Pertronix problem?

[58 Yeoman]

When I bought my '63 Ford, I had to replace the distributor. One of the previous owners had installed a Pertronix set, which I transferred to the new distributor. I've had one before and never had a problem with it.  I took the Ford for a ride the other day, and cruising down the highway at 80 mph (indicated, reads way fast), and every so often, it would feel like the ignition would shut off for just a 1/2 second or so, then would keep running fine until the next time it did it.

I don't know how old the unit is, or how to check it. I looked in my stash hoping that the new dizzy came with points & condenser so I could swap them out, but I guess not. I coulg get a new set of points & condenser for ~$20, but thought I'd ask first to see if anyone has any ideas?  It's not like it's my DD, so I've got time.

[enjenjo]

We used  ignition conversions on all our forklifts at work. A sizeable percentage failed within the first day, but once they lasted beyond that they ran forever. Also, once they failed they didn't come back. So I would be looking at the wires from the pickup to the coil. I have seen the wires break where they go through the distributor body causing an intermittent problem like you have.

[58 Yeoman]

I hope to be checking this out this week. Thanks Frank.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Decades ago:  I used 2 of the conversion units on a chevy points distributor.  As Frank mentions one failed real quick. The 2nd ran a while and then strated to mis-fire. The GMC truck would shoot fire out the pipe.

I re-installed the points.

[58 Yeoman]

UPDATE:  Yesterday, I checked the wiring, cap, rotor and plug wires. Everything looked good. I checked the coil ohms and got 1.5 & 8900, which seemed okay as far as the book showed. Today, I drove it again, and it did it again. When I got home, I checked the temp of the coil and it was 178*.  I changed the oil and filter, and pulled the fuel filter. The rubber gasket swelled up on the filter for some reason, so I went to the parts store and got a new filter, and bought a new coil also.

Put the new coil and filter on the car and took it for a long drive. Never sputtered once. I checked the coil temp when I got home and it was 138*. The ohms on the new coil were about the same as the old one. The Ford is happy again.

Thanks for all the help, guys. It's appreciated.