I do this with a Mallory HiFire IV box on my '64 and use Accel points. Becasue they carry no current, they never really wear or go out of adjustment. And even if they do, the box takes care of the dwell duration regardless of what the points are doing. The points only serve as a switch to activate the box.

 

Excellent advice above. Unless it is a part you can readily get anywhere, like Chevy HEI parts, then you need to be able to fix it on the road in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday. It won't happen with a lot of conversions.


What is wrong with points? Part of an old car is the work that goes along with it. If you want one that is nearly maintenance free like a new one, buy a new one, or modify an old one with new stuff.

 

This is another way to go that does work pretty well, I had a similar set up years ago on a 350 with bluestreak points and a Jacobs CD ignition box & 40,000 v coil that I drove every day, you do still get rubbing block wear, though.

 

I'm sticking with the points...

Thanks for the info.....

 

Standard Ignition still sells the heavy duty point set part # DR-2371XP. Their regular set is DR-2270P.
I sell these in my store and they are still readily available and are a little cheaper
then the standard point set.

 

I've had a "pertronics" conversion in my '61 since 1993 with no problems! If you want insurance why not just carry an extra module?

 

Check out the quality of your distributor parts (shaft, bushings etc.), put in the Breakerless SE single wire system and use your original 202 coil and you will be very happy. I have it in my 67 350 OM convertible and it runs awesome. I have also used in in several other cars in the past. Maybe if you are a lead foot, the other multi-unit set-ups are better, but mine does not miss a beat at low or high RPM's. And, you can install the Breakerless SE unit yourself in 15 minutes. It does work and the one wire system maintains the factory look. Gary

PS: If you don't like it, I will buy it from you at full price unless you damage it.

 

Cause then you'll have to buy a third module to act as spare for the second module for when (not if) the first one fails.

 

I depends on the quality of the electronics in the box how it will react. The MSD version will drop different cylinders to control the rpm. Kind of like a 2 step. Most of the chips will start a little early. We used a chip a little higher than the desired rpm knowing the chip would start about 300 rpm early.

I used a ton of these on boat motors, wave jumping with a rat a full song can be hard on parts if the rpm goes nuts

 

When the Pertronix first came out they were not that reliable and some were destroyed by user mistakes. But they have come a long way.

The myth about them always failing is propagated by people that have probably never owned them but continue to repeat what they have read in the past.

Don't let others scare you into staying with old technology if you want to upgrade to something that has no wear characteristics, go for it.

 

Distributors still wear or break, including shafts, bushings, gears, cent. advance and vac. advance cans. Don't think you can just stuff an electronic switch in there and expect it to live forever. If those items need occasional checking, it certainly is no biggie to put in a new set of points occasionally and check the whole thing correctly. Yes, a tad more work, but if it does fail, easy to diagnose and repair. And part of the fun of owning an older vehicle.

As for better performance, I have never seen a mild to medium performance engine that benefited from an electronic switch upgrade IF THE POINTS DISTRIBUTOR WAS IN GOOD CONDITION IN THE FIRST PLACE (if max rpm is 6500 or less with hi-po points, and with some brands of points can go up to 7500 - if the point cam is in good condition). In all cases where the owner claimed better performance it has been proven that there was a problem with the dist. in the first place that was no longer applicable when using the electronic switch (be it a worn point cam, excessive shaft/bushing wear, etc.).

Plasticman