Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Hi Guys.
when ajusting my ignition points I saw that they will need replacing soon. The question is which are the best ones to buy? Standard points or the conversion kit as sold by MM or Packards international north west.
Advice much appreciated.
Thanks
Terry

Terry: I'm not sure what you mean by "Standard" points. OEM (NorthEast, later Delco) points for the 33/34 with twin coil have always been hard to find and were very expensive even 20 or more years ago. Even when you could find them they were sometimes as much as $300 for a set (2 sets required), sometimes even in used condition, though for a period a few years back there were some sets on eBay for less. If you can find them, by all means use them as they far outlast modern points but I suspect your best chance will be the conversion kit which uses Chrysler points from the 70s. I still run original NE points just because I've had the car so long I had the opportunities to buy a sufficient lifetime supply back in the 60s when they were available.

Pictures of the available conversion kit below. It isn't necessary to find a way to mount modern condensors in the original vertical position, they can fit in the conventional manner with a little judicious positioning - see picture of a homemade kit I did many years ago, installed.

Attach file:

---

  (106.20 KB)


  (131.64 KB)

Cheers Dave,
Good info as always. At the moment the car has (what I called standard points)Northeast. It would seem then that I would be better off with the conversion kit when I come to change them, if the Northeast are no longer available.

Thanks again
Terry

Or keep a close watch on eBay for OEM NorthEast points. The moveable points are both the same but the bases are different, right and left handed. Bases appear on the market much more often (like maybe once a year) than the moveable points.

PS - the tungsten pads on the original NE points are so thick they can be file-dressed quite a few times. I got about 35,000 miles out of my last set, having dressed them two or tree times in between.

Owen, can you post a picture of the original points?

Joel, NE-5024368 base and NE-5025835 arm, 2 of each required for 1933-34 Eights and Super Eights. The base plate has had a new contact point peened in; for the arm I need to silver solder on a new tungsten contact pad. That's a tricky little job to avoid heat-damaging the bakelite hub and rubbing block.

PS - correcting my earlier statement, the right and left hand bases are the same.

Attach file:

---

  (39.69 KB)