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I opened up the cap on my recently purchased Firedome, and found only one set of points. The service manual shows dual points, and it looks like there is a spot for another set in there. Was it common practice to remove one set of points from these distributors? The car runs pretty well...
I've installed pertronix electronic modules on other vintage cars with good success. Do these modules work well with the early Hemi?
Steve
I reallay don't know of the advantage of dual points but I had a 55 dodge and now have a 55 desoto and installed petronix in both with excellent results. remember it's positive ground. dave
Steve
With an six volt electrical system the pertronix electronic modules
are under their operating voltage.
If your De Soto is not an NASCAR used vehicle the single points
will be OK.
**************************************************
Dave
With the six volts the dual point design helps with the dwell.
It was an item used with the higher Carb'd/ HP Engines.
Rodger & Gabby
FltSgt@outlook.com
The Pertronix is made for cars with 6 volt systems. Pertronix shows it in their book for a 53. Roger, are you telling me Pertronix does not know the voltage of the 53 or other 6 volt cars they sell these for?
I bought one but did not get to installing it so I sold it to someone in Sweden. I intend to buy one again.
Paul
I am repeating what was overly written to me in February of
this year when I asked the same type of questions from:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/46-48Chryslers/
&
http://www.Forwardlook.net
Several on the Heavy Metal wrote about wanting this in their
251's or 323's and the problem's. To me it is like cousin's
talking because the 1955 is still 6 Volts and Positive Ground.
And as you know the problems of what was happening back in
February could have been "worked out" by September.
Rodger & Gabby
COS
FltSgt@outlook.com
I bought my Petronix set up for both the DeSoto and the Dodge from Mark Nikolay of Philbin rebuilt products of Portland,Or. info@philbingroup.com and they adapted the unit from, I think, a 6 V. tractor application. They are cheap enough..give it a try. their T is 1800-869-7301. They are dist. and magneto specialists. dave
Mine is a pretty stock car and it came with the dual points. I had the dist rebuilt a few years back and couldn't get it to work. A buddy who knows way more that me check it out and it turns out they didn't have something grounded properly or whatever and just hooked it up with one set. I was also wanting to switch it over to a pertronix system. Good to hear they make them for the 6 volt pos ground systems.
Lance, check Rodger's post first. There actually may be some issues with them on 6 volt systems. I never had one installed - I just figured Pertronix must know thet are dealing with 6 volts on a 53 Desoto. I did not read Rodger's link yet.
To answer your question. Yes, you can run your car on single points. All '55 DeSoto's originally had dual point distributors. The dual points allow for greater coil saturation which makes for hotter spark. Under normal driving conditions you would likely not notice the difference. At high RPM is where you could experience missing. For '56, most DeSoto's came with single points so it must not have been a big issue. '56 was also the switch to 12V negative ground but the coil is on a resistor at about 9VDC, vs. about 7VDC on your '55.
Have a nice day
Steve
Rodger, I went to read the info on the Pertronix units and their alleged deficiency with 6 volt systems. Please be more specific on where this info is on the two websites. No one has time to look for the info. Thank you for making us aware there may be a challenge.
Pertronix makes an ignitor module specifically for the 6v Positive ground Autolite IAZ distributor used by Chrysler on their early hemis. The part number is 1383P6. I have one on my desk waiting to be installed. Looks like any easy installation. No need to remove the distributor. I'll report back here when it is installed.
Steve
Steve, so Pertronix shows in their catalog a unit for a 6 volt Desoto. And then they basically "bait and switch" by making you pay more for another part. This is not a good practice. They should know if it works correctly with the distributor. Is this really what they are doing?
I'm not sure if this would qualify as bait and switch. I searched their online catalog to find this part, and had to look it up by distributor number (Autolite IAZ series), not by automotive manufacturer. True, however, that the 6 volt version is more money. The 1383P6 (6 volt positive ground) costs $96.51 from KMJ performance, while the 1383 (12 volt) costs $86.99. I can't imagine that the 6 volt version costs more to manufacture....
Steve
Trivia: This also fits Hudson V8's (which were built by Packard)
I installed the Ignitor module in the distributor today. The removal of the old points was the biggest chore, installation of the module was a snap. The engine seems to run smoother, but it was raining so I didn't take her out for a drive.
Steve, did you just infer that the ignitor module is included with the 6 volt unit and that is why the 6 volt is more expensive?
