Coils & Distributors

I am currently running a "Martek" CDI unit and stock distributor, points and coil. I am assuming that all this was put in when the car was assembled in '79. Yesterday, the engine suddenly died while driving... no warning at all, just died. I followed Muir's troubleshooting procedure and found nothing wrong. After about an hour of futzing around, it started back up. It got me thinking that maybe it is time to get rid of the points and give the ignition some updating.

I am looking for recommendations for distributors, coils and CDI units.

Thanks, Chuck

I went with MSD for everything.
It cost me about $1,000 retail for a 6AL ignition control module, coil, distributor and wires ('cuz the stuff's all proprietary). The control box can be set to four, six or eight cylinders, so it's re-usable if I upgrade the engine or mash up the car.
You can get the stuff on ebay cheaper, but I didn't want to wait on it or play "what am I gonna get when it gets here" games.
There are obviously different routes to go, but I needed something that would last the life of the car, and this was the best available to me at the time.

If you go the traditional route, I have a Bosch Blue Coil you can have. Works just fine; surplus to my needs.

Another popular distributor is manufactured by Mallory. It's highly touted by a few engine builders but more importantly, by the owners of the engines. Seems to me everyone installs the Gray/Grey springs
for the advance curver and then set your timing at 28 degree's BTDC at 2,500 RPM's

Correction: The CDI is a "Mark Ten".

Chuck

Just replace the points and condenser with genuine Bosch, make sure that all your leads to the coil are tight, and you'll be done.

Really.

Simple Pimple . . . Easy Peasy !

My son did some research and we bought a Mallory Distributer #2354109H single point mechanical advance distributer. $162 from Summit Racing.
The advance curve for this model is 22 degrees @ 2500 RPM. Gonna put it in this weekend and I'll report back.

I've been running the Magna Spark from CB Performance since day one on this engine (16,000 kilometers so far) and it's been great. I'm also running Bosch Platinum plugs (W8AP) gapped at about 45 thou. and those have been great, too.

Don't know how it compares to Mallory on price, but it comes with a Bosch 009 with the electronic module installed, and a beefy 60,000 volt coil, which I mounted on the drivers rear inner fender wall.

ALWAYS starts in the first 1/4 turn of the crank, pulls very strong at all RPM's and I've never seen any indication of high speed break-down or missing with this set up.

There's a considerable aural benefit to using the full-tilt MSD set-up that Cory's running on his car.

When you're banging against the rev-limiter before launching, it make that frightening wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-wha sound ! ! ! !

WELL worth the additional $ for the intimidation factor alone; especially at stop lights.

The box of parts for my "Speedster in progress" includes a "BAJA SCORPION" CD ignition. It has a 2-position switch for triggering the CD thru the points or for running the points in the conventional circuit. I have found one old post from George Brown that mentions this type of ignition. Has anyone had any history using one of these?