This fixer upper stuff would be a Ton Of Fun were it not for all the waiting for parts. Patience is a virtue, I've heard, but I'm learning that I'm not cut out for it. Anyway...

I got myself a Pertronix Billet HEI distributor after starting down the wrong path with a 1) Crane Cams electronic conversion kit and then 2) Mallory CD distributor ($$$!).

I've still got the Crane Cams PS20 Coil, which I was originally planning to use with the conversion kit. Unless I can put that "regular" coil in with the Pertronix distributor, I'm planning on sending it back.

The instructions that came with the coil say that I need to keep the 12V->6V resistor in between the solenoid and the coil, but the instructions that came with the distributor say I need to remove it.

Reading between the lines, I figure I need to exchange the PS20 for something like a PS91. Is this right?

Another issue that's come up is that the HEI wires (also Pertronix) that I had shipped to me are female on the distributor end. Same thing with the distributor electrodes. I plan on giving Pertronix product support a call on that issue tomorrow, but figured I'd ask here first since I can drop by Napa on the way to work in the morning if anyone can offer good advice.



A local class mustang mechanic in town said the

 

The Hei wires are female on the cap side. You didn't say what motor you are working on, but the later model Duraspark with the cap adaptor and the large cap are the same. Welcome to 2000. I don't know what a PS20 coil is but if it is a oil filed coil them yes you will need the ballast resistor. Don't your Hei clone have the coil in the cap? Just looked up the coils and the PS20 is oil filled coil and the PS 91 is a Ford TFI e-coil clone. The later one most likely would not need the resistor. You do know you can get the cap adaptor and the large cap for a Ford Duraspark distributor and add a TFI coil and have the same thing? Of course you would still have the crappy Ford control module but that can be changed to the GM 4 pin as the Hei you have real easy. I run a Ford Duraspark in my Jeep I6 (AMC used them along with the Ford control module) and use a GM external 8 pin control module and let a GM computer control the timing and a TBI injection system.

 

For the record: After a number of failed attempts to get the right combination of distributor/coil/wires, Tech support at Pertronix helped me settle on the following:

D133700 - distributor
45011 - coil
708104 - wires

I've got an FE (C6ME - 352/360/390???) - and this setup is supposedly gonna work for all (with ballast resistor removed).