I'm back running my rusty old auto lite again, and that thing still runs like a champ.
The autolite is an excellent distributor/system.......unfortunitely you are one of many that discovered the Q/A problems with many of the after-market units.
It's funny how many street driven cars get all sorts of high performance parts installed due to marketing genius. As beechkid indicated above, most of these electronic ignition upgrades really don't do much for the average engine driven on the street. A properly functioning stock ignition, properly tuned, will get you to your destination more reliably and for far less than what a electronic kit will cost you.
As with all aftermarket performance parts, take the time to clarify what your intended use is and how a particular factory spec part is inadequate for that use. Only then might a high performance part be justified.
If on the other hand, having bragging rights at a cruise-in is a high priority, make sure to plaster all the free stickers that come with these parts in prominent places!!
That being said, my car has a Pertronix 1 that was installed by a prior owner more than a dozen years ago. It works well but, not everyone with a Pertronix has enjoyed trouble free operation so I carry a set of points and a condenser in the trunk as "insurance".
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*67 Vintage Burgundy 390GTA with most of the bells and whistles*
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1970 Mach 1 San Jose built Dec 23 1969. Marti says 1 of 7. Purchased in 1987. Original family owner of the powertrain 351C 2v FMX.
1993 GT 11,000 miles, Built 2-12-93 Auto, 3:27 Axle, cloth, sunroof. Untouched except for rubber and battery, Purchased new 8-3-93. still has the factory windshield fluid and new car smell.
I've run Mallory units in the past, only to sell it and have my OEM Ford unit rebuilt, re-curved and a Pertronix sparkie added. It, together with my Jacob CD box, has run fine for over 8 years. It cost me $150 for the rebuild, recurve, and the sparkie.
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Ken ..
64 1/2 Poppy Red too!, Cvt. Resto-Mod
333 Cu.in. T5z, 3:55, Dual 40 mm DCOE Webers
Performer RPM, CI cam, TFS/TWs, Tri-Ys, Discs w/Shelby Drums
Severna Park, MD
I once had the cam follower on one set of points break off. Car died immediately, at 70 mph on the highway. Once I figured out what it was, I put a piece of cardboard from the side of the road between the bad points and drove home. No tools required. Try that with electronic.
I used to have a Mallory Unilite on my 390. It sucked. Didn't fit the block correctly so timing was a PITA. Was always scared of the electronics failing so I would carry around a spare light, rotor and cap just in case. Parts were hard to find and stupid expensive. But the final straw was when I put the tri-power on. The air filter assembly didn't clear the cap because they are taller then stock caps. Put an original, vacuum advance dizzy in it and I've never looked back. Easy to time, parts are everywhere and cheap as can be.
All it needs is a spark...
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65 Restomod Coupe - incomplete, 5.0, Custom wiring, AOD, 4-wheel disks, some gentle body mods
67 390 GT Fastback - finished. Acapulco Blue on black, w/ '63 Ford 406 Tripower, Shelby drop, 15 x 7 Halibrands. Built at San Jose, February 9th, 1967.
"I love you, and your smart and all... but da**!, you are an idiot!!"
"The laziest man is the most innovative."
I am so glad to see that there are many people here with the same conclusions about ignition systems as me. A good old autolite factory points type distributor will run a street performance motor as good as any of the aftermarket stuff and much more reliably also. They may not have a "pretty" billet housing, but what good does that do you when you are waiting for a wrecker on the side of the road?
My austin healey replica with the 302 has a stock point system as well as the 390 in my 62 galaxie.... they run perfectly and I have no plans to change either one.
As with all aftermarket performance parts, take the time to clarify what your intended use is and how a particular factory spec part is inadequate for that use. Only then might a high performance part be justified.
This is the best recommendation anyone can give- always look for what you are lacking and then find the part that will specifically deliver that!
That really makes a difference in the way an engine runs.....many a person just can't believe that our mustang idles & drives as nice as it does with a 290 duration/580 lift grind....it iis all a matter of matching parts and not going off the marketing brochures..............and i bet yours is the same way!
Thanks so much- ya know as I get older, i seem to keep hearing from the younger that "I just don't know or understand".....but perhaps the next best compliment I have ever had (next to yours) came from a 20 yo who was going to college to be a mechanic.....they would come over (& still do) help lend an extra set of hands when i need it or they just like to hang out, but Reg looked at me one day after gripping abou how the transmission course instructor got mad & basically had all the "kids" stop doing a tran rebuild themselves & just had them watch him do it......I know we can all see where this is going, but "reg" looked at me and said, "I've learned more from you about cars than I have this entire past year from all my instructors"........
Sometimes it just feels good to get up in the morning! (:
Also this is a stupid question but what is the difference between a male and female distributor? I have never seen a male distributor and am confused as to what they would apply to.
Your choices look fine. You'll want to bypass your pink resistance wire to provide a full 12VDC to your coil and ignitor, as indicated on the instruction sheet. That should be it. If you'd like, you can also do away with the wire from the coil to the "I" terminal of the starter solenoid.
I see the "gender" question has been answered. As far as distributor caps go, you can "go either way". :-)
Ok so from what I gather I dont need the distributor. So I can use my points system with a better coil?
Absolutely! Standard Ignition (company) builds a line called "bluestreak" which (and hopefully still is) is what I have always used...their points/condensors are what were used exclusively in just about every racing community (including NASCAR). With regards to the Cap & Rotor, If I may highly suggest always purchase both from the same mfg...then you know they will absolutely match the way they are suppose to. I like Motorcraft (the racing parts group use to make a HD cap/rotor which was my favorite) but the high end NAPA & AC delco (which is what Ford in the 60's actually used) are all good components...I sure others will chime in as well....
You can definitely set the point gap with a feeler gauge but I would also highly recommend (since this is kinda new for you) to purchase a dwell meter- these should be dime-a-dozen today & a timing light (if you don't have one).....you will very easily be able to self teach yourself about point gap/dwell/initial & advance timing...us old goats because we have dealt with these for sooo long can literally listen to the engine, feel it with our hands and know just what to do.....you will very quickly recognize the tones/feel & with the test equipment & driving the car, will gain this as well. With regards to timing advance, you in general want to see most/all of your advance in at the bottom of the engines powerband.....so if your cam has a redline of say 6000, you probably (check your spec) have a powerband range of 2500 to 5000...so you want to target 2500 rpm to have all of your advance in by......of course, this can vary but your distributor is completely adjustible....there are excellent articles published on the internet (others will chime in with the HTTP location) of exactly how to do it........it is very easy although there are people who have the ol Sun Distrubutor test benches who can do this for a fee, but it is really unnecessary and can be done on the car.
A short story- my Dad was an ol salt flat racer & when I was about 12 years old I still remember, he had a flathead (brand new built engine that he personally did) that he just couldn't quite get right...it drove him nuts.....then a friend named Jerry who at one time worked a Shelby's shop & an ol salt flat racer himself visited our home. Jerry at this point had lost almost all of his vision- dad was telling him about the flathead and Jerry wnated to hear it.....he asked my dad to place his hand on the distributor (which on the flatheads is located in front of the engine just behind the fan blades......dad did, Jerry rotated that distributor maybe a fraction of a degree...and pulled his hand away from the engine and said...try it now......the hairline vibration was gone- and my dad just smiled & said you got it.....that fraction of a degree made the difference.....but the point is the feel of an engine will tell you more than just about any piece of test equipment, but untill you leran this feel, use the test equipment to guide you and yes, you will learn how to feel what is right for your engine.
Ok so from what I gather I dont need the distributor. So I can use my points system with a better coil?
Hi,
Yes, you can simply use your distributor as a first step in upgrading your ignition system. However, your wires should be in tip-top shape, as well.
With typical maintenance, "points" will work, as mentioned, for many years. Our OEM distributors, in themselves, are hardy units. What usually wears are the shaft bushings. Many of us, myself included, opt for a Pertronix unit that replaces the points and the condenser with an electronic circuitry. This takes the ongoing maintenance of "setting points" off the maintenance list. There are a number of shops who will rebuild your OEM distributor and even check and /or adjust (optimize) the advance rate (recurve). As I mentioned, this is what I did. My distributor still looks and works like it did over 40 years ago only without "points". All for about $150.
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Ken ..
64 1/2 Poppy Red too!, Cvt. Resto-Mod
333 Cu.in. T5z, 3:55, Dual 40 mm DCOE Webers
Performer RPM, CI cam, TFS/TWs, Tri-Ys, Discs w/Shelby Drums
Severna Park, MD
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