OMC 4.3 Electronic Ignition Swap

[Robobrainiac]

This question may be beat to death but I am inquiring mainly about the new Pertronix Igniter 2. There does not seem to be alot of info on it. I have waited 2 weeks and have been emailed twice from pertronix claiming they were going to reach out to me over phone and they have never called.

Here is my rundown.
I have a 1988 Four Winns 200 with an OMC 4.3L 4 barrel connected to a cobra drive.

I am tired of messing with the points and condenser. I want to go electronic.

I have the original prestolite distributor.
I have the original OMC ESA.

I want to use the CDI ESA module. I want to install the Pertronix electronic ignition.

My understanding is the ignitor 2 requires a low impedence coil. Something around 0.6 as far as I know the CDI module is not compatible with a coil that uses that low of a resistance. My understanding is that I need to use the original pertronix ignitor with the 1.5 ohm flame thrower coil and keep my resisted coil wire.

Long story short, Pertronix thru email recommended the ignitor 2 because of the improved dwell capability that works great in a marine application. When I questioned this, I was told they would call me over the phone because I told them what I have stated above.

I am open to hearing suggestions from everyone. Thank you!

 

[Scott Danforth]

I personally would never use pertronix again, because every one failed on me.

I would stick with points. While yes, you are looking at a file/gap/dwell set service every spring, that is 5 minutes worth of work, and a set of points should last 20+ years

your setup is exactly like @Lou C

I would go with a delco voyager distributor before considering pertronix.

 

[Lou C]

Yep I left the points, as long as they don't leave me stranded, I'll keep em, now I have spares so I keep a point plate with the points and condenser already installed so if I have to change em on the water, it's not hard, yes I have a tach/dwell meter on the boat too with feeler gauges lol.
Comparing systems:
Delco HEI igniton on 2 cars we owned, each one had one failure
Points, on cars I owned same thing but yes they need a bit of maintenance.
So it's not a big difference.
Honestly I like the fact that I can check the Total Timing Advance on the old mechanical Prestolite distributor, I'm not sure I trust the electronic advance built into the Delco EST (Voyager). Plus there are no new OEM modules for them, they are all aftermarket now.

 

[Robobrainiac]

I personally would never use pertronix again, because every one failed on me.

I would stick with points. While yes, you are looking at a file/gap/dwell set service every spring, that is 5 minutes worth of work, and a set of points should last 20+ years

your setup is exactly like @Lou C

I would go with a delco voyager distributor before considering pertronix.

What would you consider to be a good dwell meter? I am currently using math equations with my fluke 87 using a duty cycle to calculate the dwell.