air gap question

[carvnthetwisties]

Hello,

perhaps I am just a little retarted, but how in the world does one set the air gap on a pertronix ho-181?

Yes, I have a manual, and I know how to set the gap with a gold box, but with the pertronix, the module sits on a plate, one end of the plate sits in a tab, the other end gets screwed down, so there's no way to adjust it, once again, unless I'm retarded.........and if I'm retarded, I'll accept it, but need help, it's bothering me!

Thanks
thomas

 

[Michael Mayben]

The ho-181 pertronix is a replacement for the Holley gold box trigger system. The air gap on that unit is pre-determined at the point of manufacture and is not adjustable like many other pertronix replacement units.

The air gap actually determines the dwell on these type units. If you have a dwell meter, you can hook it up and will see the dwell will be a nominal 28>32* as long as the runout on the mechanical advance unit and the distributor shaft is not excessive. Most oldskool dwell meters will read these modules, as will an analog oscilloscope as found in typical engine analyzers. If the distributor I in good condition, I bet you will see a nominal 30* of dwell which is perfect!