Electronic Ignition
I’m considering converting from points to electronic ignition in my 351W 69 Cougar. Here’s what I’ve learned from here and other sources. Any advice on accuracy of this information and my conclusion?
Goal: A reliable car for cruising, not for racing.
Pros:
More reliable starting with less cranking and stalling; smoother running engine; less maintenance. All three of these are an issue for me, which an electronic ignition should address.
Points and condenser need to have gap adjusted, sometimes replaced, and timing checked by someone knowledgeable, though it’s not rocket science and can be learned.
Cons
An electronic ignition can malfunction and the part is more expensive to replace than points ($100 vs $5).
It’s possible to screw things up with installation by wiring incorrectly. If it’s not broke, if may not be something to fix.
The Pertronix Ignitor series is a popular choice, with three levels. (1) is the basic unit; (2) includes variable dwell which gives increased coil charge time at higher RPMs resulting in higher efficiency; 3) multi-spark and rev limiter for use in racing applications.
Ignitor (2) and (3) have electronics that protect against damage if you leave the key in the ignition.
I have completely stock ignition in my '68 R code.
I have a MSD 6AL ignition system triggered by a Pertronics Igniter 1 in my green GT-E. It’s been in there for the past 25 years and close to 30,000 miles.
I disagree with your idea that points ignition is not going to be reliable when starting - the car starts exactly the same with points as it does with an MSD ignition. The only advantages to electronic ignition are resistance to spark plug fouling and less frequent maintenance. One thing that I have noticed with the MSD ignition is shortened spark plug wire life and the need to replace the distributor cap and rotor more often. The higher voltage of the MSD system also wears out spark plugs rather than letting them foul as the points system does. Overall the MSD is a nice addition mostly because of the rev limiting capability. If I take the car to the muffler shop I can install a 2500 RPM chip to prevent a Ferris Bueller type event. The rest of the time I can install a 6000 RPM chip to protect the motor from an accidental overspeed event.
Stalling is not an issue with points ignition, where did that come from? The only performance difference is if the points become worn or otherwise unserviceable due to faulty adjustment. One thing that you mention which is very true is that points can be damaged by simply leaving the key on with the engine not running. Certain models of Pertronics have the same issue.
We used to see cars broken down on the side of the road frequently in the days when all cars had point style ignition. A lot of the breakdowns were simply because owners did not perform tune ups in a timely manner, which means replacing the points and condenser every 6000 miles.
A lot of our collector cars won’t ever be driven 6000 miles in their foreseeable future.
Points are no longer $5 and no longer available at any auto parts store. Generally if there are some at the local parts store they are made from Chinesium and not worth pitching out your window. Good ones are the ones made by Autolite or Motorcraft or Mallory in the USA. Last time I bought some was on eBay, I think I was lucky to find two NOS Autolite tune up kit cans for $30 each. Those cans have eight plugs, a set of points, and a condenser, plus a rotor.
I replaced the points with a Petronix phase 1 in a 70 XR7 with a 351W - also changed to an Accel coil. VERY easy to install and it did reduce some maintenance (re-gaping points - had to check the gap now more than actual adjust). Not sure that it solved too much else (may help the plugs foul less) - still had the stock cap & rotor to change and stock distributor (timing), but otherwise I thought it worked well in that application and was worth it ($100 +/- for the phase 1 kit & coil).
Best of all, the only visible difference was 2 leads out of the cap (I shrunk wrapped them together to look like 1) and the coil was visibly different (black body/yellow label - it was eventually re-located to the rear of the engine anyhow as I went to a Holly 2V), so it still had most of the stock appearance.
Here’s some real-world daily driver experience for you: I was a stubborn hold-out with points in my j-code 68 for the first few years of ownership- 'till I nearly missed a court hearing because a newly installed set of points decided to crap out. That evening I bought and installed a pertronix kit and I haven’t touched the distributor (or my dwell meter) ever since. That was over 50,000 miles ago!
Installed Petronix in 1973 351C 2V and 40K coil. Easy install and runs fine. It gave me about 3 degrees advance which really woke up the car. By the way, I have typical stuck in the block distributor housing so this was a godsend.
I put Pertronix Ignitor 2 with matching Flamethrower coil and Pertronix power supply on the 69 351w in my 68 XR7 about 5 years ago. Been very happy with it-car starts good, idles smooth and performs well. To me was good bang for the buck. I’m not afraid to go on the interstate and put on a few hundred miles at a time. Before the changeover I’d had issues with some crappy Chinese points and condensers.
I have a '68 with a 289 (2V). The engine was rebuilt in 1995 at 153K, and at that time an Ignitor was installed. At 184K now (in 2019), it’s still on the car. I do pull the plugs every other year to see how they are/check the gaps, and I think I’ve cleaned them once.
I’ve used either the Ignitor or Ignitor 2 on a variety of other older FoMoCo products, all with good results.
Pertronix Ignitor II with the stock coil works very well. All you need to do it to run a new wire from the back of the ignition switch (connect to red or pink w/ green stripe for most years) out to the Ignitor.
my Distributor with points would go haywire or skip out of alignment at the most awkward moments (in the middle of nowhere). One mechanic that helped me out just showed me how to readjust the points and said that base plate was sloppy (whatever that means). The car would run terribly wrong and stall.
The pertronix II took care of all that, and on my 3 rd 1000 mile trip since, it still goes great.
With the option of electronic ignition I wouldn’t even think of running points. With the petronics stuff its easy to hide to maintain appearances under the hood
Many thanks to all. I will condense the points from this well timed discussion but presumably some gaps will remain.
Royce, thanks for setting me straight about many of my misguided expectations from this upgrade. I’ll need to look elsewhere to figure out how to get my car to start better and stop stalling.
OK time has gone by since I started this thread. Engine is being rebuilt and I’m going to go for the electronic ignition while I’m at it, with an Ignitor II and a Pedapter 2 to simplify installation (though it does seem a bit of overkill at $40).
This is a basic street build so I don’t think the fancy coil is necessary for a low revving situation.
Only question I have left is how to determine if the stock coil I have is still good? What test would you run to confirm it does not need to be replaced?
thanks
-ms
The stock yellow top coils are very durable. I would look at the outside for any sign of damage - bent terminals, dents, cracked plastic. Also make sure there are no signs of oil leakage from the coil.
Then measure the resistance per the shop manual. If it meets factory specs and has no other issues it’s a good coil. Probably more reliable than anything on the market today.
