Electronic ignition convertion

[pureinsanity]

I have a 77 Mark Twain with a Mercruiser 888 302 Ford and I'm thinking about converting it to electronic ignition. I would like to get some feed back from people who have done it to find out the pros & cons of it. Also I have notice several different brands of kits, is there one better then the other? Thank you in advance for any thoughts on this.

David

 

[thumpar]

I put the pertronix ignitor II and Flamethrower II on my last boat. After 5 or 6 years with it I never had and issue. That is the one I sold last year. It did start a little better and gained a couple hundred RPM. My dad put a pertronix in his 66 mustang around 15 or so years ago and has never had an issue. It is his daily driver. If you go with a pertronix get the ignitor II so you don't have to worry about leaving the key on. I would also recommend changing the coil to an internally ballisted so you can just run a full 12 volt to both.

 

[achris]

+1 on the Pertronix...

 

[pureinsanity]

Thank you for the response. I've been reading up on this all over today and Pertronix seems to be a favorite. The price is right so that is probably the way I'll go. It sounds like to install is pretty simple. I haven't even got to de-winterize it yet so I'll get the parts and do everything at once. I look forward in seeing how it effects the performance.

David

 

[thumpar]

Make sure to check the timing afterword. Mine was still dead on after the change but you have to be sure.

 

[JimS123]

Im put a Pertronix on a 3.0 Liter Mercruiser about 12 years ago. Set the timing once and it hasn't needed to be adjusted since. I went from point and condensor problems every other year, to 12 years of trouble-free boating. ALL I put on was the module under the distributor cap. The coil is the original.

She runs smoothe as silk and my fuel milage has increased.

 

[pureinsanity]

I got the Pertronix installed and also install a new micro starter. Started her up and reset the timing and did a few other adjustment. I'm impressed on how great it starts, you just breath on the key and she's running. I put a water pump in the outdrive as normal maintenance but I have noticed a odd temp issue but I'm thinking it's a thermostat problem. This is the first time I've had it running this year so I'm not up in arms just yet. But back to the ignition, I wish I would have done this a long time ago. Thank you all for the input.

 

[pureinsanity]

double post...sorry

 

[tinkerguy70]

I'm going to throw another vote up for the Pertronix. I put one on my boat at the beginning of this season and have had great results. I wish I had done it last year.

 

[eldplanko]

I've had good luck with the MSD ignition box:

http://www.msdignition.com/Products...Marine_Certified_Ignition_with_Rev_Limit.aspx

It gets triggered off your points.

 

[Condor1970]

I've had good luck with the MSD ignition box:

http://www.msdignition.com/Products...Marine_Certified_Ignition_with_Rev_Limit.aspx

It gets triggered off your points.

Those are great for smoothing out the ignition signal. Only problem is that it still uses whatever ignition system you have. So, if you have points, you still need to check your point gap and dwell when you do maintenance. The idea behind the Pertronix, and Mallory systems, is it gets rid of the points. I'm no engine expert, but this to me, is a much better idea.

 

[Maclin]

To put a finer point on it, with the MSD that still uses the points, the points contact faces last longer because there is less current load on them and that is an improvement over stock, but the rubbing block still rubs and eventually the gap changes and needs to be reset.

 

[Maclin]

My last post is a veiled vote for the Pertronix Igniter II.