Still running points?

[howzzzit]

How many of you are still running points ignitions? I feel it's a part of the era and becoming lost to hei ignitions. Hei is great, but the allure of a hands on tuneup is still in my blood. Stock 72 C10 and owned her since a pup.

[Warrens69GMC]

I am
Not for long

[truckster]

I haven't run points in years, but I do have a points distributor tucked away in case of an apocalypse...

[richards72chevy]

HEI maybe a thing of the past here soon with everyone doing LS swaps.

[yuccales]

I am. Just can't force myself to get rid of my dwell meter. I even have an old aspirin bottle with half a dozen condenser screws... no uniset for this cantankerous old fart.

[Dirt's72]

I have a small gm distributor hei in my 69 292 truck. When I had my 250 rebuilt for my 72 truck I went and acquired another small points hei for it. It needed it rebuilt so I contacted a company called advanced distributors who I had read about in an article in my Hagerty magazine. He told me that I would get much better performance out of a points distributor. Which is contrary to anything I've read on here. I sent him an original gm points distributor that he rebuilt and I am very happy with its performance.

[Steeveedee]

Points work just fine. The reason GM (for example) went to electronic was for emissions control. Points wear, and emissions increase. If you stay on top of them, you have nothing to worry about. I bought a uniset many years ago. $30! Never again. They weren't even Blue Streak parts.

I have the HEI that I took out of my '68 Skylark hotrod when I pulled out the SBC and put in a SBB. It had an HEI because it ran bad...still did. The vacuum line to the AC blend door vacuum ball was disconnected. The guy had done all kinds of things to it, and it still ran rough and hesitated when I bought that car. Didn't figure it out until I got it home.

[Stocker]

When I was a young man, reaching the distributor to change & set points in my K20 was a PITA. I am no longer a young man. In 1980 I installed a used GM HEI distributor and still think of it as a great improvement.
Of course, I still have the original distributor, coil, & wires. Just in case....

[67 twins]

I'm still running points on all my V8 trucks. I do have an HEI on my 292 though.

[Warrens69GMC]

FWIW, my new to me 67 c10 is getting a divorced HEI.

[Killer Bee]

SBC factory points and carbs in these '71 C20 longhorns and '65 C20

I do have a handful of various electronic distributors and new carbs standing by but haven't had the need yet





last tune up circa 1980's when I was in high school, little ornery to start but still runs good

[mike16]

Yes. Every one of my hobby cars have points

[special-K]

My '72 already had an HEI, but I have never had a problem with running points. I always said points never left me stranded, HEI has. And HEI is about as good as it gets for electronic ignition, like the gold standard. But electronics either work or they don't and when they don't, due to a bad part, you are screwed. HEI is a by-product of the maintenance-free era, which happened because most don't want to maintain their stuff

[mr.mud1]

i have the original points distributor in my 72 big block truck and my 327 1967 Impala wagon.they run fine,never had any need to change them.i don't check the dwell often,maybe once a summer.i keep threatening to try an HEI but so far,that hasn't happened?i did buy a new distributor(with points) thinking i'd install it but didn't do that either since i'm sure it's chinese . i have a buddy with a 49 Mercury truck with a 351 Windsor Ford motor and one of my Quadrajets on it,he has had 2 or 3 of the Chinese garbage distributors,seize up while we were on the road somewhere.my new distributor sits the gathering dust,still in the bag on the shelf.probably the best spot for it?

[howzzzit]

Killer, give me the 65. I'll make sure it gets tuned alright.

[Accelo]

If the vehicle sits a long time with the points open, they can oxide and quit working.
A file will fix it. Old timers say you can fix anything will simple tools. Newer cars are way more reliable. But you can't fix them with a file or without some knowledge and training.

Electronics have moved fast, remember when welding machines weighed almost a ton? Now the welding leads weigh more than the machine.
I had a 2006 Corvette and when my Grandson saw the Nav screen he said “Grampa that’s old”. (Monochromatic screen)

Now the timing and air fuel mixtures are changeable at any load and speed with a lap top. They have more power and pollute less than we ever imagined.
I keep my old car at the garage where a younger full-time mechanic rents the house. He helped me start my car when the points glazed over. It was the very first set of points he ever worked on. He said "I have heard about them but never seen a set". Since the last GM points were likely in 1974. They were gone 25 years before he was born.

I have two old cars with points. No plans to change them. Most of us are older and it's likely the points use will die with us.

I have two more with modern crank position sensors. I can reach in and start them from the outside without touching the gas pedal. They idle down, as they warm up, and the plugs last 100,000 miles. And they are hands down the most powerful vehicles I have ever owned. We can change or not but the world will change.
Diatribe ends here.
Cheers.

[SRU1436]

I have points in my 72 Cheyenne. I have HEI in my 66 Chevelle.

[vics stuff]

I am still running the points in my 1972 C-10 350 . Have had great results with them . Check dwell once a year. Had this truck for 25 years and still running the same points.
Vic

[special-K]

I only ever changed my trucks to HEI to accompany other performance upgrades, for the very high volt spark. I do a weights and spring upgrade for faster advance.

On points vehicles you carry and extra set of points and a condenser (rarely need) along with the QuadraJet filter in the glovebox.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by special-K

My '72 already had an HEI, but I have never had a problem with running points. I always said points never left me stranded, HEI has. And HEI is about as good as it gets for electronic ignition, like the gold standard. But electronics either work or they don't and when they don't, due to a bad part, you are screwed. HEI is a by-product of the maintenance-free era, which happened because most don't want to maintain their stuff

Reading through this thread (and this post in particular) reminded me of something I had long since forgotten. What I just now remembered was that my original ignition did let me down once prior to switching to HEI in 1980. Technically it wasn't the points -- it was the coil that suddenly failed and I was dead in the water. Luckily it happened just down the street from my house so I walked home & got tools, then drove our other vehicle to the parts store.

[72SB]

I have always just put a Pertronix kit in stock points dizzy. + replace resistance wire to + coil with a 10 gauge copper stranded wire run from IGN tap on fuse panel

[custom10nut]

When I got my truck 30 years ago, it had the Single Points in it, but they tormented me with “spark float” so I put Dual points in, and was pretty satisfied.
The Duals always stayed adjusted longer, freeing up my Sunday Evening Maintenance time for other things.
Then I did a complete engine rebuild, and decided to install an Electronic Conversion Module. I have never regretted that decision, and I’m able to keep my stock Distributor and Cap. Win win for me.

[howzzzit]

What is spark float????

[697498chevy]

Second owner of my '69 C 10 , still running points . Thanks !

[Steeveedee]

Originally Posted by howzzzit

What is spark float????

A not-strong-enough spring won't close the points fast enough at high RPM.