I get the logic, but there are two cases I know this isn’t true: one - when someone is doing a restoration to all original intentionally, and two - when it’s my dad’s truck. You could throw all the world’s logic at him, but when he hears the word “electronic” he is 200% not interested... in fact, in my years of working on vehicles with him, the only upgrade he might agree with is to a dual master cylinder on older brakes.

So, in the spirit of “ this is my dad’s truck, not mine,” I’m sticking with: What are the best quality new points system distributors for a 70 F250?

Back In the early 70s I used to buy the Motocraft TKF1 kits by the case for my Dad’s shop. They had points,condenser,rotor and plugs in a sealed cardboard can. I have not seen one of those in many years. Maybe Bill can locate some for your Dad’s truck.

To open one would be like getting into a sealed bottle of 100 year old Bourbon. But you just gotta have it.

These kits covered most Fords with 18mm spark plugs. If my memory is right the plugs were 42s. I was able to get them at Blue sheet Jobber for less than $10.00 per kit. Of course a tune up was around $35-40 at that time. And we were paying .50 per 16oz can of F 12.
If you can get one I am sure your Dad will really get a kick out of that, it would make a good Christmas present!

I did some testing of the automotive condensers, both 60s pulls and NOS, they are not necessarily any good, time takes its toll. I noticed all of the 60s pulls from my junkbox tested perfect for capacitance value, and leakage at 500 volts DC, but, they won't pass the insulation test. Maybe they absorbed moisture over the years or corroded internally or something like that. How they were stored probably has a big effect.

One of the old pranks was to charge up a condenser and toss it to your buddy, or better, leave it laying around somewhere someone was bound to pick it up and fiddle with it. Heh. Well, I noticed with the old school pulls, they won't hold a charge hardly at all, maybe a second. If I was really interested I'd install one and see what the ignition scope patterns look like, but they fail one of the key tests. They should also be tested at normal operating temperature, i.e. really Hot. A good condenser of that size though should hold a charge for hours and hours.

If ya just gotta use points and condenser, if it were me I'd try to use one manufactured a lot more recently by Motorcraft or equivalent. Maybe buy a few of them,and have them tested on the proper equipment. A DVM or Fluke cannot do this. It will tell you the capacitance value, but they can't apply working voltages which is the real test. The "sealed can" type might be an OK bet, but I was surprised at a Motorcraft "tune-up kit" the kind that included points, condenser, and a small pack of distributor cam lube. The condenser was completely dead, didn't expect that.

The condenser is important to ignition quality, just because the engine runs doesn't mean it's running nearly as well as it should. I have also had good luck with modern non-automotive capacitors. SBE or Sprague line of 716P 0.22uF 600 volt polypropylene "Orange Drops". These are heavy duty enough to handle the current, an automotive ignition condenser is pretty rough service. Have to find a way to secure them so the leads and body of the capacitor don't move or flex due to vibration, or the leads will work harden and probably break. Maybe a dab of silicone or something like that.

Now the NOS (or even used) points are probably better than anything you can buy today. Another thing a scope will show clearly, a worn out or higher mileage loosey-goosey distributor will never tune right. The point gap will change because the distributor shaft wobbles, and it doesn't take much. Have fun trying to set the dwell on that! Worn distributor gear doesn't help anything either. I agree, NOS or NORS distributor is the only way to go, esp. if running points. Check any distributor (even "rebuilt" or remanufactured) before installation for excessive shaft wobble, it really shouldn't have any sideplay, just barely enough for oil lubrication and that's about it.