After fighting with points and condensers since I got my truck, and reading all the posts about the pertronics ignitor conversion, i finally was at witts end and decided to try it.
Bought a pertronics ignitor pn#1281 and a flamethrower coil pn#40011. It eliminates points condenser and ballast resistor. Easy install and no module required. Absolutely simple solution. Truck fired right up. Without changing timing or anything else.

Easiest upgrade I have done. Now if it runs problem free... Perfect... If not Its a wiring harness issue. As I am upgrading to full instrumentation, i need to change the wiring harness anyways. Just recieved one today. OEM 110 bucks shipped. Very good condition, all wires and connectors in great shape.

Back to my beer. LOL

 

The Pertronix will do you fine. Like you, I got tired of the points always slipping. Had the Pertronix for 5-10 years now without a hiccup.

 

Same here. I went a step further and bypassed the factory "pink resistor wire" and ran a 14ga primary wire from the switch to the coil. Now it gets full power instead of the 9.6VDC supplied for the points. It runs even better.

 

How do you mean?

I was glad I did the conversion but I simply used an OEM coil with mine. With valve work needed, I don't really need to worry too much about performance.

 

Was always fighting with points too. Well arguing anyway. Not that big a deal but on Y blocks the dizzy is up near the firewall at the back of the block, and didn't like playing contortionist every tuneup.

If I had to choose only one, would recommend a new distributor before replacing points with a Pertronix, simply because these older trucks are likely to have a well worn distributor by now. Cheaped out a bit at the end of my rebuild and that was a mistake.

The stock curve on the motorcraft sucks anyway to begin with, but the breaker plate was all gummed up (well except where it was rusty and worn all to hell, sloppy bushings, etc.) it may be some of the frustration with points is a result of wobble in the dizzy shaft. My 292 had a miss that could never remedy till the distributor was replaced. Now it will idle rock steady and smooth even below 500 RPM, tho with a Holley it seems to like somewhere around 600.

Earlier versions of the Ignitor can fry if the ignition is left in Run w/o engine actually running. With points, if they happen to be closed it will burn them up, too.

The Ignitor does compensate for distributor wear a little bit. It's also getting tougher to find good quality points and condensers.

Be sure to open up the plug gap some, to take advantage of the increased energy from new coil. Check for arcing under the hood at night, the high output coil will expose any weaknesses in the wiring.

 

The wire that powers the coil only provides 9.6 volts when the engine is running. That was so the points didn't burn up. It works fine, but for those of us looking for performance there is more to be had from a stronger spark.

I did a write up on how to do it about a month ago. You can search "pink wire" and read all about it.

 

My distributor was in good shape With no slop in the bushings. The conversion is running good so far. Crossing my fingers. I might be wrong but the motor feels a lot stronger with it.

 

I thought that when I did mine too. I guess it's from more accurate timing and spark control.

 

It would be interesting to see a smog check, before and after.

 

i had a 70 galaxie with a 351 wiindser in it and got tired of hard starting all the time the conversion took all of 5 minutes ran a 12v wire to the coil and it fired right up and ran beautiful then i changed the distributor for a new one put all the parts in from the old one and a new accel coil and boy did it have a lot more power.

 

Trucks running great. Ignition problems have disappeared. I passed smog tests before changing the motor and the air care in BC ends on Jan1 this year. All I can think is that smog tests will be better with the added spark as the fuel will burn better.

 

Point systems have occasional misfires, not necessarily so's you'd notice but every now and then. Spark plugs too. Enough to raise the HCs (or whatever unburned fuel is called) anyway. Electronic ignition really made the spring and fall tuneup a thing of the past, mostly. Engine Timing is a big factor in emissions too.

 

What affect does timing have? I would think higher timing might help because it has more time to burn.

 

As I understand it, the "best" engine timing in terms of efficiency - power and fuel economy, results in a bit higher emission of some pollutants so factory settings are retarded back from that, the cat cleans that up.

 

Back in the day here in Kalifornia you had to have a "smog kit" installed on older cars to pass smog. The "kit" consisted of a yellow sticker in the radiator support, a windshield sticker showing compliance, and last but not least. They would retard the ignition timing to reduce smog.
I never noticed the smog reduction, just the hotter running engine