Is anyone familiar with the 1965 Pontiac Transistor Distributor??? I looked it up in my Pont. parts book and it says 65 and 66 GTO with 3 dueces. Were they any good? Are they rare? Do they have any value? I would appreciate any info I can get. Vincent
It used the standard Delco distributor in conjunction with a transistor "box". The same set up was offered on certain Corvettes and other high performance GM cars. The distributor triggered the box and the box triggered the coil. Most folks took em off and threw them away when ever the car failed to start or ran rough. Although the box was seldom at fault the cars ran fine with out it.
Good? Probably. Rare? apparently. Valuable? It's a rare muscle car option, somewhere there's someone willing to pay stupid money for it.
The TI setup was usually referred to by it's GM RPO designation, K66. Although the distributor shared the same housing and cap as a standard Delco unit, the guts were quite different, with a magnetic pickup arrangement. The "box" was a pulse amplifier that triggered the coil. Most mid sixties GM performance engines could be ordered with the option. Parts are available through several Corvette parts houses.
Read this. http://www.camaros.org/trans_ign.shtml One of the best racing ignition systems of the sixties. Seen on many drag and Bonneville race cars during the sixties, way before HEI.
Not quite the same distributor, it has an inductive pickup, similar to that used in the later HEI, but larger. I have one for a Chevy, it's from a Vette so it has tach drive. They are getting kind of pricy these days. Also they used an electronic voltage regulator for the alternator, I have one of those too. Neat stuff, kind of primitive and large and repairable compared to modern electronics.
52Poncho That was a great article thanks. And thanks for all the other replies as well. Does anybody still use these? Or is it like the dual point distributors that no one wants or uses any more?
I bought and installed one of the transistorized aftermarket ignition systems back then. I saw no improvement at all but I had no test equipment to document any marginal increase in power or mileage. JMO but if they were any good they would have lasted a lot longer than the short time span of the fad. This was several years before the HEI that has lasted all these years. It would be cool in a display case or on a trailer queen that didn't rely on it for getting home. With points you can fix them on the side of the road. If the box dies on the road all you can do is stare at it.
While they were relatively rare, the transistor ignition was optional on all premium fuel engines in full sized Pontiacs at least as far back as 1963 and optional on all GTOs from the beginning in 1964.
The real advantage is that variations in gap between the reluctor and pickup have little or no effect on timing whereas change in point gap does. Even when new there is some slop in the distributor shaft and centrifugal advance mechanism so the transistor system offers a more precise firing. And as the distributor wears the point systems only get worse. Plus checking and maintaining point gap became a thing of the past. But as mentioned us gearheads back then did not trust them since if they broke on the road all you could do was look at 'em. Plus we were diddling with the engine almost every weekend anyway . . .
I've been meaning to install mine in my 55, along with an old Moroso (Jones) tach. I would just use the same MSD box that I've been running for the past 21+ years. But I haven't got around to it yet.
and a generic hook-up distributor : magnetic pick-up----green to green mag neg- white to purple mag neg+ red ----to switch 12 volts : white---- not used coil : orange on pos. black on neg .
It was the early redition to a modern ignition box. The distributer was just a trigger and the box handled the ignition duties. It wasn't long after that you could buy add on ignition boxes for whatever, a lot of them were transistorized. In the later '60s or early '70s companies started to market CD ignition boxes.
actually, it was the first version of the h.e.i. distributor. your standard inductive ( 12 volts on the coil ignition) which it had a magnetic trigger and the springs and weights controlled the mechanical advance curve, the box you see , was basically a over grown ignition module encased in a big heat sink ( with 12 volt ignition output not controlling timing ) ........
Make sure you have good ground connections. That was the usual trouble spot when my friends ran them on their Chevys in the late 60's and early 70's. I never ran them on my Pontiacs. I had one offered to me a few years back missing the module and harness for my '67. I turned it down just because the prices to get the missing parts.
I just bought a bunch of parts from an 80+ guy - to my surprise there was an NOS Oldsmobile TI distributor (yes they made a few, very, very rare) and the correct box which appears used - I am going to send it off to make sure it all works and try find it a new home as I am an AMC guy.
Pontiac started offering them in 63. There were transistor kits for sale in the 60s to be used with standard distributors they dropped the current thru the points from 5 amps to less the 1/2 amp. The life of points went way up usally how long the rub block lasted. I run this setup in my early hemi uses a Chrysler box http://www.gofastforless.com/ignition/points.gif
Our special ordered 1965 389 tri-power 9 passenger Catalina Safari Wagon had one in it. Dad eventually sold the ignition setup to a gentleman in Topeka I believe.
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