Breaker Points Ignition Upgrade

Along with technological miracles of the ’60’s and ’70s such as urethane skateboard wheels and mood rings came the advent of transistorized electronic ignition. With no moving parts to wear out, this modern advancement relegated breaker points ignition to the trash bin of automotive technological history. Breaker points cause the ignition dwell to change as they wear out, requiring near constant adjustment and frequent replacement. Ditching the points distributor and upgrading to an electronic ignition usually involves one or more trips to the boneyard, some creative rewiring, and with removal and replacement of the distributor. Enter the Pertronix Ignitor. This simple Hall Effect device replaces the breaker points with a solid state transistorized upgrade in the same space the old mechanical points sat – with no distributor modifications required. Better still is Pertronix has Ignitor breaker points replacements for everything from Volkswagen Bugs to a 1969 Citroën DS Safari Wagon.

No More Points

The subject of this Pertonix swap is a well-aged 1969 Citroën DS Wagon equipped with the original S.E.V. Marchal distributor cinched into its DS21 engine. Along with the universal step-by-step instructions and observations in the mentioned in the photo gallery, we learned a few specific lessons about working on Citroëns. The first and most obvious is distributor removal. Since the condenser is not required in an electronic ignition it should be removed. The condenser was held onto the S.E.V. Marchal with a screw affixed to the bottom of the distributor body. Zut alors! The only way to get to the screw was to remove the distributor. If you run into a similar problem, make certain to index the distributor shaft and body with a scribe or marker. Do not rotate the engine while the distributor is removed. Put the distributor back in as just it came out and you should be good to go. If for some reason the index marks are lost or rubbed off (don’t ask) you could run into extra work or trouble on re-installation.

Step-by-Step Install of a Pertronix Ignitor and Flame-Thrower Coil into 1969 Citroën DS Station Wagon.

Tools and Equipments

Screwdrivers
Timing Light (optional for Citroën owners)
Ignition Wrenches
Wire Crimper-Stripper
Various Hand Tools
Magnetic Pickup Tool
Flashlight

Sans Valeur!

This of course leads to the second and more valuable lesson concerning the automobile fantastique that is the Citroën DS. That fancy timing light with the digital readout and adjustable advance retard right there on the light? Sans valeur! Worthless when it comes to engines without crankshaft pulleys or timing marks of any kind. The solution? We had to take the screwdriver and wrench out on the road to use ear and butt dyno to get the engine back into the sweet spot. Along with these few things we learned about Citroëns, we also have on good authority that the Ignitor can help with minor distributor shaft wear, as a slight wobble doesn’t bother a magnetic gap very much. In theory, this Citroën will never need another set of mechanical breaker points again. If Pertronix makes an Ignitor and coil that works for a distributor built in France during the mid-sixties, then chances are better than average they have a solution that will work for your breaker points or fusty old electronic ignition equipped automobile. You’re on your own finding Bibendum to help set the ignition timing.

A special thanks to Petronix Performance Products for supplying an Ignitor Electronic Ignition and Flame-thrower Ignition Coil for this story.