Frank, Richard and Peter,
First of all, I agree with Peter Schauss' statement, it's all about the
experience of driving a 50 year old car as I remember from my youth. And oh
BTW, I had very little trouble with my Healey back then. My car would
always start in the minus 20 degree Indiana winter weather (Blizzards of the
mid 1970's.) Why, because I did almost all of my maintenance and mechanical
work, and the car was reasonably well maintained for a college student.
Why use points? Because they are original, simple, reliable, and
inexpensive. I have never paid over $12 for any period NOS Lucas points.
In fact I'll bet that my NOS points, condenser, rotor, cap, wires and plugs
all cost less than your Pertronix.
Our 50 year old original Bugeye still starts and runs with all of it's 50
year old QUALITY Lucas equipment, contrary to Richard Ewald's statement..
The biggest problem with Lucas electrical systems had more to do with the
wiring and the Lucar connectors than it did with the equipment itself.
Richard , how many original Lucas equipment items have you rebuilt? Most if
not all can be rebuilt (by competent personnel) and will last another 50
years. I think Richard has been reading and taking too seriously all of
those Lucas jokes we've all heard for years.
Finally, using original points, equipment etc... has *nothing* to do with
CONCOURS, please spell it correctly. Recall my mantra about Concours... "If
I can't see it then I can't judge it and I DON'T CARE." It has everything
to do with with the pleasure and satisfaction of restoring, maintaining, and
driving a piece of history. People seem to forget that back in the day,
these cars drove many millions of miles dependably with all of these so
called poorly engineered systems. also, if you know anything about Austin
Healey Concours, it's not only about originality, it's about *driving* your
Concours car. As such we have no problems with minor modifications to
enhance driving and dependability, e.g., radial tires, aluminum heads for
the 100s, internal engine modifications, 3.54 rear ends, and well placed
extra fuses, just to name a few.
End of Part I
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