Yes of course! Anything distributor he knows and maybe has. I have bought stuff from him and awhile ago I bought vintage new in box point condensor sets.
probably need a distributor...recommendations?
- Thread starter swisherred
- Start date
Yes of course! Anything distributor he knows and maybe has. I have bought stuff from him and awhile ago I bought vintage new in box point condensor sets.
When I was looking around at electronic ign conversion (under the cap) kits, didn't matter who was selling them, they all looked to be the same type of unit. Just going by looks of the kit's contents, nothing else. Except for the old Mallory UniLite system that Holley Products has under a different brand name now.
I think that either way, you'll be fine. Points worked well for ages, if they were installed correctly. Electronic ignition will require "some assembly", but the pay-off is "no maintenance" and possibly better performance at higher rpm levels. All of which has been stated already.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
Commando made a good point and said points are a built in rev limiter so I would guess the points start to float somewhere after 5000 rpms [don't know exactly what rpm,and I would guess on the spring pressure, brand etc ] then that can be a good thing. I guess the interim was dual point setup then electronic for higher rpm's.
Last edited:
Dual points were configured such that the dwell was increased to about 40 degrees, for greater "coil saturation" and a hotter spark for higher rpm capabilities.
But as long as the coil is up to the task, the shorter dwell of a single point system (as a Pontiac test indicated in the middle '60s), no real advantage to the dual points. BUT if they were trying to prove that to decrease costs, another issue in there, too. There were "HP" points that were supposed to have a stronger spring for higher rpm before "point float". But that was more for the 7000rpm motors, I suspect, than the 5000rpm motors.
There were some aftermarket electronic ignition kits in the earlier '60s, but they were still a bit "Foreign" unless you had an engine that needed their capabilities. Using the points kind of like a relay point, rather than the "final link" in the transfer of the coil's energy to the spark plugs. There were differences in the ultimate spark energy and the length of time the individual spark lasted. For "common people", too much added complexity, it seemed.
In an era when a buyer was more prone to spend money on a fancier model with more chrome, or two-tone paint and white wall tires, than to worry about an unseen item under the hood. Other than "the big engine", that is.
Just some recollections,
CBODY67
But as long as the coil is up to the task, the shorter dwell of a single point system (as a Pontiac test indicated in the middle '60s), no real advantage to the dual points. BUT if they were trying to prove that to decrease costs, another issue in there, too. There were "HP" points that were supposed to have a stronger spring for higher rpm before "point float". But that was more for the 7000rpm motors, I suspect, than the 5000rpm motors.
There were some aftermarket electronic ignition kits in the earlier '60s, but they were still a bit "Foreign" unless you had an engine that needed their capabilities. Using the points kind of like a relay point, rather than the "final link" in the transfer of the coil's energy to the spark plugs. There were differences in the ultimate spark energy and the length of time the individual spark lasted. For "common people", too much added complexity, it seemed.
In an era when a buyer was more prone to spend money on a fancier model with more chrome, or two-tone paint and white wall tires, than to worry about an unseen item under the hood. Other than "the big engine", that is.
Just some recollections,
CBODY67
I thought it was also to prevent point float too?
The greater dwell angle is the result of the dual points being staged one slightly behind the other, they do not open and fire the coil at the same time. The only way to prevent point float is to go to a stiffer spring which increased the wear on the rubbing block. Dual point race distributors for high RPM use had about 25 percent stiffer springs to the point set (racing points) but they wore out really fast.
Dave
Last edited:
I see. I thought a dual point system was two coils and two sets of points each firing only 4 cylinders each so each set of points had only 4 lobes instead of 8. Thus more dwell and more time to recover from point float.
Actually, as I understand it, one set of points opens the switch (so to speak). While it's still open, the other set of points open. Then the first set closes with the second set still open. Then the second set closes and the "open" cycle is ended. Staged as they are, it works better than a different point gap on a single set of points. Both point sets have the same point gap. End result is a longer dwell period so the coil build-up (i.e., "saturates") more before the plug fires. They were first used on higher-rpm motors of their time, for better high-rpm power from the existing coil technology. AFTER, of course, everybody had changed to a 12V NEGATIVE ground vehicle electrical system. Negative ground is important in which direction the spark happens at the spark plug, for better energy use.
CBODY67
CBODY67
swisherred
Senior Member
Whatabout the possibility that my distributor is fine...but not grounded well. Losing the ground when I loosen the bolt? Maybe I should remove it and clean everything really good and try again?
Why not throw in a new set of points and condensor for less than 10 bucks and see what happens? How's the cap rotor, wires and plugs?
swisherred
Senior Member
New wires and plugs...cap and rotor seem ok but don't look new. Maybe a cheap set from the zone for testing.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
@halifaxhops
Please help this guy with a point dist before he gets talked into a Billet MSD unit.
Please help this guy with a point dist before he gets talked into a Billet MSD unit.
Some of the Mallory ignition systems were wired that way back in the day. The following video explains the operation of a standard dual system (as opposed to Mallory ignition) better than I did. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R32y6gaYxCI
Dave
cbarge
World Famous Barge in a Budget
..and down the rabbit hole we go.....
Either do a Pertronix in a recurved points distributor or go Electronic Ignition.
Wasting time on keeping the points..
My point is go point-less.
It is pointless sticking to points
Did you get that??
Either do a Pertronix in a recurved points distributor or go Electronic Ignition.
Wasting time on keeping the points..
My point is go point-less.
It is pointless sticking to points
Did you get that??
Thanks for that so someone thought the same thing at some point. Thanks for the video,,I may have to watch this a few times lol.
swisherred
Senior Member
I did contact Halifax for some points, but then told him to hold off till I knew if the distributor was even good. No point in buying points if the the unit is bad and needs replacing. If I have to replace it I will probably go electronic, if not I will keep points for the moment.
Nothing wrong with points for our cars. Unless you beat the hell out of the car. You should get 10 K out of a set. Electronic has its advantages also. I actually like the GM modual conversions to get rid of the mopar ECU. Just a better spark. Really a preference. I run a Mallory dual point in my 440, no issues at all.
Similar threads
