1971 280sl Electronic Ignition Conversion

[Arthur Dalton]

I have tried several gaps with the Crane units and have settled at .032.
That is with Bosch copper core plugs.
I have also found that the 1K ohm wire ends run better than the 5K.
Just remember as you increase the gap, you also indrease the chance of wire cross firing.
Take a peek on a dark night. You will be surprised.

[bstreep]

Jim,

What unit did you use for your 190SL? What improvements did you have?

Bill Streep
'57 190SL

[Jim Villers]

The benifits I found were a smoother running engine above 3000RPM. I also was having a pitted points problem (replacing points about every 5000 miles or so). I am very happy with the conversion.

Jim Villers
190SL, 230SL (both with points conversion)

[LPCampos]

Is there a Pertronix kit for the 6.3 dual contact point distributor? If there is none, is it possible to retrofit Pertronix points into the 6.3's distributor?

Originally Posted by WDurrance

I have a PerTronix kit for that one. No external box is needed. It requires a standard ignition coil and a 2 wire hook up. It screws in in place of the points. The magnet is made for the breaker cam, so you don't have to align anything. No "erector set" bracketry inside the distributor. Same price as the Crane stuff,30 month warranty.
Sorry to take the space here. But I used to use optical systems back in the early eighties. There is a better way. Contact me privately for details. WDurrance@aol.com
Randy D.

------------------
W.R.Durrance
ASE Master Tech
Mercedes Tech 21 Years
68 250SE
68 SAAB 96 Ice Racer
69 300SEL 6.3
70 300SEL 3.5
81 300TDT
W.R.Durrance Engineering

[250 Coupe]

Mr Durrance passed away a few years ago. His web site was shut down at that time. A great resource was lost.

Michael

[Shab]

I did the Crane conversion in my 4.5 and loved it. What a difference. Don't miss diddling around with points at all. Points schmoints.

[mzsmbs]

Originally Posted by 250 Coupe

Mr Durrance passed away a few years ago. His web site was shut down at that time. A great resource was lost.

Michael

yes, but i think petronix is still around.

[250 Coupe]

Originally Posted by mzsmbs

yes, but i think petronix is still around.

Why yes they are

What Randy did was modify Pertronix parts to fit cars other than those listed by Pertronix. His web site was fascinating and informative. I wish they had left it up.

Michael

[JMela]

Originally Posted by 250 Coupe

What Randy did was modify Pertronix parts to fit cars other than those listed by Pertronix. His web site was fascinating and informative. I wish they had left it up.

Michael

Here's an 'archived' version of Randy's site. I hadn't seen this site in a few years. If his site is any indication, certainly seems like a nice and inquisitive man. Knows his MB's!

http://web.archive.org/web/20030607043121/http://durranceeng.com/

Copy this info while it's still around.

[Graham]

When I try and access the site, it loads, but gets overwritten with a yellow page with "click here now" written all over it.

Is there a way to overcome this and download all the html files linked to, to my hard drive for off-line storage?

[JMela]

I get the same 'click here' mess.

If you go to each page and click 'option' and 'a' , it highlights all the available text and pictures. Hit 'control' and 'c' to copy all the info.

Create a new document in ms word or another word processor and paste the copied info onto a clean page. Results are not perfect, but it's something.

[flacollect]

I did convert a ''hot spark'' which is a knock off of petronix on my 2 point '67 250S benz. It's not perfect yet, but it sure works better than the points. I didn't rebuilt the distributor, but I probably should have. The timing wabbles a little, and the vacuum advance needs to be re-adjusted to work. What I did was drilled a hole (15/16 I think -- I used a dial caliper to measure the size) in the bottom piece of the ''hot spark'' that goes over the top of the shaft that the original points go over. I used a sliding clip to hold it down. The other screw in the middle fits exacty where the old points went, so there was no need to do anything else. The base of the aluminum needs to be filed off on the end, and side to get it to fit into the distributor.....FILE SMALL PIECES AT A TIME. You don't want to file too much. I did a lot of filing and refitting until I got it to fit. It works, but the vacuum advance is getting stuck now, and needs to be adjusted again. Like I said, it's not perfect, but I set my timing at 30 degree BTC and the car starts right up now. I have a picture if anyone is interested.
RIDE ON

[Mike D]

Just to clarify. You did set the timing at 3000 rpm's, correct?

[Graham]

I installed a Pertronix on my '72 4.5L 350SL. It fitted perfectly with no mods needed other than having to run 2 wires.

I did not change coil, so still have MB "switchgear" in place and connected.

Connected one wire to 12v side of first resistor and other to same terminal that point wire connected to. Tach works!

Don't really notice any improvement, but it looks cool! What I did notice, is that engine has to spin a few times before it starts. With points it started right away.

Car is running well, so not sure what a new coild and eliminating switchgear would do for me.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by JMela

I get the same 'click here' mess.

If you go to each page and click 'option' and 'a' , it highlights all the available text and pictures. Hit 'control' and 'c' to copy all the info.

Create a new document in ms word or another word processor and paste the copied info onto a clean page. Results are not perfect, but it's something.

Too bad it is messed up. It seems to be due to a script that is added at the end. I had a try and eliminated the overlay, but there were otehr problesm so I gave up. Someone mores skilled in web design could probably fix the page and maybe turn it into a pdf that we could download.