OK Gang, I got the 66 home last Sunday after a rough run from Denver. Luckly after stalling North of Lubbock I ran into a couple that were members of the Lubbock Mustang Club that spent from 8 AM to about 2 PM helping me get the car back on the road to get home. Turns out the car had an after market electronic system that went bad. Now for the question

Do you recommend a points systems or is there an electronics system you prefer. I have a loaner distibitor in my car now from my hero in Lubbock that I need to send back. I also have the distribitor that came with my car (the one that went out), but the electronic points in the car are unknow to me or anyone else. I have to replace something and I need you suggestions.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

ELECTRONIC!!!

Points are oldschool, and not cool old school, just dated technology... nothing more. Somebody on this board says his "tuner" says MSD is crap, but Its not, because just about ALL NHRA cars run MSD brand ignition. I have first hand experience with it. Your Car will run WAY better with electronic than points, adn you can also set up a rev limter, for those "just in case" situations.

Depending on what your doing, look for a 6AL, or if your really want more tunability (if its a strip car) go for a 7AL

Jim

 

What timing..... I just had mine converted from points to electronic today. Get a quality electronic unit. I went with a Pertonics distributer and a 40K Pertronics coil. I also had them install a new Edelbrock carb. I was running the original points and an old Holley carb and it just wasn't real smooth. I hope to get the car back tomorrow.. I'll let ya know how she runs.

 

I'll probably take a beating for some of this but here goes. First let me say that I don't endorse any particular brand of aftermarket ignition systems. They all have their good points and bad points. For shear simplicity, you can't beat a points type system. They are easy to set up and it's very cost effective to carry a spare set of points in the glove box. Contrary to what some may say, when properly adjusted, they perform very well. The problem is they don't stay set up correctly for very long. The rubbing block wears and the points pit resulting in a loss of performance. Electronic systems are great. Timing stays accurate, plugs last longer and the systems require little or no maintenance. I have personally used only two aftermarket points eliminators. The Pertronix ignitor and the Mallory Unilite conversion. They both worked well and maybe I'm the exception but they both left me stranded on the side of the road. Unfortunately, you can't find replacement modules just anywhere and it's not cost effective to carry spares. For those reasons, when I decided to convert my 390 to electronic, I chose a factory Ford Duraspark system. You can get parts at any auto store and they are cheap enough to keep spares in the trunk. Would I go back to points? Only if I had to. At the end of the day you have to go with what you are comfortable with based on the way you use your car. Just the ramblings of an old schooler. Decisions, decisions......

 

That's great! sounds like you met some very nice people along the way. So we are going to expect a complete post as to how it all went, what worked for you, and what you would do differently, if you did it again. This post will also require posting pictures to the gallery with a link. You have exactly two weeks to turn in this homework assignment

Is your distributor a stock distributor with some kind of module added in? Or is it an aftermarket distributor?
If it's stock, and in good shape, except for the module, you can just replace the module, or go back to points.
Just a slight haze of heat conducting compound on the mounting base goes a long way to increasing longevity of these modules.

I like electronic ignition. I'd have to think pretty hard though about putting anything in, that I can't find parts for at Napa or one of the local autoparts store. One nice thing about an "add-in" module is that you can always keep a point set, condensor, and an external resistor in a baggy in the trunk. That way if it does fail, you simply swap in the points and move on down the road.

IMO, a new complete system that is installed and setup correctly would be as failure proof as a new vehicles ignition system. Most times an aftermarket system fails it is due to the wiring or switches in it's path that are out of spec, incorrect setup, or lack of maintenance (yes they do require a little cleaning once in a while, and voltage checks to make sure they are being fed correctly ).

If you aren't comfortable with electronics and electrical trouble shooting, then points are a great way to go. Your ignition wiring and switches can really go to hell, before your points won't fire. I've seen points systems run off 6 volts. No way in hell an electronic ignition is going to function as well under 9V.

 

I wont use points either. I like MSD but Ford made a decent ignition system and its a bolt on for everything except Y blocks and flatheads. You will have an extra box under your hood, but that is true of an MSD also. I have lost and MSD coil once, but I have also lost stock type coils. I have 3 cars with MSD 6AL systems, two have billet distributors and they havent left me stranded yet. The factory HEI in my GTO did twice. (it has the 6AL box now)

The duraspark is inexpensive and parts are everywhere, MSD will power a small city and can cure some fouling conditions. The only place I run points is in my Briggs & Stratton lawnmower. Setting gap and dwell is a lost art unless you know it yourself. Very few shops will have a clue what that means now, let alone how to set it.

It comes down to budget and if you are worried about being stuck in BFE OK again.

 

Old Yeller ran for 40 years using points. She never left me stranded, but I changed the points once a year along with the anti-freeze, etc. The point system is high maintenance, but if maintained properly, it works just fine. However, I changed to the pertronix last summer, and she runs just fine with it too. Now, if the electronic fails, you may not have it hooked up right. Check out the FAQ on top.

 

I ran points in many cars, and have been stranded by point. Fortunately I was able to fix it on the road.

I put a petronix in my current ride. Works really well and smoothed things out a lot. I would highly recommend for everyone to swap their stock distributor for a rebuilt one at least. Here is why: On the Hot Rod Power Tour this year I sheared the shear pin in my distibutor leaving me stranded. It only cost 50 cents for a new shear pin and I paid a machine shop $5 to press it in. I was back on the road to drive home. Lesson learned - the distributor in my car is 32 years old! Why would I keep it when rebuilding the engine, a rebuilt one is only $39 and you get new bearings and everything.

I have gone through the engine with a fine tooth comb and have not found anything that would cause it, short of fatigue and more HP (I am running over 400 on an engine that originally had 230HP). So I am putting an MSD distributor. It costs less than Crane and all the folks that I know race swear by either one.


Bottom line I am all for electronic. Plus I read an article in Hot Rod Magazine where they measured the voltage at the spark plug with a points set up at 8k volts, and by just changing to the petronix they got 17k volts.

 

And that is why you can open up the plug gap into the 40's.

 

Crane has a conversion that has a rev limiter built in.