What do you run for an ignition system?
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,736
From: West Hartford, CT
No need for arguing! I mean, it’s not oil or cylinder heads! Post what you run or prefer, let the preceding and next people have their say & preference as things have mostly proceeded.
I gave up on points as they were regularly needing adjustment to suit my **** retentiveness, not because they don’t work. Wouldn’t for a second poo poo points, they have worked reliably for a century+. Early 80’s I had a high speed miss in my 65 442 that an Accel dual point solved.
I like HEI’s, despite working through the curve issues on GM units while absolutely loving the adjustability of my Mallory 75 series “HEI,” an uncommon choice, as long as I don’t need to adjust the curve while it’s in the car as the configuration doesn’t even resemble GM. Happily, in 15 years I have never had to adjust it but have had a module (Mallory) and a pickup (Ford EEC-x) commit suicide.
I have had a GM pole piece fail and had to do a roadside distributor change twice, maybe 3 times counting the GM, can’t remember over the 20+ years on the road . I always carried a set of emergency points but don’t remember ever using them, I keep an HEI in the trunk and have had to use it until post mortem could be performed. I have seen 2 sides to Pertronix conversions, seen a number of them fail while there are a lot of people happy with them. I don’t understand various ignition boxes but they are widely in use by a lot of people with seeming success. Maybe I’m missing out on something but have never felt the need to explore. I can’t even fathom mag triggers, multi coil setups, etc. they obviously have benefits as the “bigger boys” use them, but with my under cammed engine breathing through a straw, I need reliable spark through 5600 rpm, MAX, a few times, every few years, most Olds guys don’t even need it that high.
Oh well, to each his own, but I don’t think anyone is wrong in their choices, there are a lot of ways to ensure a spark in the right hole, at the right time.
….
I gave up on points as they were regularly needing adjustment to suit my **** retentiveness, not because they don’t work. Wouldn’t for a second poo poo points, they have worked reliably for a century+. Early 80’s I had a high speed miss in my 65 442 that an Accel dual point solved.
I like HEI’s, despite working through the curve issues on GM units while absolutely loving the adjustability of my Mallory 75 series “HEI,” an uncommon choice, as long as I don’t need to adjust the curve while it’s in the car as the configuration doesn’t even resemble GM. Happily, in 15 years I have never had to adjust it but have had a module (Mallory) and a pickup (Ford EEC-x) commit suicide.
I have had a GM pole piece fail and had to do a roadside distributor change twice, maybe 3 times counting the GM, can’t remember over the 20+ years on the road . I always carried a set of emergency points but don’t remember ever using them, I keep an HEI in the trunk and have had to use it until post mortem could be performed. I have seen 2 sides to Pertronix conversions, seen a number of them fail while there are a lot of people happy with them. I don’t understand various ignition boxes but they are widely in use by a lot of people with seeming success. Maybe I’m missing out on something but have never felt the need to explore. I can’t even fathom mag triggers, multi coil setups, etc. they obviously have benefits as the “bigger boys” use them, but with my under cammed engine breathing through a straw, I need reliable spark through 5600 rpm, MAX, a few times, every few years, most Olds guys don’t even need it that high.
Oh well, to each his own, but I don’t think anyone is wrong in their choices, there are a lot of ways to ensure a spark in the right hole, at the right time.
….
Last edited by bccan; May 16, 2022 at 07:36 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 3,869
From: Mt.Ary, MD
I've always heard the horror stories about MSD. I never had a problem with the 6AL, but I upgraded to the 2. I did have a pickup fail, and it rode the rollback.
Last edited by fleming442; May 16, 2022 at 05:43 PM.
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