Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Electrical and Instruments => Topic started by: TerenceD on July 16, 2005, 06:52:37
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Does anybody have any recommendations on where to buy the Pertronix ignition system ?
What is the part number or kit number that I need to order ?
Thanks,
Terence
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I forgot to mention that I have a 1970 280sl
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I bought mine from mercedessource.com in bellingham, washington, about a year ago for $150. Kent Bergsma of Bergsma Motorwerks is the proprietor, he wrote a very complete installation guide and I got it in and working (works great) in about 30 minutes. You will find other discussion on this board about pros and cons of Crane, but the Pertronix was my only option as I have a very old Bosch distributor (early '64) that does not take the Crane.
'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon
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My opinion is that the stock ignition system will work just fine once you have everything fixed. The later systems with aluminum distributor have so many possible running problems that need to be addressed first that I could never recomend one of these systems to anyone believing that this would be the magic wand.
While these conversion systems will work and improve your car you still might be missing out on a lot of hidden performance just by skipping over some needed repairs. After ALL things have been fixed and you still have running problems then maybe this system would be the right choice.
After rebuilding over 100 distributors I know that they can be fixed and why some of them won't work. They look simple ( and they are ) but getting one to work right isn't always that easy. The more they're worn out the harder it is to make them work right.
Even after this much time working around the same units I'm still developing rebuilding techniques. I learn more from the ones that don't work. What I found recently is that the advance plate has to be perfectly tight. Any wear in this area will cause the plate to move with a dwell angle loss as the points close up. Play like this would likely affect converted systems but probably not to the same degree.
Dan Caron's
SL Barn
benzbarn@ebtech.net
slbarn.mbz.org
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I bought mine 18 months ago from http://www.carshopinc.com/index.php
USD $74.00 plus shipping to Australia all up AUD $104.00 at my door.
They were honest, friendly, polite and stayed in contact. They did what they said they would do.
They didn't have the Pertronix Ignitor model 1864 LA in stock but were happy to order it and notify me via email when it was available and ready for shipping.
Check out their website.
Works great on my '051' distributor.
Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto
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Terence,
I agree with the good Doctor. If you're installing this to "fix" a problem, you might want to rethink. If you are having problems, it will make it even harder to get this conversion completed. If, however, everything is running well, and you just want to eliminate those lousey points, well, then that's another story.
If you're doing this for slightly improved performance over stock, or to eliminate the breakers, than I STRONGLY RECOMMEND considering the Crane XR-700 ignition conversion system over the Pertronix. I don't have experience with the Pertronix, but if you search the archives in this forum, you'll see that I did a lot of research. I found far more complaints with the Pertronix than good success stories. There are success stories, but not many. However, with the Crane system, there were many success stories and few problems. Additionally, there is outstanding documentation that aids in the installation. I can say that the Crane unit went in smoothly, and my car runs great with it. Give the Crane a thought, if you haven't already - and consider the silver coil with the red label!
Good luck!
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William Blair Wagner: blairwag@earthlink.net
Education is not always knowing the answer,
...but rather knowing where to look for it!
1971 280SL US Automatic
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