Petronix

That is a loaded question. If your distributor, wires, and spark plugs are in good shape, your engine should start quickly with the points ignition. the Pertronix will keep the ignition at optimum settings better than points. If the bushings in your distributor are worn the shaft can move around and vary your point setting, causing hard starts and erratic spark. Remove the distributor cap and shake the shaft where the rotor button sits from side to side. If it moves, it need attention. Rebuilt distributors are available under $50 last time I looked.

If your slow starting is fuel, spark plugs, wires, or compression related, No, it won't help.
 
40cpe said:
That is a loaded question. If your distributor, wires, and spark plugs are in good shape, your engine should start quickly with the points ignition. the Pertronix will keep the ignition at optimum settings better than points. If the bushings in your distributor are worn the shaft can move around and vary your point setting, causing hard starts and erratic spark. Remove the distributor cap and shake the shaft where the rotor button sits from side to side. If it moves, it need attention. Rebuilt distributors are available under $50 last time I looked.

If your slow starting is fuel, spark plugs, wires, or compression related, No, it won't help.
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Has the car been converted to 12v? If the wiring to the ignition coil wasn't done correctly it could cause harder starting.
With points currently installed and a dwell meter you can check for worn distributor shaft bushings by looking for a 5 or more degree 'bounce' in the dwell reading.
 
Let me put it this way; Pertronix is no better that a good condenser and set of properly adjusted points. Pertronix does not improve ignition performance over a properly tuned standard ignition.
The attraction to convert to a Pertronix ignition is the IDEA that the ignition is going to be maintenance free (as far as not having to replace points and condenser).
However, Pertronix does go bad, and then you are out another $120.00 versus peanuts for the points & condenser.
Yep, I'll agree that it is a little challenging to get a good adjustment on those points without a dwellmeter. Use your feeler guage and you should be pretty close.
 
If you still have a 6V system, it may not start at all with the Pertronix unit unless the battery, battery cables and all connections are in very good condition. I had one installed on a '55 Ford and it wouldn't start hot. I went back to points and it would start right up. In talking to the tech guy at Pertronix I learned that the minimum starting voltage to fire the unit is 5V. While under starting mode, I only had 4.7V even though the battery was up to snuff. I still have the 6V unit if you are interested; but I don't really recommend it.

A work-around might be to install a 12 drill battery and wire it up so that the Pertronix will fire using the 12V under starting conditions and then run on the 6V system sort of like a later model system that starts on 12V and then runs on 6V.

Since you probably don't drive the car as a daily driver, best option would be to just stay with points as stated above. Most often, hard starting is a carburetor problem assuming that the electricals are in good order.
 
i v had a 53 merc automatic was hard to start, found out it was the battery, New battery started immediately.
 
many times a battery will show a full 12 ( or 6 ) volt charge, but will not have enough " reserve cranking power" the only way to be completely sure the battery is good is to have it show a little over 12, almost 13 volts and have it "load" tested. It could also have a bad cell , all will cause the problems you describe.
 
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