Pertronix Pointless Conversion for Your Vintage Volvo

One of the more common questions we hear from customers who own pre-1975 B18 or B20 powered Volvos is ‘how do I get rid of my [problematic] ignition points?’

This is usually motivated by two elements: first, these distributors are now quite old and the shafts develop lateral slop that makes adjusting the points to the proper gap difficult, if not impossible.Second, and regardless of the condition of the distributor, the points begin to wear as soon as they’re in use; their condition begins to degrade immediately.

We use the Pertronix system to rid our distributors of points forever. The Pertronix is an affordable, simple to install (two wires and one screw) and compact (fits inside the distributor). The “black box” unit mounts inside the distributor where the points used to be, with two wires leading out through the distributor.The black box is triggered by a collar that fits on the distributor shaft just below the rotor.Inside this collar are 4 magnets, 90 degrees apart.As each magnet passes the black box, it triggers the coil. Just like the points would do, but without any mechanical contact and thus, without any component wear.

If this is something you’d like to consider but aren't sure whether the installation process is realistic for you, give us a call and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.