=Pertronix+Ignition&hFR[named_tags.level_1][0]=Electronic+Ignition+Conversions

Great information - thanks. It's just the ignitor..

[Zed Head]

If I was using an Ignitor I'd just run the stock system.  Stock coil and a ballast resistor.  It will be easier on the Ignitor and give the same performance as stock.  The ignitor removes the need to maintain points but doesn't do much else.  It's about like the early electronic ignitions for the 280Z's. If you use a performance coil, with lower resistance, for hotter spark, the odds of burning up the Ignitor increase.  Today's Pertronix doesn't seem to last as long as yesterday's,  There are stories of sudden failure.

[Stuckinthegarage]

Zed Head, the guy said its never been installed and the dizzy had been sitting for several years so hopefully I got the good one! 

[zKars]

Pertronix is famous for burning up if you leave the Key in the ON position with the car not running for more than 15 minutes or so. Pertronix II is supposed to be more tolerant of that but I’ve seen failures. 

[Zed Head]

6 hours ago, Stuckinthegarage said:

Zed Head, the guy said its never been installed and the dizzy had been sitting for several years so hopefully I got the good one! 

It will probably work fine, the electronics aren't going to age in just a few years.  But, apparently, you need to be aware of key position.  If you're working on electrical problems, maybe disconnect the coil.  That will stop the power through the module that overheats them.  Good luck.

You might find your distributor advance curves in this thread.  It should really be in the Knowledge Base, it's hard to find.  @Mike