no juice to coil

IIRC many posts back, you rebuilt this distributor do you still have the oem vac advance unit. The indexing is changed by moving the "breaker" plate in these distributors to advance/retard the spark. So so if the mechanical or vacuum advance is not correct it will affect the indexing.
 
One sure fire way to fix it,
The tab on the vac advance locates the cap I assume. Move/enlarge the slot in the cap so you can rotate the cap CCW?, to the correct position as indicated in your phasing test. Add material to the slot so it can't move. Test. The proper phasing is past the intended cap post at full retard and the same distance behind at full advance.

Also make sure there are not any contaminants on both the rotating trigger ring and the ignitor sensing face.
 
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Oh and I called Pertronix a couple of months ago to ask if they had any issues with rotor phasing on their IH Ignitors. Explained your issue and the tech told me I did not have the distributor installed right and that a restab would correct it. Hung up on him after a brief attempt to explain to him how the phasing worked. :dita:
 
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Mr. Kenney:
re: the vacuum advance rod is separate from the Cap and the cap is notched. There are also two clips that spring load the cap to the disto case. The breaker plate is not adjustable as it is held to the disto body by two screws. The only thing movable is the Ptron module plate (the plate above the breaker plate. That swivels with the vacuum advance in action. With the vacuum line disconnected, it does not move. Or, maybe I am not seeing your explanation correctly.

Re: your call to Pertronix - HAH! o_O
 
The distributor fires every 45° of rotor rotation.
One tooth adjustment on the shaft is 21°
So, "restabbing" the distributor one tooth will move the rotor 21°.
If the rotor moved to the same position, but between the next set of contacts, as you stated, then you moved it two teeth.
Try moving the rotor shaft again, ie. restabbing one tooth.
 
Re: the 10-degree gap - there is no adjustment between the magnet ring and the Ptron module. The module is set by the two screws holding it down. Re: the restabbing - I guess what I meant to say was that the rotor was in the same position between the #8 and #1 post of the cap.
 
All:
I sincerely appreciate the input, comments, and advice. I know there is an explanation for my issues, just have to keep at it. Thanks all, will post up as soon as I can.

Richard
 
Re: the 10-degree gap - there is no adjustment between the magnet ring and the Ptron module. The module is set by the two screws holding it down. Re: the restabbing - I guess what I meant to say was that the rotor was in the same position between the #8 and #1 post of the cap.
There should be adjustment provided by one of the screws.
Gap should be .010”.
What is your gap?

I don’t understand why you can’t restab and get the rotor movement of 21*.
Are you lifting the dizzy body up high enough to disengage the rotor shaft/gear and moving the rotor/shaft one tooth?
 
Mr. Kenney:
re: the vacuum advance rod is separate from the Cap and the cap is notched. There are also two clips that spring load the cap to the disto case. The breaker plate is not adjustable as it is held to the disto body by two screws. The only thing movable is the Ptron module plate (the plate above the breaker plate. That swivels with the vacuum advance in action. With the vacuum line disconnected, it does not move. Or, maybe I am not seeing your explanation correctly.

Re: your call to Pertronix - HAH! o_O
You miss understood me. The vac advance base has a tab that sticks up that locates the clocking of the cap, right? (image)
prestolite disto.JPG


The cap slot can be opened up to allow the cap to be reclocked to align with your existing rotor phasing. The spring clips might be strained a little.
 
There should be adjustment provided by one of the screws.
Gap should be .010”.
What is your gap?

I don’t understand why you can’t restab and get the rotor movement of 21*.
Are you lifting the dizzy body up high enough to disengage the rotor shaft/gear and moving the rotor/shaft one tooth?
The phasing is totally controlled by the internal timing of the distributor rotor and reluctor ring. If you restab the dizzy, the rotors timing related the to reluctor ring and cap terminals won't change.
 
well:
I will look at the cap and try your suggestion, or maybe the vacuum advance module can be moved (ever so slightly)
The only, only, only other possibility might be that the disto shaft is worn? But I would feel a looseness when moving the shaft from side to side or up and down. I will recheck, but I don't feel any movement that would be a sign of looseness.

Thanks,
 
Good morning all:
Sorry to take so long in responding to this thread. Been down with a bad flu bug for almost two weeks. No Bueno! Anyway, I found a shop out here in So. Cal that figured out my problem. After a tear-down/clean/re-phase, the disto works just fine now. My 77 SII starts up just fine, idles a hell of a lot smoother, and the throttle response is nice and crisp (and quicker). Yes, it was re-phased, and now the rotor clocks to the #8 post of the cap perfectly. I will drive my 77 SII around for a couple of weeks and update this thread. Since the "brainiacs" at PERTRONIX had no clue as to what my problem was, I plan to send them a very strongly worded e-mail. In a nutshell: the pin on the module plate (that swivels) that holds the vacuum advance armature is in the wrong place. It needs to be about 1/4 to 3/8 inch closer to the vacuum advance. Anyway, thanks to all for their input and advice, it is appreciated.
 
Good morning all:
Sorry to take so long in responding to this thread. Been down with a bad flu bug for almost two weeks. No Bueno! Anyway, I found a shop out here in So. Cal that figured out my problem. After a tear-down/clean/re-phase, the disto works just fine now. My 77 SII starts up just fine, idles a hell of a lot smoother, and the throttle response is nice and crisp (and quicker). Yes, it was re-phased, and now the rotor clocks to the #8 post of the cap perfectly. I will drive my 77 SII around for a couple of weeks and update this thread. Since the "brainiacs" at PERTRONIX had no clue as to what my problem was, I plan to send them a very strongly worded e-mail. In a nutshell: the pin on the module plate (that swivels) that holds the vacuum advance armature is in the wrong place. It needs to be about 1/4 to 3/8 inch closer to the vacuum advance. Anyway, thanks to all for their input and advice, it is appreciated.
Good job!! Glad you got it fixed.
Bad news is that there are likely thousands of these bad setups out there. Yours isn't the only one (two) out there.
If you are up to it, communicate your fix along with photos and dimensions to Pertronix and the IH community.
 
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