Thought I'd share an experience to help. Adjusted advance the other night. She was running like a champ. Next morning, dropping spark after 10 seconds. This was on a new distributor, coil, plug wires, plugs, completely rewired truck (Rebel wire rocks btw). I checked and rechecked everything, including using a points gauge to verify open and close. The culprit?
Distributor manufacturer put too much grease on the shaft. Some got flung onto the points. Cleaned them and wiped up the excess with 20 or so Q-tips. Back to humming like a sewing machine!!!

 

Bought a remanned dizzy, a Cardone. It had huge globs of this blue grease all over the cam. Since I was swapping over the Pertronix went ahead and removed it, but it was WAY more than required and would have caused trouble. Incidentally the points and condenser that ships with remanned distributors are typically junk.

If someone is going to run points it is important that they use good quality. Motorcraft/Ford still offers them, and lots of NOS is still available cheap at that auction site and elsewhere, cheap. Ford used the same parts here basically from 1956 to 1973. Have a half dozen old 60s era condensers from Echlin and Standard that I tested on an Eico checker that applies 550 volts DC and they are fine, no shorts or "leakage". In most cases if an engine is running good, even if the points are to be replaced, it's best to leave the condenser alone.

But the modern manufactured condensers are failing right out ofthe box or very soon after. And the new points are made out of recycled beer cans or something, instead of tungsten, they just won't last. The rubbing block material isn't right either as they will wear down to a nub after just a few miles. Maybe that's why they lube 'em up so bad? Anyway a lot of people just say to convert to a Pertronix, but anyone running points should keep this in mind. Normally they should last 8 to 10 thousand miles, which is a long time for most classic or vintage rides. Years and years.

 

Yep, listen to Ted. Condensers are worse. I have about 2,000 miles on my "heavy duty" Oreillys points. They have a phenolic rubbing block that is soft for a few miles, but glazes over and is pretty damned good after that. My truck runs like a hot damn with them, but I doubt they will last 10k miles. The standard points are the ones to avoid, they are very, very cheap. Plastic rubbing blocks melt in short order and poor quality contacts pit quickly, causing backfiring and missing.

 

Going to start a new thread on something I learned about new aftermarket and remanufactured distributors. Check your distributor gear location before you install it.

 

Ha, well I guess I need to get a replacement set of Motorcraft points ASAP or convert to Duraspark. I drove 3000 miles in just the trip home. It ran like a champ right up until I had to pull the intake off due to a leak.

It won't be a daily driver, but once I get it to pass inspection I plan to drive it every day the sun shines except in the heat of summer.

 

If planning on driving it quite a bit like that it's tough to beat a Pertronix module. No mods required, and can switch back to the points if required for some reason.

 

My only concern with Pertronix is the reliability. I've read of a couple of guys who were left stranded on the side of the road. Maybe they didn't install them correctly, IDK, but Duraspark has millions of miles of proven reliability. I know it's a lot easier to switch to Pertronix so maybe I'll give them a try and just keep a spare set of points for backup.

 

I had a 1967 Galaxie with a Pertronix in it. My wife and I drove that thing all over the country, it never missed a beat. I kept the points, condenser and a screwdriver in the trunk just in case but we never needed them. Looking back I wish I had kept that big old road pillow.

 

Definitely convert over to Petronix ignition. Great product and no more messing with points!!