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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / solid-state ignition

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Posted By Discussion Topic: solid-state ignition     coupeman 03-26-2010 @ 11:11 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 62 Joined: Oct 2009 I could use some feedback,pros and cons,on converting to solid-state ignition in a 59ab flat motor.Getting the timing right is not easy for me, would the electronic setup solve this problem. Thanks to all who responded to my head stud problem. Coupeman ford38v8 03-27-2010 @ 12:25 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2765 Joined: Oct 2009 Coupeman, Don't do it. There never was a better mechanical ignition system than the Ford dual point distributor. The elegant simplicity and ruggedness of the system cannot be beat. We are lucky there are still many who have distributor machines and can set up our Ford distributors for maximum efficiency, but but they can actually be set up on a workbench by a caveman to operate effectively for years. Ford has supplied us with detailed instructions for this operation in the Service Bulletins. A spare can be tucked under the seat and replaced by the side of the road in the dark of night should they somehow fail on you. Electronic ignition is superior, yes, however, they are best suited to cars with computer controls and 12 volt systems. They need a support system that our cars just can't provide. A conversion will cost you more than mere money, as they are short lived in our Fords, and will leave you stranded and embarrassed with not a clue as to how to fix them. Alan 39 Ken 03-27-2010 @ 5:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 380 Joined: Oct 2009 Coupeman, Alan has it right. I spoke to one of the premier electronic conversion specialists a few years back and when I asked him about reliability, he said carry a fully built up mechanical distributor in the trunk to replace the electronic version when it fails. His term "when it fails" convinced me to stay with the mechanical version. The real problem is that electronic version gives no warning that it is going to quit. It just dies. The mechanical version at least starts to run sour and lets you know something is going wrong. Send your original distributor and coil to Skip Haney for a rebuild and tuning. He uses the proper equipment to tune and time the distributor and he rebuilds the coil to modern standards. Skip has been in business for many years and he has many satisfied customers. He stands fully behind his work. Here is a link to his website and for contact information. Ken http://www.fordcollector.com/ . 4dFordSC 03-27-2010 @ 5:39 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 266 Joined: Oct 2009 I used an electronic conversion (Pertronix) for about five years and was quite happy with it until, as predicted, it abruptly quit one day. Am now back to breaker points, and will probably stick with them for the foreseeable future. IMHO, electronic is nice, but other than bragging rights, probably offers no significant benefits over the stock set-up. supereal 03-27-2010 @ 7:40 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The state of "add on" electronic ignitions has improved considerably over the years, and the current prices reflect that. The MGD system now tops $2,000. We just installed one on a Camaro in our shop that we built a huge engine for. It has very high compression, and the owner believes that a stock ignition won't be adequate. As said above, it is very hard to top a stock flathead system in good condition. I don't understand why there are timing problems unless the later "posthole" distributor is used. That distributor relies totally on vacuum for advance, and must be mated with the correct carb to operate properly. 36 5 win dave 03-27-2010 @ 8:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 2 Joined: Jan 2010 I put in a solid-state a couple of years ago in my 36 and I've had no problems,but I'm not sure I got enough "bang for the buck" as it wasn't cheap.If I had to do it again I'd leave well enough alone TomO 03-27-2010 @ 11:03 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 IMHO the electronic ignition does not have any advantages over the stock ignition in cars with a carburetor. When you have electronic fuel injection, a computer controlled spark makes for a much better running car. The add on units built for our cars just replace the points with an emitter. While it is true that the emitter never wears out, all of the electronics are likely to fail due to the poor environment that they operate in. The distributor is mounted where the heat is high, you will have electric transient spikes that can overwhelm the transistors capabilities as well as other environmental hazards. If you have your point distributor set up on a distributor machine that is operated by a qualified technician, you should get more than 15,000 miles out of a set of points. I have seen the dual point distributors go more than 20,000 miles between point changes and the cars were still running very nice. Tom coupeman 03-28-2010 @ 8:35 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 62 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks for the inputs gentlemen, sounds like the Henry Ford setup is the way to go. The extra distributor in the trunk is a good idea, I will look for a rebuildable at the swap meets and practise, practise the old fashion way. supereal 03-28-2010 @ 8:52 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Over the years, I have seen very few Ford distributors that failed. That said, we are now seeing lots of very poor quality point sets. The usual cause of point failure, other than poor quality, is oil getting on them, or failing/poor condensers. TomO 03-28-2010 @ 10:11 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Coupeman, I would bit the bullet and have your distributor set up on a distributor machine. Just getting the right point gap and timing will not ensure that you will have good performance. As Supereal stated, the current selection of new points are not always good quality. You cannot check for binding or bouncing points with a feeler gauge. You cannot set up the vacuum brake for optimum performance with out a distributor machine and you need the machine to check out the advance mechanism. Tom

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