Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Sure seems a lot easier to just replace points and condenser once every 10,000 miles or so, and at the same time due a good thorough deep tune-up and attend to the other lubrication needs of the distributor which, once electronic ignition is installed, are generally ignored.

True, but, for my autolite, points are drying up. I stocked up, but someone who gets a Packard in 10 years might not be able to get them. Lastly, it's nice to know that dwell is right on all the time, no matter how bad i am with a dwell meter and feeler gauges, and no need to adjust and gap ever, or file and clean, etc.

However, loosing my sweet kanter yellow cloth spark plug wires was the last straw. Don't use solid core wires with the e-ignition. I went back to points so i didn't have to take them off.


One day, when my car is perfect for me, i look forward to the list of things to do to the car contains only:

1: Check and replace points
2: oil distributor and turn grease up


Until then, anything that eliminates work is nice.

Snopak writes:
"Also, since electronic ignitions are voltage sensitive, they have a voltage level below which they don't work at all..."

Specifically what is that voltage level??

It's not a lot needed, i had almost no voltage and a junk battery and still had spark, the car wanted to start and a couple times did, then would run when the charging system would catch. I want to say i had 4.5-5.5 volts at the battery...before cranking the engine drained anything. Wasn't reliable but it tried to fire, and like i said did get it going once or twice. New battery and problem was long gone.


With the solid wires, it ran for a bit but got to a point where 6.5 volts at the battery wasn't even enough for it to start. Following mfrs directions goes a long way.

On the concern of the future unavailability of ignition points. I have not seen Wanted ads for points for cars in the teens, twenties, thirties so I am assuming that suppliers are keeping up with demands. Packard king pins, pistons, valves, gaskets, dist caps, rear axle pinion seals were all scarce. Those and tens of thousands of other parts for old cars have been reproduced. Something as small, simple and critical as points will be reproduced if the demand is there.


The sky is not falling!!

The cut off voltage for Pertronix is in the 4.5v +- .1 range.
Remember this is not the battery voltage but the voltage measured at the ignition unit.

Keep in mind that the primary ign. circuit goes thru approxamatly 15+ connection points that can cause a small loss of voltage, and small losses add up.

Batt - post, starter terminal, ampmeter in, ampmeter out, ign sw in, ign sw contacts, ign sw out, coil in, coil out. dist in, moveable point in, point contact. points to dist case, dist to eng blk, engine to gnd strap, pos batt post.

John

Thank u SnoPak for the specification.

Something i would recommend to all 6v e-ignition owners, regardless of type or brand of e-ignition used, would be to connect a voltmeter to the ignition system only to keep the voltage monitored. It would be great for immediate diagnostics too should some problem occur whether ignition related or not.

I have just returned from a trip of more than 2,000 miles from Seattle to Sacramento and back. My 1950 Standard Eight performed exceptionally well despite some challenging conditions. I believe the new electronic ignition played a part in this.

I traveled south through interior Oregon and took the Packard to the 7,900-foot-high summit at Crater Lake. I got there with power to spare. I did experience some vapor lock at the lower altitudes (where the air temperature was higher), but flipping on the auxiliary electric fuel pump cured that problem. The engine did well in California temperatures approaching 100 but I confess it was so damn hot in the cab that I left a very moist print on the wool upholstery.

I traveled the coastal route on the trip north; car and driver both appreciated the lower temperatures.

I've owned this car since 2004 and have put nearly 30,000 miles on her since then. I'd have to say that in terms of travel ease this trip was the best thus far. The car accelerated very well and the engine ran smoothly despite the fact I was unable to find any ethanol-free gas while en route.

When I bought the car in 2004 I collected it in Northern California. I wrote about the original drive to Seattle in the attached article. Re-reading it tells me how far I've come. Of course, spending more than $40,000 on that damn car has probably been a factor, too.

All the best,

Mark

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Mark,

Just read your story about buying and then driving your Packard home, love it! Glad you persevered and your Packard is now a reliable performer. Sending you a PM.

I have Autolite in my '41 110. Is there a kit for that?