Author Topic: Getting a Pertronix electronic ignition kit for your Lucas dizzy?  (Read 321 times)

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Offline BDA

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Getting a Pertronix electronic ignition kit for your Lucas dizzy?
« on: Thursday,March 04, 2021, 02:25:55 PM »
I just had a curious experience with my Lucas 23D4 dizzy and Pertronix electronic ignition kits.

Many years ago, I replace the Alison light ignition with a Pertronix Igniter kit. I bought it on Amazon and was sure I had the correct part. The fact that it fit perfectly and worked flawlessly cemented my opinion that I indeed had the correct part. I highly recommend them!!

A while ago, the subject came up here about some of the differences between the Igniter and Igniter II kits (one being that the Igniter II will not fry your coil or electronics if you leave your ignition on for extended periods. Thinking that was a worthwhile upgrade, I started to investigate.

It turned out that the Pertronix kit I had was not for the Lucas 23D4 but for the 25D4! Now I'm confused - but undeterred. I ordered the "correct" Ignitor II for the distributor I had. It came today and it didn't fit!  :headbanger: When I had gotten the "wrong" Igniter kit, I was lucky enough to get the "right" "wrong" one. Then when I got the "right" one, it was the "wrong" "right" one!  ::)

I was able to make it work but I thought I would pass along this warning that Lucas (maybe Renault too?) made changes to their distributors that might impact which Pertronix kit you should order. It might be a good idea to give them a call and tell them what number is stamped on your distributer so you can get the "right" "right" one. They are VERY responsive. Also, if you sign up for the email newsletter, you get 10% off your online purchase direct from them.

Something else that might also be interesting is that they make their own distributor. At $215, it's not much more expensive than the kits and may be a viable option for you. The picture implies it's driven by a dog rather than a gear so you should check with them before you order. You might also ask what level of Ignitor is in the distributor.

UPDATE: I just found out that there is a wrinkle with the Ignitor IIs. I didn't mention it before but they are an "improvement on the original Ignitors. One major improvement is that if you leave your ignition on for an extended period of time, you can burn up an original Ignitor. The Ignitor IIs fixed that problem HOWEVER, it comes at the cost of being able to statically time your ignition. Another feature of the Ignitor IIs is that they can't be bench tested so the instructions found in my thread in the Technical Articles section (http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=4328.0) doesn't pertain to the Ignitor IIs. Just so you know...
« Last Edit: Friday,March 05, 2021, 04:01:09 PM by BDA »