Ok so at the beginning of next month I am probably going to order parts to upgrade my whole electrical system in my car...

Reasons why I want to upgrade:
Its old and worn out.
The vacuum advance doesn't work on the current distributor (diaphragm is shot)
Dwell changes by 4 points from idle to 1500rpm. (I was told that if it changes more then a couple points all the way through the rpm range that it indicates a bad Distributor)
Alternator is on its way out. All the lights are dim at idle and brighten up once the engine speed increases and its not the regulator, I already checked.
Last but not least, the oil filled coil is not oil filled anymore

What I plan on upgrading:
Stock 60amp alternator with a 100amp alternator.
Stock points Distributor with a performance electronic ignition (magnetic type) Distributor.
Crappy spark plug wires (that I bought thinking they were good) with some good 8mm or 8.8mm wire set.
Old and probably oil cover spark plugs with some new ones to match the new setup.
Old dry coil with a new 45k volts coil.
Still working fine just old condenser with a new one (don't want to have any reason for something to go wrong)
and Finally finish relocating my Battery, made the box but never got around to getting wire and running it for the relocation or finding a place to mount it in the trunk (I have made a lid for it that has hinges and a latch so I need to be able to open it and still have it out of the way)...

Now I could get a replacement vacuum advance for 30 bucks and I could get a new replacement coil for 20 bucks however that doesn't grantee that it will fix the problem with the dwell and on top of that there are some other issues that are caused by the ignition but I don't know how its causing them... so I know I wont be able to completely fix it for 50 bucks and I know that some of the stuff I would be putting on there would be over kill for my car however I want my car to have one less excuse for why it isn't working properly and when I upgrade my car more I wont have to worry about the ignition not being able to do a good job. I estimated and it looks like it will be roughly 500-600 for the entire project.

What is every ones opinion, is it worth it?
What kind of benefits would I get?
What about the fuel economy and performance, would there be much of a change?
What is the negative side of doing this?
What problems might I run in to while doing this project that would delay the project and increase the cost (I will be squeezing as hard as I can to do this as it is)

Thanks, Brian

 

If you're squeezing hard but still want a quality ignition, get an MSD ready-to-run, Ford Racing wire set and MSD coil for about $400. You should be able to run higher, smoother and better mileage. I know that I had a very noticeable increase in performance when I switched from points (well-tuned BTW) to electric in a 302 in my GT that had about 300 hp or so.

Whether it is worth the money is up to you. To me it was well worth it, if nothing more than the simplicity and reliability (no flooding out) of going solid state. YMMV.

 

It's a stock engine, so why spend that much on an MSD setup? The pertronix with an ignitor coil will be plenty. A stock distributor is all that is needed too. You can also get good Autolite B-45 plugs and stock wires which are quite adequate as well.

 

I've had the petronix set up for over 5 years with no complaints. Not one single problem. I highly recommend it.