I’ve got a 56 chevy with a store bought stoker SBC in it with a manual trans. About 440HP at 5800 rpm. I don’t plan to ever race it, so street only. Would a stock points distributor be fine? I like the simplicity of that but don’t want to give up too much paid for HP.
A well maintained OEM Delco with quality tune up components and a proper advance curve will work fine. I certainly would steer away from the cheap China distributors found on eBay and even marketed by Summit and Jegs. After two friends had those MSD all in one, plug and play units bite the big one and left them stranded I’d avoid that too. Look into vacuum advance, most will avoid it but correctly set up you‘ll like it. And I guess I’m old school, I don’t care for the look of the HEI distributors.
I will NOT run an HEI in my 56. They are great but not proper for the oldies. Where do we get quality points? Condensers?
I’ve got an aluminum and a cast iron points distributor. And some points from way back when, the bushings feel good in both distributors, they do need some shims tho.
How do the points look in them? I'd use the old ones, if they're not too far gone. File them, lube the cam, see how it does. Might want to check the vacuum advance, often they get holes in them and don't work.
The only thing I would add to what Squirrel posted, is that I use a CD ignition system with my regular coil and points. The current drops so drastically in the primary side, that the points last forever. I have physical wear on the points, which is easily adjusted for when adjusting the dwell, and virtually no electrical degradation of the actual contact surface of the points. When I do my regular tune-up, I just lightly file the oxidation off the point surfaces with a flat diamond file. The reason for the long life of the primary system, is the the switched current handled by the points, is 1/100th of the regular point type system. I am using several different Delta Mark 10 boxes, with various different brand names, Delta, Heathkit, Radio Shack, and Tiger, being the most common. I have been using this type of system since 1969. The only likely maintenance issue, would be the need to replace the SCR, (silicon controlled rectifier), a device that looks like a transistor. If it fails, the unit will not hum, but it is just a flick of the switch to activate the regular points system to finish the trip out to the show, or whatever, and back home. I have an MSD 5, ( I am just driving street only), and pulled it in favour of a CD ignition unit. CD units are almost always available on epay, and are not terribly expensive. I have schematics, and the Heathkit repair instructions, if you find one that needs repairs. Bob PS: I forgot to add, you do need a distributor cap and wiring in excellent condition. You likely have that anyway, with the engine upgrade.
Might also consider how many miles you'll put on the car every year....a set of points will last a long long time if you're not driving that much.
Philbin Electric in Portland, OR has quality points and distributor parts http://www.philbingroup.com/
use a 1.5 ohm coil and a 1.5 ohm ballast resistor and your points will last a real long time. The last set of points I changed in my impala had 30,000 miles on them and I probably could have left them.... I buy nos points and condensers at the swap meets. The new stuff is crap. there are people selling old ones on ebay too... good for you for wanting to use points. You won't regret it
A quick look through my ignition drawer turned up these goodies, the condenser is in a car quest box but it has the S for standard on it and made USA!
Points hands down are the best for a street ride.. If you want the ultimate, put a CD box like the Vertex Z-6 with it.. Points are so versatile, I'm working on a dual point with a three way switch connected to both sets of points. Using only one set at a time, I will be able to switch to the other set of points and in turn, change the timing. I plan on using a Chevrolet iron dual point with a tach drive. One top of having all that, it will also have a cable driven tach, all factory stock parts.. I think that's pretty cool.. Look on e-Bay for parts. I once bought 25 sets of Accel points for $25!! They were brand new from 1978. They were for my Pontiac 455, turns out that also fit my Chevrolet points distributors too... I like my cars to look home made, not something from a Summit catalog ..
E-Bay.. A few years ago I bought 25 sets of Acell points for $25! They were from 1978 and are in perfect condition.. The capacitors are also in great shape..
This post is so right on the money!! I am glad to hear your using those Mark 10 boxes. I have a couple of them with a real cool Mallory Voltmaster II coil. The coil doesn't give me any resistance when I put my digital meter across any of the terminals.. I was going to take all this to my radio shop, the guy fixes my Zenith radios so maybe he can replace the capacitors in my Mark 10 box... Or I might just buy a Vertex Z-6 CD box. There made in USA but would need supression wires. I believe the Mark 10 can run on copper core wires.. There was a couple real nice looking Tiger CD boxes on e-Bay lately. They both went quickly..
I know what you mean but i really like the way they stay put and my engine bay is only “traditional inspired“
I have been using a CD unit for 40 years on my Bobcat loader, this is with a Delco coil, and copper wires. My Cameo is also using silicon jacket, copper core wires, and no problem with either unit. I would test the capacitors before replacing them. There are two schools of thought regarding electrolytic capacitors, some people are of the opinion that everything should be replaced. I fall into the other school, where I automatically discard any wax/paper caps, and if the others look to be in good condition, I test them with an ESR meter, (this checks the internal resistance of the capacitor, and if the resistance is high, I replace them. If the internal resistance is low, I keep them. I have been using this technique for over 40 years, and have never had a problem. There are some excellent youtube videos on testing capacitors. If you are interested, do a search. The electronics guy I trust the most, goes by the handle of w2aew, his ham callsign. His name is Alan Wolke, and he is an electrical engineer for Tektronics. It is normally the SCR, that fails, and this is because I believe the designers didn't heat sink the SCR adequately. On the two units that failed, I replaced the failed SCRs with 700 volt devices, and attached a heat sink to the SCR to them and on all of my other units. I have not had failure since. One of these, on my Bobcat loader, is used regularly, particularly in the crappy winter weather. If you need the schematic, I have the schematic for the Heathkit unit that I built, and I will be happy to email it to you. If you are interested in the complete manual, I also believe I have stored a PDF of the complete Heathkit build manual, so that it will be even easier to troubleshoot the CD unit. There is also an excellent description of how the CD unit works, which really helps when troubleshooting. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
