Electronic Ignition conversion report

Posted by Mark Buckley On 2011/6/1 15:12:45

My 1950 Standard Eight had been running rough, so I had my mechanic check the points and adjust the timing. He made some corrections and the car's performance improved. As he was tinkering with things I mentioned I'd been looking at converting to an electronic ignition module that fit inside the distributor. He expressed surprise that I could get one for a 6-volt, positive ground system but went on to recommend the upgrade.

I had been looking at a conversion kit offered by First Street Ignitions, of Ponca City, Oklahoma:http://www.fsignitions.com/FSI_CONVERSION_KITS.html

I read the online literature carefully and then called the business, telling them about my car and making sure they sent me the right stuff. The people on the phone were helpful and seemed competent.

My car's starter, generator and distributor were all by Delco, so I wanted to keep things that way. I contacted Dave Moe, at Seattle Packards and asked him to send me a rebuilt Delco distributor. My plan was to install the new electronic system in the rebuilt Declo and then return the 'old' Delco to Dave. That way if the new system refused to work right out of the box then I could just put the old one back in and be mobile again.

My problems with the First Street system began the moment I opened their box and read the instructions: the system was designed to work with Autolite distributors only. This was never mentioned on the company website nor was there any hint of that when I spoke with two First Street people on the phone. So now I had to swap the "new" Delco distributor for an Autolite, which was a bit of a nuisance but not a huge hassle. I ended up driving the ~40 miles to Seattle Packards (and back) because I had an appointment at the shop and I didn't want to miss it.

Once I got everything assembled I handed it all to my mechanic, who is a very competent man. He charges me $65/hour but it's usually money well spent. Jerry went to work and in a reasonable amount of time he had things ready to go, except for one problem: the existing rotor wouldn't fit inside the newly upgraded system. Nowhere in the instructions provided by First Street was there any mention of this. I later found out that this was addressed in a separate, trouble shooting guide. However I believe they should also have noted this in the instructions.

Jerry had tried to squeeze the old rotor onto the new system provided by First Street but all he succeeded in doing was breaking the rotor. He was apologetic when he called me--he didn't understand why the rotor broke. I located the replacement part number and he called his local NAPA store and was told it would take a couple of days to get the rotor delivered. In the meantime I called First Street and reported the problem. I spoke with one of the owners, who gave a merry chuckle and informed me that this was a known problem and that all Jerry had to do was file down the base of the rotor. I was so surprised by his response that I didn't ask him why this was never mentioned in the company literature. The instructions are below, verbatim:

"Install cam then place magnet sleeve (white side up) onto the point cam from the top and push the sleeve down firmly. Air gap between magnet sleeve and ignitor is not critical. It must not rub and can be up to .060" clearance. Place your rotor onto point cam (above magnet sleeve).
Distributor can now be installed in engine."

I gave the First Street guy Jerry's phone number and the two men talked. The Oklahoman told Jerry that he needed to shave 50/1000ths of an inch off the rotor and all would be well. When Jerry got the NAPA rotor he did that and tried to put the system together. This rotor broke, too.

Jerry then did some searching and found a rotor that was made a little better than the NAPA one. He ended up shaving 120/1000ths from the base. Everything went together well and he then installed the system in the car.

I figure that Jerry put in between 1-2 hours of time, chasing down the rotor issue.

First Street's literature claims that their conversion system preserves the car's original appearance because the guts fit snugly inside the distributor housing. This is a misrepresentation because a very modern-looking relay or switch is bolted to the firewall. There is no way that device looks like it belongs in my car!

With the new electronic ignition system (including a new coil, supplied by First Street) in place, I decided I might as well replace the ignition wires and spark plugs. After adjusting the timing the car fired right up.

I suppose it would be a fitting end to this story if I reported I didn't notice any difference with the new system, or even that it turned out to be a fiasco. But that is not the case. I'll be honest and say that the car has never run better since I've owned it. It's my understanding that my spark plug voltage has doubled and it seems that I have a noticeable jump in power. Also, it sure seems to accelerate more smoothly.

So am I happy with First Street? No and yes. No because their instructions were lousy and cost me time and money, not to mention the tacky relay or switch I now have to look at. But on the positive side the improved performance is a real treat.

So maybe this story has a happy ending after all. But just between you and me, I've got that old distributor tucked away in the trunk, just in case....


All the best,

Mark