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Sorry, not to hijack... I know many people use the Rotella. It is a diesel oil, correct? (maybe it is more correct to say that it is a diesel/gas engine oil) I thought that I recall reading (somewhere) that it was not a good alternative for the gasoline engines, even tho it does contain high levels of zinc. I can't recall the cited reasons. Whatever the source was that I read could very well have predated changes made over the years to the Rotella product.

Thanks,

Mark

Your compression is a bit low, but will perhaps improve after some extended driving.

You will be more satisified with your drivability if you have the distributor rebuilt. The point gap problems are likely caused by sloppy bushings. Hard starting when warm is normal and was even noted in the service literature at the time.

You will get far more satisfaction from the dist. rebuild than from the Pertronix. I had one in my 51 for a while and it is now sitting on a shelf. I will happily sell it to you half price. Nuf said.

Ross,

What specifically is the issue with the Pertronix? Doesn't every modern car have some form of this type of ignition and they all work all the time? My Dad rebuilt a 1970 Lamborghini Miura S (12-cylinders, 6 Weber carburetors...talk about complex!) and the first thing the engine shop did was throw out the points and put in an MSD ignition system.

What an I risking by going with Pertronix?

Electronic ignitions need 5.3 volts to operate. With any sort of resistance problem, or even starting on a cold morning the voltage to the unit can fall below that threshold and it will not trigger.

After repeated no starts on my 51--which is in good mechanical condition and cranks over quite well--I removed the Pertronix and the car starts readily hot or cold.

As hard as it is for many to believe, the 6v sytems really did work quite OK. All one has to do is bring them back to standard condition. I have six cars in regular use that run 6v and none have left me stranded.

A further caveat for electronic ignitions that use the points to trigger: The low current over the points gives them terrific life, but normal dirt and fumes in the dist. can eventually stop them from triggering. I had a very high quality ignition system on my 56 Packup 12 volt, neg ground. The car quit right in the middle of a busy intersection and I had to coast slowly across. After some highly aggravated fiddling determined that the points had stopped conducting. Snapped them shut several times and continued on my way. Realizing that my quest for greater reliebility had actually give me less, I have removed the electronic igniton.

If I was laying down 30000 miles a year on each of these cars, it might be another matter, but for the mileage each of them sees, I find I am better off with a dist with good bushings and points.

I have a '39 110 that I installed the Pretronix unit on and it has been the best thing I've done to help with the starting. I did also install an inline voltage stabilizer, $8.00, because electronic units are very picky about consistent voltage and the range of the voltage, generators are not good at putting out consistent volts and that will fry the ign. unit. I highly recommend the system.