I think they also have little packets of bulb grease at the Zone for a $1

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web..._T|GRP2035____

 

I use dielectric grease on the distributor cam.

 

Dielectric grease is nothing like what was used nor intended to lube distributor cam. You need to smear on a very thin coat of a very thick paste ... not slimey snot that's for sp boots. 'course anything's better than nothing. Note some point sets have a felt wick ... saturate it & it'll wipe some onto cam.

here ya go:
Mallory Cam Lube Grease p/n 26015
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-26015

I have an VERY old tube marketed by Harley-D with HD p/n ... it'll last a dozen lifetimes.

 

Blue streak products are still available up here, I used them in my 73 BB and they are great. Can't remember where I got them, it might have been NAPA.

 

I've found it easier and less aggravating to install points while my car is home in my garage with nice overhead lighting than replacing a Pertronix set up on the side of the Interstate in the rain at night with dead batteries in my flashlight......... Actually, I just made that scenario up (But it COULD HAPPEN). Personally, I've never had a Pertronix set up in my car and never will. The orig. style points and condenser have served me well over the years.....

 

They never fail on the interstate, too much chance that you'll have a cell phone signal or that somebody might stop to help. These units have a little detector inside to ensure that you're on a deserted country road.

 

Funny you mentioned that, I did carry points and condensor just in case the Pertronix did poop out...

 

Since we are talking about points and condensors,

Anyone's opinion on Standard Motor Products points V178 (V09279)?? I installed Delco points myself a few months ago, dwell set at 31 and set for total in at about 2800 RPM.
L46 ran great for a few weeks then would break down after 3500 to 4000 RPM.

Mechanic installed the V178 points and she is breaking down again at load when reaching same RPM's. Read Lar's suggetion of using CS786 points. I assume that it is a better choice?

Spark plugs presently in the car are AC 44S purchased this year on Ebay. Have a set of NKG R5670-5 that I could try as well.

Your thoughts?

 

Go to the 45S and your problem will be solved. Those 44 plugs are too cold.

 

NAPA Echlin brand points are far superior to any other brand out there. The rubbing block on a set of Echlin points is able to absorb the cam lubricant and has far better wear properties than most other brands of ignition points (Mallory and Accel are OK too, in fact Accel was once owned by Echlin but, not sure if this is still true.)

Echlin CS89 (Hi-performance) or CS786 (heavy duty) points are what your looking for (warning there is also a CS7860 race only contact set, I wouldn't use these on a street car.)

Me, I'm a B*G P**SY! I am going to run a MSD 6AL-2 programmable with a crank trigger set-up on my next bullet but, then 8200RPM is P**SY territory in some people's opnion.

For my 7000RPM stuff, I use Ignitors like I have since 1982 and if you have the points plate properly grounded, the Ignitor will give a great long service life (I guess when it comes to Ignitors, I'm very lucky but, my reliability expiriences with Mallory Unilites are a different story!)

I would suspect your disributor points plate grounding wire has broken which will cause a misfire in points or an Ignitor ignition set-up. Easy test is to open the points adjusting window on the distributor cap and run a ground wire from the points mounting plate to the engine block and see if this cures your mystery stumbling.

 

I would like to add this to the discussion. I think the reason the Pertronix units gained popularity years ago had to do with worn distributors. At the point where a stock distributor is worn to where it won't hold dwell (needs rebuilt) if a Pertronix was installed the engine would then run great again.The Pertronix is very forgiving of bushing wear due to design. It was a bandaid fix that seemed to last for a long time.
I agree the points and condensor will perform equally to the Pertronix types "IF" the stock distributor is in excellent condition.
So IMO for those going from Pertronix types back to points use Lars papers to make sure your distributor is excellent condition OR you could be disappointed.

 

Yup, very true. This trait was capitalized upon by pertronixs and translated by their marketing people into the claims of starts better, smoother idle, more power, improved mileage etc etc.

Funny how they never talked about the 'sudden death' syndrome though.

 

They fail ??? Just kidding but in reality I have never had one fail that I installed , that I know of .

 

I've always wondered if the units were sensitive to installation errors or other variables. Possibly too delicate a design for the ham fisted?

 

Just look at the number of guys that have walked/been towed home because of MSD boxes giving up. Anything electronic is subject to failure at any time.

 

The reason Ignitors give smoother idle and better bottom end is because the dwell time is much greater than any points operated set-up can obtain, even dual points.

I have put Pertronix units in over 2 dozen GM/Ford cars over the last 20 years with no problems to date. I do go through the distributors and make sure they are in good working condition on every conversion, maybe that is why I have such "good luck" with them.

 

Same here.

 

Didn't know that.

 

That's the popular theory but it doesn't make much sense. Dwell is a fixed 30* on points equipped cars. Although the amount of degrees is constant, the amount of time (physical time, seconds minutes etc) varies according to engine speed. The faster the engine goes the less time the points spend 'closed'.

If 30* dwell is sufficient for the coil build a charge to fire an engine at 6,000 rpm, it is overkill for an engine at idle or any speed in between. Once the primary windings in the coil have been saturated, any additional dwell time is waste.

These engines started, idled and did everything just fine when new. If they are returned to original condition, an electronic gadget will make no difference.

 

I had to do that one night in my 71 on the side of the road. I was lucky there was no rain.