Pertronix D186504 Flame-Thrower VW Type 1 Engine Plug and Play Vacuum Advance Cast Electronic Distributor with Ignitor Technology

great product

This PERTRONIX FlameThrower SVDA distributor is what every 'street VW beetle' should have, in order to do away with the bothersome 009 mechanical advance distributor 'flat spot'. The SVDA was intended to be the perfect match for a stock VW bug engine and it certainly works best, in my opinion (and that of so many others). The PERTRONIX FlameThrower SVDA has an electronic igniter module in it that perfectly replaces the old OEM (original) points/condenser assembly and in my experience with it, it performs flawlessly. The enclosed instructions are clear, concise and well illustrated, so no fumbling around getting it installed. Even a 'high-grade' chimpanzee could probably do it! 009 distributors are most at home in high-performance VW engines, Porsches and race modified cars. The Pertronix FlameThrower SVDA is the setup of choice for a stock or only slightly modified bug, intended for use on the streets and roads.

Installed this in my '74 VW Thing along with a Bosch blue coil. 5 minutes later she fired up for the 1st time in over 30 years!!! Instructions were good, with the exception of no info on where to connect the vacuum port on the dizzy. The port should be connected to the carb vacuum port pointing to the dizzy, just at or below the throats of the carb.I also found that there is a rubber buffer under the rotor cap, in my case the buffer was standing up sideways and not laying flat, whoever assembled it jammed the rotor on and damaged the notch in the rotor, but not enough to need a replacement. Laid the buffer flat and reinstalled the rotor, no problem.I had no problem with the o-ring, I lubed it with grease and the shaft went in just fine, others say to use the old o-ring but I did not need to.Comes with the correct electrical connectors which is very nice, you don't normally get them with other products. The wiring is also long enough to reach about 12", so you can cut to your needed length and then crimp the connectors on. I added a protective sleeve and some shrink tubing to protect the wires.Every VW dizzy with points should be replaced with a similar electronic unit. What a sight it was to see an engine that had been forgotten for 30 years come to life and run so well!

After 2 bad Kuhltek brand electronic ignition distributors in a row, I gave up on them and ordered this Pertronix. One had a cracked armature within 20 miles and the other had wires that would arc and ground out when the insulation got hot, skip on that brand. The Flame Thrower dropped right in with a minor issue. It was a good tight fit but while knocking it in the little metal tab on the side popped off. I had to dimple it in with a punch to get it to stay. I knocked a star off for the craftsmanship, looks like they may use a cheap body and upgrade it with their ignition system. The body is not stamped anywhere, just the sticker. I advanced it a degree from standard and she accelerates nice and smooth. For the money I recommend it. It does come with crimp style connectors for those who want to know. I have a 34pict3 carburetor on the car.I noticed a couple of other reviewers recommend the 3.0 ohm coil for it but I am just running a plain old O'Reilly's coil (I have no idea what the ohms are on that as it is not listed.) and it is doing fine. We'll see the long run on that. If I don't update, you can bet I haven't had any issues.

This distributor works great and fits well. There are two things to look out for, as pointed out in other reviews, but I will add some information based on my experiences that might help: 1) the spark plug wiring is different from my last 009 distributor - cylinder 1 is located one position counter-clockwise from where it is on the 009. 2) the o-ring is easily damaged. Even though I lubed the o-ring, I damaged it when pulling the distributor out, I think because I didn't pull it straight out and instead unintentionally angled it a bit towards the end. Interestingly enough, I found Pertronix's technical help online form and I asked them how I could go about buying a new one from them. After all, I felt I did the damage. They wrote back a few days later and asked for my mailing address so that they could send me a new one! That was much appreciated.

I installed this Pertronix distributor on my VW and dialed in the timing without issue. Motor ran great for the first couple of test runs then began to develop a flat spot off-idle. I spend several weeks chasing what I thought was a carburetor issue only to figure out that the vacuum advance had failed and was leaking by causing a lean condition. Popped the old points-type distributor back in and the motor was back to running like a champ. This Pertronix unit had less than 100miles on it when it failed. Trying to get a warranty replacement for the vacuum advance, but so far not having much luck.Update: Pertronix refused to warranty the distributor since it was purchased from Amazon. They told me that the warranty must be handled through Amazon. Amazon would not accept a return since it was past the 90day return window (but the distributor has a claimed 1 year warranty from the manufacturer). Amazon did offer a partial refund (subject to a restock fee) which I accepted as it's better than nothing.Will NOT touch another Pertronix product going forward due to complete lack of service on their part.