Ran into a guy here that's got a 1955 F series with a 239 Y block. He wants something better and more reliable than points.

 

Yes there is a 6v positive ground Ignitor available.

 

I think his has been converted to 12V, he mentioned that the generator's been replaced with a one wire alternator.

 

If it now has negative ground the one for the '56 should work. '57 and up will not work.

 

You will have to excuse me a little here, but, what is more reliable than points......certainly not e-boxes. Yes you can hear people state "It runs so much smoother/better than when it had points"........in each case that an indicidual said that in my presense, they had very litle knowledge about points and the ones they were running were- old & tired.

Points were used in NASCAR up through the late 1970's, running speeds of 200mph+.........Cale Yarborough did loose a race one time because the ignition points broke. in a street application, if you look at the data very closely that is provided by these e-box companies, in street applications (where max RPM is 6000), when the standard dyno deviation is removed (5% standard per every dyno mfg).there is less than 1% improvement in performance.

very good quality ignition points/condensors are available and when set properly, are very reliable and provide excellent performance. There have been no less than 5 people who I personally knew were going to get e-boxes, then i had them get a good set of points/condnsor, a high voltage (40k+) coil, and installed them showing them specifically how to do it......the engines ran smooth and strong. One person did end up buying an e-box, why, because he said he just got tired of not being "cool", after spending $500 for a distributor, etc (he went high end), a year later (when he asked me to help him fix something) he admitted, it was a waste of $...it didn't run any better than after we put the points in.

While many state the positives of e-boxes (and there are certainly many positive attributes), there are conditions which reduce an e-boxes effectiveness & reliability....to start with the circutry and handling (container vessel shipping) of it from China (which is where 90% originate). any aspect including temperature control, static safeguards, moisture can & will cause both detectable and undetectable damage which may not show up until after you have subjected the installed component to real world vibrations, heat, cold, moisture & grease/oil.yes, all of these damage e-components, but the systems (based upon a variety of factors) are suppose to be prepared to endure these exposures but that is based upon many, many assumptions.including proper handling & q/a.......given all of the 3rd party involvement in the final product, it is unrealistic (IMHO) to believe that e-boxes have an increased reliability as compared to their mechanical-based counterpart.

 

Wow, You Serious? I guess the Auto Manufacturers of the last 40 some odd years better change their ways...

 

You're preaching to the choir here. I've been wrenching for 40 years and believe me when I say a Pertronix unit is FAR and AWAY, more reliable than points ignitions ever were. I've run the Ignitor I & II, and the Crane XR-1 and all were dead nuts reliable. Install it, set it once and forget about it. Points ignitions are how Holley carbs and multiple carb setups got the bad rep about "not staying set". It wasn't the carbs "getting out of tune" it was the points ignition "getting out of tune" Even when I did run points on a 2x4 427, even then I quickly learned that the point settings never stay the same, they're constantly wearing on teh distributor cam and burning the contacts. This changes the dwell settings, requiring repeated adjustments and replacements. Set a Pertronix (or any other drop in module) and forget about all that crap. Ditto for a Holley carb. Tune it for the engine, feed it clean, quality, moisture free fuel, and then leave it the hell alone. It'll stay set for years.

 

Dont forget about the PITA location of the distibutor making points adjustment another PITA. Deterioration of eyesight doesnt help either.

 

Myself nor my father who (raced flatheads from the late 40's up until the 70's- 134 mph in 1948 at Lions Drag, 149 mph in 1949 at El Mirage) and myself who still run the old stuff, I've never experienced the strain of setting & maintaining points- my 65 Hipo mustang, which I did a ground up in 1986/7, still has the Blue Streak points I installed back then, untouched with about 12,000 miles.

While I have never doubted the value of OEM e-boxes (which is a far different product interms of quality & perfromance), when run on a dyno, back to back with "good" ( not tired) parts, in RPM ranges not exceeding 6k, the hp/tq difference was less than 2%- and that was only at 4000+ rpm.......

With regards to the oems, the day of e-boxes is coming to an end because of numerous issues, specifically efficiency........Ford (for one) is developing servos to replace lifters and lasers to replace spark plugs/e-boxes....BTW, this is really nothing new as BMW used this tech in Europe on select cars about 15 years ago.

The point being, even by the aftermarkets own literature (or PR as I refer to it), there is very little gain (as typical dyno deviation is 5% per mfgs) if at all to running e-boxes as compared to points unless you are unfamiliar with engine tuning, then as many do today, buy the e-kits that includes converted carbs/induction systems, ignitions, etc, bolt it on a drive it while the ECM tunes as you drive....very simple, very easy...and when it "breaks", then if we can't figure it out, we just replace all the e-boxes.

 

At any rate, back to the original question... Does Pertronix make a module for a 55 239? And the answer is YES.

 

Don't know why you've gone off on this tangent about automotive electronics, we're just talking about replacing points here with a drop in module. I've run both in the past 40 years and all my vehicles I've run a module in, were all far and away much much easier to start(in one of my engines, with XR-1's fired by a Mallory Promaster coil, it would start at 25*F without a choke and without a pump shot to prime the carb) and keep tuned. Your 12,000 mile points are nothing unusual, in fact fairly typical for good set of medium weight points. And if you haven't checked the dwell in all that time, I can garantee you it's not where you set it. Points will have their place in vehicles owned by those who want to tinker with their engines, but I'm not one of them. I will keep a set or two around just in case of an EMP burst though.

 

I will say that I haven't noticed anything different with my butt dyno when comparing pertronix to a points setup in good working order and tune. I really haven't noticed anything other than a lighter wallet. So I can't say it's better. I also wouldn't put them high on the reliability scale because of the ease with which they burn up if the key is left on. The electronic pickup is more forgiving in a sloppy distributor which, I imagine, is why many people notice a significant improvement.
When I have to spend the dough on an ignition system again it will be for either an MSD or converted Duraspark distributor and an aftermarket box because I have noticed differences going that route.
For me, reliability would be points because it's pretty easy to get out of what would be a tough situation with an electronic system if I have trouble in the middle of nowhere. I really don't have a problem with maintaining them. If I wanted to be absolutely sure I could make it from point a to point b, I'd use points... and this is from a fairly young guy, so I haven't been stuck in the 60s for 50 years (to emphasize how highly I regard the simplicity of points, not trying to imply that anyone is stuck in the 60s).
But I like performance, and I like to notice that I got something for my money, so electronic with an external box it is. Stick with a good brand and it will be pretty darn reliable. I currently have a system from Performance Distributors (D.U.I.) and it is awesome!

 

I'll second that. I had a Pertronix setup on my 12v 55 239 engine.

It worked fine. I couldn't tell much difference between it and the points I removed however.....

 

Over at the Ford N tractor boards , this comes up all of the time . Originally the little flathead four cylinder motors have a 6 volt coil and a distributor mounted front and center (hard to get to ). The die hard old school guys will defend points with their last breath and the new school guys the same . It's very entertaining because they both have valid points , he he .

The one thing they do agree on is the 6 volt EI units are sensitive to a voltage drop and are not very reliable in less than perfect environments . The 12 volt systems are durable .

I have one tractor with a 12v pertonix (sp?) system and have had no problems , I have one with good points with no problem either . I did get a hold of a cheap set of points that the rubbing block wore down after a few hours .

The tractor I converted had a worn lobe on the distributor and the cost of the EI unit was about the same as a replacement shaft .

If you get bored here , go to an N tractor board and ask them which is better , EI or points .

 

You are absolutely right....and was my point (no tangent)....for anyone to say that points are not reliable, etc, or to say that e-boxes by themselves are better is just not reality if you are comparing good quality to good quality, each has benefit, but to think because of marketing hype that e-boxes by themselves will "Boost" performance by some unscientific miracle, well that is just wasting $.......whether someone wants points/e-box because they want it is fine, both work very, very well in both street & racing applcations.

When I see someone claiming I am on a rant, it reminds me of the "Cold Air" scam............which I can tell yu dating back to 1997 I have been blasted by both K&N reps and FTE members, even though engineers from Ford documented in writing the issues with my new car (90 days old) with the K&N filter......and now that Testand Corporation conducted an ISO standards test on automotive air filters (which from a flow standpoint verified absolutlely the the other half of the issues with these type filters) it's funny that they have all "dissappeared".