Pertronix Ignitor II

[Russ-Notts]

I'm looking to replace the dual points on my Mallory distributor, part:2768901 on RV8, with a Pertronix Ignitor II and Flame-Thrower coil. I've been on the Summit Racing web site and am quite baffled by the quantity of parts available and exactly which part codes I need. I can't find a UK supplier and so I want to make sure I order the correct bits.
Can anyone help me with the correct part codes?
Has anyone any experience of ordering from Summit, particularly, did you get hit for import duty/tax?
Are there any UK suppliers of Pertronix as I'd prefer to buy 'locally' in case there are any problems?

Thanks,
Russ.

[oglyoodoo]

Russ
A met some guys from Pertronix a couple of years ago at a restaurant in Essen whilst at the Classic Car show. One of the guys was the UK sales rep. Over a beer he gave me his name as Mark HANNAFORD on 01276 65554.
I was a bit suspect about the 5 figure number but I've just looked his name up on the Web and found the following:-

Company: Pertronix Europe

Address: 1 Hoskins Place
Watchetts Road
Camberley
Surrey
GU15 2PB

Contact: Mr. Mark Hannaford

Telephone: 01276 65554

Email: mhannafordaol.com

Category: classic car accessories

County scope: surrey

HTH

Denis

[David Large]

I got mine from the American Auto Centre, Minworth near Sutton Coldfield, about 2 miles off the M42 jcn 9.
Tel 0121 351 7655
It has performed really well.

David

[robinj66]

This might be of some interest
www.v-8.org.uk :: View topic - Paying Dollar prices for PerTronix kit

[Russ-Notts]

Thanks to Denis, Robin and David for their helpful advice.

I looked into the advantages of the Ignitor II over the standard Ignitor and found for my mildly tuned Rover V8 SD1 engine I wouldn’t see much extra benefit. Ignitor has been around for donkeys’ years and has proven reliability. Ignitor II does however have a few electronic gismos for adaptive dwell and circuit protection, primarily for race prep’d engines. I did read something about the oil filled Flamethrower coils being susceptible to vibration but I’m not sure if these were early product reliability issues? There is a epoxy filled can version advertised for “off-road” use which is supposed to be more resilient but only available with the black can.

So I decided to opt for:
Ignitor conversion for type 27 Mallory distributor, part code ML-168a
Flamethrower coil, 1.5 ohm in “bling” chrome, part code 40001.

I contacted American Autos and Pertronix Europe. Both quoted about £130-135 for Ignitor and Coil. Pertronix Europe were the most expensive even after their 5% discount. The same items from the US, Retro Rockets - PerTronix Electronic Ignition Conversion Kits and HEI Components was £77 in US$ and are shipped from a UK warehouse. The RetroRockets website is really useful for determining which Pertronix gear is right for your engine or distributor type. A lot easier than Summit Racings pages.

I placed an order on the RetroRockets website, paid by credit card / PayPal and received my Ignitor and Coil within 5 days. It turns out that RetroRockets’ UK warehouse is Pertronix Europe, the same people who quoted me over 50 quid more. “Rip-off Britain”,…hmm. I’m going to fit it this weekend. Fitting looks to be a doddle.

Cheers,
Russ