Mike,

        I built a Pertonix setup along the lines of what Steve is describing to you. Sent it to Mummert to use when we Dyno'd the engine. He took the Pertronix out, stuck Duraspark parts in it and we hooked it to an MSD6al. I have never touched since except to replace the cap and rotor and wires. It has worked flawlessly for three/ four years now. My F code makes cylinder pressure and will pull well over 6 grand  If there was a problem I'd have found I'd have seen it by now. This is the answer with today's technology.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Yeah, I feel ready to try that.  Thanks Steve. 

Mike

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Mike - you can modify one of the slotted upper rotor shafts and install the Ford electronic ignition trigger (reluctor) with a little machine shop work. Send me a PM with an e-mail address and I'll send you the drawing via PDF. Ends up looking like this: 

If you braze up the end of the slot you can change the total centrifugal advance by gently using a rat tail file and a caliper. The two upper rotors I came up with both had slots for 15° advance (30° crank) so I shortened the travel so I could use more initial in the curve.

The Ford external ignition box simplifies trouble shooting - just plug in another box. They are cheap and pretty reliable if you take it easy on the amperage they have to switch.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Hi Rick,

Yes the dist. came from me.  I think about the Pertronix everynow and then, but also remember I have purchased three of them and they all were toast within 2500 total accumulated miles.  One failure was due entirely to me leaving the ignition on.  Never found the cause of the other two.  The dist. that I was using had some kind of problem in that a regular type rotor was very difficult to fully seat on the shaft.  Actually didnt realize that problem until two caps and rotors were eaten up. 

One of the Pertronix burnouts happened on the road away from home, almost exactly two years ago, with the wife on board.  That day it was over 100, and not fun changing out the ignition to points.  So it has been points ever since.

Mike

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Mike,



You could just eliminate the points/dwell problem by putting a Pertronix kit in it. I did that on my previous 239 and it ran well (until the timing "belt" jumped a few teeth!!!) It's in that distributor I think I got from you!! (didn't you send me a dist?)





Cheers,



Rick












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1955 F-600/272/E4OD// Disclaimer: No animals were injured while test driving my F-600 except the ones I ran over intentionally!

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This post was created using OpenSuSE Linux x64 and Firefox

Mike,

        If you can find a better/newer cam...... use it. The points have to open some amount to decrease "sparking" so the coil can charge, the amount of time (dwell) affects the amount of charge also. Which all means the spark will get weaker and you'll lose top end power first. As John said!

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

46:

You asked a loaded question.  The "best way" would be to replace the cam.  However, I don't practice what I preach, on my Ranchero it seems to run better when I set the dwell.  Pattern on the 'scope looks better that way too.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

John,

If the dist. cam is worn as you suggest, what would be the best way to set points and dwell?  Optimum gap or dwell, or compromise?

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Paul:

The wear of the pin and slots would not cause any problems with dwell.  I would say your distributor has a worn cam.  I'll bet when you set the points with a feeler gauge, the dwell is too short.  That's because the tips of the cam lobes are worn or polished off.

John in Selma, IN

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Guys; would similar wear as described, in some cases prevent getting a proper Dwell reading? I've reset my points a couple of times but can't get near the factory recommended dwell. This is in a NAPA rebuilt.

Paul