Old Electronic Ignition went out. Need help installing the new one.

My old electronic ignition went out and was told to buy a new Pentronix Ignitor 2.




Here is the old one.



This was the old points system.



I bought a Pertronix Ignitor 2 at the suggestion of a friend of mine.

Found out I need a plate for the Pertonix to sit on.








My question is this: Does the new plate screw onto the inside of the distributor. No Screws came with the plate. Does the lever that attached to the old points, attach to the new plate some how? I set the plate in the hole, but the lever got in the way. So I took out the lever, put the plate in, then the lever fit inside the new plate. Does it just sit inside the plate or does it attach to anything.



You all helped me with my over heating problem. I havent been able to drive my bronco for a couple of months and its driving me nuts.

Many thanks.

Hey Landscape. Thanks for adding the detailed pics and descriptions. This kind of stuff can make a huge difference.

Landscapepoke said:

My old electronic ignition went out and was told to buy a new Pentronix Ignitor 2.

Click to expand...

Wow, an old Ward's setup. Haven't seen one (much less the packaging!) in awhile. Yours lasted a LONG time apparently.

Landscapepoke said:

This was the old points system.

Click to expand...

For the record, those probably should not be called "points" since that confuses things with the original breaker points setup in a stock pre'74/'75 distributor.
For our discussion, it's just part of the Ward's electronic trigger mechanism and in no way resembles anything original to the Bronco.

Landscapepoke said:

I bought a Pertronix Ignitor 2 at the suggestion of a friend of mine.

Click to expand...

Not a bad suggestion. They're not everyone's favorite, but have worked well for many years for many of us.

Landscapepoke said:

Found out I need a plate for the Pertonix to sit on.

Click to expand...

Yep. They're expected to be mounted into a stock original distributor, with the stock points plate still intact.
Where did you get that plate? And what is it supposed to be fore? Reason I ask is that it doesn't look like the stock plates I remember. I could be wrong, but it doesn't look original to me.
Perhaps it's a stock plate for a later Duraspark distributor?

Landscapepoke said:

My question is this: Does the new plate screw onto the inside of the distributor. No Screws came with the plate.

Click to expand...

It's supposed to, if it's for your distributor. But that is yet to be determined.
Since the screw holes line up, then it is obviously made for a Ford distributor. The screws would be just standard "pan head" (I believe the name is?) very short and very small. Can be had from a donor distributor or a very well equipped hardware store most likely. If you can find some that are the right thread size (small, like a #6 fine maybe?) but too long, they could be cut shorter to work.

Landscapepoke said:

Does the lever that attached to the old points, attach to the new plate some how? I set the plate in the hole, but the lever got in the way. So I took out the lever, put the plate in, then the lever fit inside the new plate. Does it just sit inside the plate or does it attach to anything.

Click to expand...

The lever is the actuating arm for the vacuum advance mechanism. It literally pulls against the movable plate ("points plate" for the old distributors) to change timing more with more vacuum.

Landscapepoke said:

Click to expand...

Yes, all that stays. What you're looking at (aside from the arm) is the mechanical advance mechanism. Basically bob-weights, springs and their base plate which limits their travel to a certain number of degrees.
So yes, keep it, put the plate (the correct one) on top and screw it down, then take the arm/lever and attach it to the correct pin (I think a clip retains it?) on the vacuum advance part of the plate.

I think the big issue is that the new plate you have is not for points. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like.
Where did you get it? And what year/vehicle did you specify when you bought it?

Good luck.

Paul

Hi Paul,
Well I was trying to put it in upside down. Had a friend come over and put it in correctly.

Problem is the engine is not starting still.

I have replaced the coil, twice thinking the one I bought was bad.

The battery is charged, new coil, new electronic ignition and I am not getting any spark out of the coil to the distributor.

We pulled the wire coming from the coil to the distributor, I cranked it over and no spark appeared. I can turn the key and it will try to crank over until the battery goes dead.

What am I missing? Why no spark from the coil?

Thanks.

Thanks for the follow-up. Can you post pictures of the currently installed setup? Maybe we'll see something that way.
And where do the wires run from all this?

What about the coil? Do you have 6-12v at the positive side of the coil with the key in RUN?
If so there is an easy way to test for spark we can discuss in detail later. Just check for power at the positive side with the key ON. But don't leave the key on for any length of time. Many ignitions don't like that.

Paul

Montgomery wards made ignition parts? No wonder they went out of business BTW, wouldn't just installing a reman dizzy and ford ICM fix this?