I completely agree with the above....
and let me bring to light some things about Pertronix boxes...….You will have to excuse me a little here, but, what is morereliable than points......certainly not the more popular & common “e-boxreplacement kits”. Yes you can hear people state "It runs so muchsmoother/better than when it had points"........in each case that anindividual said that in my presence, they had very little knowledge aboutpoints and the ones they were running were- old & tired or inexpensiveaftermarket replacement units or the individual (including professionalmechanic) was unfamiliar with not just setting the gap to OEM specs, butsetting the dwell & initial timing to what the engine likes.
But let’s look at the OEM ignition system from the early 60’s….
Original Coil Voltage: 20,000; by the end of the 60’s 40,000 volt highperformance coils were common…..by the 70’s 50,000 & 60,000 volt coils wereeasily available & is what we have today. Did we really gain all sorts ofHP/TQ with all this extra voltage…….no, what we were able to gain was strongersupport (if you will excuse my terms here) for higher RPM’s- specifically inthe 6,000+ range…..enough to power NASCAR engines in the 8,000 rpm range at200+ mph!
Points were used in NASCAR up through the late 1970's, running speeds of200mph+.........Cale Yarborough did lose a race one time because the ignitionpoints broke. In a street application, if you look at the data very closelythat is provided by these more common e-box companies, in street applications(where max power-band RPM is around 6000), when the standard dyno deviation isremoved (5% standard per every dyno mfg) there is less than 1% improvement inperformance. Further testing by independent aftermarket DIS (direct ignition system)manufacturers verify this through their own testing- there is little gain overan ignition points system until you reach 4000 rpm…then you begin to see aslight sustainment of ignition delivery above what points can deliver but itdoesn’t even begin to compare to what a “modern”, real e-based system can &does deliver in a real world street (and race) environment.
I am not promoting this product but their analysis is very accurate of themisleading PR docs pertronix & others have…...
http://www.compu-tronix.com/FAQ.htm#A13
link:
http://www.compu-tronix.com/MightyMo...risonGraph.pdf (if the link doesn't show it...send me a Pm with email and I will send you the document)
The other item is, in a street vehicle, if you wait to see improvement until4000+ rpm, the race is over.
Here is a link to a back to back ¼ runs- comparison ofpoints vs a couple of e-box conversions……..no discernible difference
http://www.vintageperformance.com/retrorockets/track.htm
These e-box “conversion kits”
have literally the same design limitations as the“conventional points”- because they are essentially using the same deliverysystem (rotor, cap, wires, etc.) and they are subject to the same inherentdesign impactors of which there are numerous….including ozone that is producedwithin the cap…..
none of this has by miracle “disappeared” and in fact whencompared in true recorded data-frame analysis, the benefit will be gone by 5800rpm and the loss, although slightly less, parallels that of points. In racingconditions that could very well make a difference, but in a street application,you could literally change brand of fuel and see that level of improvement ordegradation. Additionally, there arecompanies such as ProComp whose “High-Tech Multiple Discharge Ignition Systems”are nothing more than re-boxed low tech conversion parts purchased in bulk fromother companies- mostly Chinese-based. Check out this pic
http://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?94936-procomp-ignition-boxof a “new” ProComp e-ignition system- it’s a glued together GM part stuffedinto a pretty aluminum box. Consideringthey were sued in 2006 by MSD (and prohibited as part of a settlement fromusing/distributing any of their parts), I’m not surprised by anything I seewith their crap….but this includes much of the e-box aftermarket industry- alot of PR documents which physics does not play any part!
Very good quality ignition points/condensors are available and when setproperly, are very reliable and provide excellent performance. There have beenno less than 5 people who I personally knew were going to get e-boxes, then Ihad them get a good set of points/condenser, a high voltage (40k+) coil, andinstalled them showing them specifically how to do it......the engines ransmooth and strong. One person did end up buying an e-box, why, because he saidhe just got tired of not being "cool", after spending $500 for adistributor, etc (he went “Popular” high end), a year later (when he asked meto help him fix something) he admitted, it was a waste of $...it didn't run anybetter than after we put the points in.
While many state the positives of e-boxes (and there are certainly manypositive attributes), there are conditions which reduce an e-boxeseffectiveness & reliability....to start with the circuitry and handling(container vessel shipping) of it from China (which is where 90% of the morecommon/popular e-box company's products originate). Any aspect includingtemperature control, static safeguards, moisture can & will cause bothdetectable and undetectable damage which may not show up until after you havesubjected the installed component to real world vibrations, heat, cold,moisture & grease/oil. Yes, all of these damage e-components, but thesystems (based upon a variety of factors) are suppose to be prepared to endurethese exposures but that is based upon many, many assumptions. Including properhandling & q/a.......given all of the 3rd party involvement in the finalproduct, it is unrealistic (IMHO) to believe that e-boxes have an increasedreliability as compared to their mechanical-based counterpart. And in terms of“Dwell Control” I won’t even go into that in detail but I will say, what the“kits” provide is a joke…..you can actually get more control over the dwell byhaving an understanding of how to set timing versus dwell setting with pointsthan the most popular e-box conversion kits can provide…..which makes for avery smooth running engine- this is not just IMHO, but well known among the"higher quality" aftermarket engineers whose systems reflect thisability to "tune"!
If you need to say I got rid of my points…ok, that’s fine, but if you arereally serious about actually upgrading the ignition system then doso……although it has been scrapped by the OEM’s in favor of more advanced,effective systems, there are aftermarket DIS units (yes the same as Ford usedin the 90’s & developed by Porsche in the 80’s) whose cost is within reachof most buyers and will actually perform as stated.
and regardless of what some may say.....no, you don't have to constantly reset the points......I just had to adjust mine.....10,000 miles later.....it does require you to put one drop of Teflon lube on the "cam"...which eliminates the wear point.....but...this use to be provided with all ignition points but in the 80's the engineers all decided it wasn't needed.