Electronic ignition?

I ordered a crab distrib from Bubba's Ignition. I'm a fan of electronic ignition in my Model A. He said go with points, so I did. Had some problems with my crab and the McCulloch blower together, so switched to a mallory with advance weights and points. Runs way better (again, I have a McCulloch that was causing problems). I noticed that the aluminum Mallory body is getting loose in the base and can move a little causing slight advance or retard, so not the best product.

All this to say, stock Ford is the way to go. I agree that have a back up distributor and fuel pump in the trunk ready to go. easy and fairly cheap swap if something goes bad.
 
I went the electronic ignition route on two Flatheads, I'm going back to points... As for electric fuel pumps, I vote yes. I have electric fuel pimps in four of my Flatheads, I use them as the primary pump, converting the OEM manual pumps to 'pass through' (for that OEM look under the hood). I also install a 'kill switch' on the fuel pump. I've had electric fuel pumps on my Flatheads for a number of years and only once have I had a failure with an electric fuel pump.
 
Whenever questions like this come up I think WWDD (what would dad do). He owned my car well before I was born, drove it from LA to NE pulling a trailer with mom and restless kids. I'm sure when the car acted up, he would open the hood, do some tweaking and get back on his way. In 1940, he didn't think "damn, I wish I had an electronic ignition" or "I wish this thing didn't have so many things I have to grease and maintain". My dad is gone and he put me in charge of taking care of it in his absence. With all the maintenance, with all the struggles (compared to modern vehicles) these old vehicles can present, I relish every one of them. It allows me the privilege to experience a little of what he had to deal with as a kid and as he was growing the family. No electronic ignition for me...I'll make do.
 
Different strokes for different folks. I like the electronic ignition Bubba put in my crab distributor. Not to say there weren't a couple hurdles to get over that were cured with a ballast resistor and a better coil but that was years ago.

Points are fine and I understand about the feel of what it was back in the day, but anything set up properly on our flatheads makes them run that much better. I'd like to think that if there was an alternative to making our flatheads run with less issues back in the day, they would do it. Of course, I am not a purest so modifying my flatties for less maintenance and better performance is not a problem with me. I love them any way I run em, see em, hear em, build em, drive em, and to me, that's what it's all about .....
 
I dunno. Been running electronic on both of mine for many years without one problem. One is a flathead and one is a 302. Never have to change points, set the dwell or check the timing. It's always right on. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Manufacturers quit using point ignitions over 40 years ago. Probably a reason?
"If you like points, you can keep your points. Period!" (Famous quote more or less.)
 
I'm happy with original '35 helmet distributor. Set my latest one up in 2013 on the side of the road in Nebraska on a crosscountry trip. Over 25k miles since then, and still running perfectly. I carry enough parts to rebuild twice. Don't need an electronic setup.

PS...the parts I carry are high quality original components, not the crap that's coming in to the country today from who knows where.
 
Last edited:
JSeery said:
This all sounds good until you hear the endless stories of bad replacement points and condensers. The original systems work fine if you can locate replacement parts!
Click to expand...


AND now days even the electronic parts are off shore cheapie stuff as well.

8-9 years ago we made up some electronic flatheads using the best control module (GM HEI), the best pick up coil and reluctor ( Chrysler) and the best distributor ( Aluminum Chevrolet). After building quite a few that worked really well we started having some module failures. After some costly reasearch we found that all the HEI modules were off shore products and very cheaply made . The internal circuits that made the HEI a great unit actually was found to be missing some circuits!!! The current controls,and variable dwell controls were removed !!!!!! Every day this electronic market becomes a little worse based on getting quality parts. :eek:
 
Totally agree with Bubbas, will extend even further. Same issue with 90% of everything we buy in the US. Pretty hard to find anything truly "made in USA" anymore. Having got that out of my craw just for the easy setup, low & easy maintence, easy replace innerds, I'll stay with the Electronic(what is a craw anyway?). I do totally respect & appreciate the old school though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top