The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Kevin in NJ · 06-25-2014, 01:26 PM

Kind of silly asking what do people operate.
Asking for an opinion does not always help when you really need the facts.

The facts as I have best tease them out of the years of reading the boards....

The modern points buy you nothing other then a mis-guided piece of mind that you can buy point anywhere if they go bad. Of course, when was the last time you have heard of a total point failure that left you stranded? Sorry, but a none starter with that argument. Points give you lots of indication they are not happy. Then there is the condenser on the plate away from the heat. That is also a non starter, in either case I would make a point that the burn out proof condenser is the way to go in any case because A&L has better quality control.

-FWIW, the modern V8 condensers have been failing out the box or shortly there after as reported at times on the Mustang forums. Poor quality control today on a contract low bid buy by the big companies.

Too many people have this wrong idea that you need to replace the points on time, not so. You replace the points when they are bad. The contacts or the rubbing block.

The truth is you are likely to get 50+ years out of a good quality used set. My brothers car is still using the aftermarket points that came with the car in 1970. When I was going through the pile of distributors I have I noticed almost all the points were still good. The only ones that looked bad were no name off brands units. I would use any of the used points I have on my Cabriolet I am building, but I have happen to have a couple of sets of NOS Ford points so I will use one of them.

With the original points you have the luxury of easy setting and you can loosen the screws and make the points parallel. Setting the modern type points is a bit of a pain. I do have the special tool for accurately setting them on my Mustang, but that is not the A.

So for all the talk over the years I get a general trend.

People with all original points and plates that take the little bit of time to properly rebuild everything never have any troubles.
On the other hand,
There always seems to be a some thread or another about some issues with the modern points.

So you can rebuild to original and not expect any problems for the rest of your life or you can try your luck with the modern 'improvement'.

As always, do not believe me, take some time to do some searches and learn the facts for yourself.

06-25-2014, 01:26 PM	#2
Kevin in NJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: South East NJ Posts: 3,398	Re: Old Points or Modern Points Kind of silly asking what do people operate. Asking for an opinion does not always help when you really need the facts. The facts as I have best tease them out of the years of reading the boards.... The modern points buy you nothing other then a mis-guided piece of mind that you can buy point anywhere if they go bad. Of course, when was the last time you have heard of a total point failure that left you stranded? Sorry, but a none starter with that argument. Points give you lots of indication they are not happy. Then there is the condenser on the plate away from the heat. That is also a non starter, in either case I would make a point that the burn out proof condenser is the way to go in any case because A&L has better quality control. -FWIW, the modern V8 condensers have been failing out the box or shortly there after as reported at times on the Mustang forums. Poor quality control today on a contract low bid buy by the big companies. Too many people have this wrong idea that you need to replace the points on time, not so. You replace the points when they are bad. The contacts or the rubbing block. The truth is you are likely to get 50+ years out of a good quality used set. My brothers car is still using the aftermarket points that came with the car in 1970. When I was going through the pile of distributors I have I noticed almost all the points were still good. The only ones that looked bad were no name off brands units. I would use any of the used points I have on my Cabriolet I am building, but I have happen to have a couple of sets of NOS Ford points so I will use one of them. With the original points you have the luxury of easy setting and you can loosen the screws and make the points parallel. Setting the modern type points is a bit of a pain. I do have the special tool for accurately setting them on my Mustang, but that is not the A. So for all the talk over the years I get a general trend. People with all original points and plates that take the little bit of time to properly rebuild everything never have any troubles. On the other hand, There always seems to be a some thread or another about some issues with the modern points. So you can rebuild to original and not expect any problems for the rest of your life or you can try your luck with the modern 'improvement'. As always, do not believe me, take some time to do some searches and learn the facts for yourself.