Re: Electronic Ignition Conversions (General discussion)

Posted by Fish'n Jim On 2016/12/7 19:30:53

Parts availability depends who made the distributor, mostly Autolite and Delco. Bosch was common in europe. They kind of go through generations. Same used for several years before upgrade. There probably were others earlier on, not that familiar with prewar. Never researched that one.
The point contacts and the follower are what go bad, and they can be replaced/rebuilt, so long as the spring arm is good. Condensers are pretty common, used in other services. But the reason they're not making them, is the electronic conversion is more reliable and less costly. No moving parts - no wear. Encapsulated so no oxidation. Silicone wire insulation, lasts indefinitely. The more that convert, the less points will sell. So we do it to ourselves, by not buying regularly like the 10 year thing.
Caps/rotors are just cast phenolic and could be made/molded rather easily then the inside is machined. Some of the earlier ones maybe a type of hard rubber. Need a pattern and tooling. The tooling is where you lay out the bucks, and how many caps are you going to sell, so OD can buy one cheaper? The dilemma; invest to make more and sell for less in a shrinking market? In another generation or two, no one will know what a Packard is anyway.
When the last part is used, I wouldn't put it past some smart guy to adapt a modern distributor head to an old bottom. Machine and pin the shafts, a couple adapters, and you're in business. Spray paint to match.