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A company called Pertronix ( often mis-spelled as Petronix) manufacture a product to replace the point system in your distributor called 'Ignitor'. There is a bit of debate surrounding wether it's worth doing, so I had a read up and here's what I found.
Pros:
The original points system in your VW require the dwell to be set to create a spark in the engine. Due to the points moving very quickly when the engine is running, they often need re-adjusting on a fairly regular basis due to vibration and wear. The Pertronix Ignitor is a static component which means you need to set them up once and they stay that way. No more re-adjusting.
Fairly cheap depending on how you look at it. (I purchased mine from justkampers.com for about £60) Make sure you purchase the right ones for your distributor though. They are different for vacuum advance and non-vacuum advance distributors.
Small boost in mileage
Better performance due to a higher voltage spark being created. I have had mine on for 2 days and have already noticed a difference.
No moving parts = no wear.
Cons:
Not an original part so some people are put off.
Can be tricky to fit and requires a little bit of caution (read on to find out)
In terms of actual quantity of what you are getting, £60 can seem like quite a bit of cash but I think it's well worth it.
So I finally took the plunge and decided to upgrade to electronic ignition in my late bay (1978). Below is a short guide on how I did it.
In the Box
The Pertronix module is the small black box where the magic happens. This sits inside of your distributor where the points would be originally. The mounting plate is what the module sits on top of. This uses the same mounting hole as the points so if that hole is rounded off you cannot fit the Pertronix. The spacer may not be necessary ( it wasn't for me ), but allows you to place the module at the correct height. The magnetic sleeve slides over the top of the distributor shaft and sits underneath the rotor arm. It is shaped the same as the cam so slides quite far down. Fixings and feeler gauge - fairly self explanatory, this contains 2 nuts with locking washers, the screw to hold the mounting plate in position, and a plastic feeler gauge to set the initial gap between the module and the sleeve.
As I understand it, this is basically how it works. The sleeve contains four magnets spaced at intervals relevant to the lobes on the shaft of the distributor. As the shaft turns these magnets pass the stationary black module. The magnets must then open and close a connection between the 2 wires which makes a connection to the coil.
Fitting
First of all make sure the ignition is switched off, and if you want to be super safe disconnect the battery also.
1. Remove the condensor from the distributor. To do this remove the connection from the coil.
After that remove the distributor cap and unscrew the condensor from the side. The screw is sometimes shared with the vacuum advance if you have one.
2. Now disconnect the points and remove the plastic block with the connection. Unscrew the points and remove them along with the rest of the condensor. It's a good idea to keep all these in your van as a back up just incase something does go wrong.
3. Attach the mounting plate using the provided screw where the points used to be. Ensure that the guiding pin on the base of the plate sits correctly.
4. Push the sleeve down and over the shaft. I struggled here and spent a while trying to figure out where I was going wrong. It turns out the sleeve can be a very snug fit and also needs to be in exactly the right position to get it all the way down the shaft. I ended up making 4 small small markings on the sleeve where the dips for the cam lobes were to give me a bit of a guide when it goes on. I also added a drop of engine oil around the shaft to allow it to go on a bit easier.
5. Loosely tighten up the nuts that hold the module in place. ( you'll need to set the gap shortly )
6. Feed the 2 wires from the module through the hole in the side of the distributor and get the gromitt sitting snuggly in the gap. This took a bit of fiddling around but after poking it with the blunt end of a pencil I managed to get it to sit right. Pull any excess wire through the gromitt and make sure there is nothing obstructing moving parts in the distributor.
7. You can now set the gap between the module and the sleeve using the plastic feeler gauge and tighten up the nuts which hold the plate.
8. You can now connect the Pertronix up to the coil. MAKE SURE YOU GET THIS BIT RIGHT! If you don't you will burn them out straight away. The BLACK wire goes to the NEGATIVE terminal on the coil. The RED wire goes to the POSITIVE side of the coil. I ended up taking the coil off, just to double check. The coil should indicate which side is positive and which is negative on the plate on the underside. In my case positive was on the left but double check on your own coil! Otherwise it's £60 down the pan.
9. You now need to correct the timing of the engine which I just did by ear as I don't have a timing strobe. This is done by turning the distributor. If your in doubt read up on this!
Replace the distributor cap and remember to reconnect the battery if you disconnected it.
All done!
Final Thoughts
When I first turned the engine over it spluttered slightly. I assume this was due to the magnets being in a different position than the points. The second time it started fine and ran beautifully.
As soon as I went through the gears the first time I noticed a difference in performance which is good. The van was still accelerating at higher revs where before it would flatten out.
I can't comment on fuel economy yet but it does seem to be slightly better.
Richard Atwell has an interesting article on his website in regard to the gap in the Pertronix. This is well worth a read if your interested.
Leave a comment with your opinion and experience of the Pertronix at the bottom.
EDIT: Just thought I'd add a few videos of the Pertronix. These are not filmed by me.
The module this person has looks a little different to mine and doesn't look like you can adjust the gap but the principal is the same:
Posted by: Sam
in Electrical 
