[F ROCK]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Sun Tuned, I agree with you 100%. My research shows the same results....points will wear, but if maintained, this is not an issue. The big advantage of electronic is lack of mechanical moving parts and the resulting wear and deradation in performance. A points distributor that is maintained can forego this issue. Of the thousands of cars I've tuned up over the decades, yes, I've had condensors fail....usually right out of the box, though. The old uniset was known for this (loose mounted condensor) Never had one fail on the road, though, in over 30 years and 100's of thousands of miles. I've been stranded with fuel system problems, but never with ignition problems with these obsolete old set ups. (knock wood!) I'm one of the few and far between that actually LIKES tuning up my cars every 12k miles or so, so standard ignition is fine with me.

i'm not an expert but i agree with this.
i've always been able to sputter home if the points start failing me, and they usually give me a warning.
mine are street cars and very rarely go over 4000rpm so no need for anything more.
i dont mind checking the dwell and timing.
for me points are simple and reliable. my aqua car has had the points changed 3 times in 18 years.

[71 T/A]

Heat is the enemy of an MSD box. That's why I mount it in the glove box in a car that has working a/c. So the box stays real cool.

[quicksilver97ta]

I was shopping for ignition boxes just recently and I was reading the installation PDF’s available on Summits site. One of them, I cant remember which one, had some sort of bypass ready in case of failure. I cant remember if it was a wire or a dip switch or what but there was a ready provision.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

I have seen documented proof on a dyno where a hot ticket MSD ignition was replaced with a stock points distributor for direct comparison...and there was no difference in performance. Again, this is in the "street" section, and this applies to street-driven vehicles. Bill, once again, you are misinformed and misguided. No surprise there.

Never been misguided or mis informed in my life.
Here's the facts:

Points bounce
Bouncing points cause dwell to change.
Changing dwell cause timing to change
"Changing timing" is not good for ANYTHING.

If points were/are so"b!tchin",then they still would be found underhood of cars at dealers today.They aren't-because they're not.

POINT,set,match.

[geeteeohguy]

Points can bounce when the engine runs at speeds well in excess of 6000-6500rpm. Most street driven Pontiacs never go near this rpm range. None of mine do. The old Delco DP112 points I used to run were spec'd out for the old Z-28's and Corvettes, and had a special, stiff spring. Good for 7000 rpm or perhaps even more without bounce. I've never experienced points bounce, even at valve float RPM's in my GTO's. Again, Cobra Bill, I think you are confused between theory and what actually takes place under the hoods of our Pontiacs. But a constant state of confusion is probably appropriate for a guy with a Ford moniker on a Pontiac forum......I rest my case.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Points can bounce when the engine runs at speeds well in excess of 6000-6500rpm. Most street driven Pontiacs never go near this rpm range. None of mine do. The old Delco DP112 points I used to run were spec'd out for the old Z-28's and Corvettes, and had a special, stiff spring. Good for 7000 rpm or perhaps even more without bounce. I've never experienced points bounce, even at valve float RPM's in my GTO's. Again, Cobra Bill, I think you are confused between theory and what actually takes place under the hoods of our Pontiacs. But a constant state of confusion is probably appropriate for a guy with a Ford moniker on a Pontiac forum......I rest my case.

Let's count the ways you are wrong-shall we?Points bounce and they wear.(that's 1)EI doesn't.(That's 2)If you were correct-points would still be in new cars-they are not(that's 3)
I've never owned a Ford or have had a Ford Moniker.(that's 4)
In closing EI is superior to points in every measurable catagory.

You scored a 4.Wanna try for 5?

[Sun Tuned]

They had special cam assemblies (distributor) also.

Dual 112P's were good for 8000 or so with a '58 Corvette point plate(same as regular dual point plate, only it was .036 thicker than the regular version).

Now lemme fill all under that plate with A & B epoxy and while its settin up run two screws down through it(plate) through the still wet epoxy and into the dist housing... hand select 2 sets of 112 p's(looking for 4 things for 2 best sets) and find a real nice condenser and well.... in 1968 Bonner told me Lunati and Isky didn't have a cam that that setup couldn't provide spark for. Rest of the engine had trouble with it. Only a Crower Imperial could keep up with it. Neighborhood of 9000+.

Electronics will do the same, but more consistently these days. Note I didn't necessarily say reliably.

Did dwell change? No. Not for awhile but then... rubbing block wear due to serious spring tension and rpm did cause it to move, so yes it was a concern, but nothing a new 2 sets of points couldn't fix. Problem was ya had to watch hell out of it looking for changes due to the abuse. Toughest thing at the time for the rpm involved, reliably speaking.


Points will bounce if you got a dink installing them that doesn't know what to look for beforehand, and or you're using a piss poor set not designed for the task at hand to begin with.

But then thats training that nobody really had on a large scale back then and even fewer can even remember today. Then theres the quality thats hard to find these days as even back then a guy could go through 50-60 sets of points to just find 4 or 6 good sets, and we won't even talk about what I could tell ya bout condensers. that info alone could really comprise at least 4 or 5 pages of a book that sorely needs writing. No one wanted to or would tell this blood and guts info back then and now noone can remeber to tell it now hardly.

Still the problem with that is finding the parts.

Kind of.....