Pertronix MR-LS1 on 78 California spider

[lvacordian]

I recently installed the Pertronix MR-LS1 ignitor kit on my California 78 124 and am wondering where the green and green/black distributor leads are supposed to go. Does anyone know? The green lead is hot. I got the kit onto distributor fine and connected the module wires as specified, The engine does start up, but it just runs horribly. I suspect it has something to do with the distributor leads that have nowhere to go now. The distributor needs to be advanced as far as I can turn it in order for the engine to fire since it will not start when the distributor is placed at its former static timing position. Also the very instant that the engine is given any throttle the car backfires through the carburetor and stalls out. The engine idles evenly, but it just won't take any throttle. I've tried placing the green and green/black distributor leads at the coil in every possible combination and regardless of how they are hooked up I still have either the same issue or a no start issue. I'm running the standard O'Reilly Auto 12 volt coil with an internal ballast resistor. Does anyone have any experience with Pertronix on the 78s?

[lvacordian]

I hooked the green/black relay leads to the negative coil terminal and green to positive and the engine fires up fine and idles
steadily with no misfires, I had no problems mounting the module to the dizzy even though this is a 78 and Pertronix officially doesn't offer a kit for 78's. I can't imagine why anyone would need to drill into the mounting plate since it fits just fine. The holes should match up fine. Just make sure the gap is correct between the module and cam lobes since it's the.75 diameter and not the larger 1" diameter. The Orientation of the module on the dizzy is the most critical thing.

[dimitridodys]

I installed the very same Pertronix on my 74 Spider. Replaced the dual points.

Now my tachometer does not work. Did you have this problem?

[lvacordian]

Nope, my tach works better than before. Your tach signal likely comes off the coil and there could be an interference with the way you wired your pertronix kit 's wiring. Where did you connect the old distributor lead to? Also check to see if the tach signal has any relays in the circuit. A faulty relay or shorted wire could be the problem. I had to try every possible wiring combination before I found the correct placement since I had two distributor leads for the old dual points. Good luck and enjoy not having to hassle with corroded points, incorrect gap, or getting the exact dwell.

[lvacordian]

The brown wire on the coil provides the tach signal. It should be connected to the negative terminal otherwise your tach won't work. Also I previously misspoke, the old green and green/ black distributer leads should be capped off and tucked away, not hooked up to the coil otherwise you will have intermittent loss of power as ignition mode relay switches from starting to running points. I learned this the hard way.

[dimitridodys]

Thanks. I have not had the opportunity to try and fix my tach problem. The tach has been completely idle since I installed the Pertronix MR-LS1 with the exception of one time when the needle went wild and then died again.

I do want to attempt a fix soon. Maybe over Thanksgiving Holidays. But the car is running like new which is the important thing.