[TR] TR Ignition

[Michael Godley]

Welcome back Malcolm

"Has anyone got glowing recommendations, or horror stories, for electronic
ignition?   I could rebuild the points (a la Distributor Doctor, or Advanced
Distributors) - or get Petronix, Hot-Spark, or some other drop-in
electronic replacement"

The electronic ignition replaces the points and helps if the shaft is wobbly
due to worn bearings
.but won't improve performance loss due to a broken
vacuum advance system. I was back and forth on this one, and even ran the
very reliable Allison Opto Electric (now Crane) system for many years.  Sent
the distributor to Advanced for a rebuild with points

what an  improvement.
The advance was not functioning properly, and Jeff has and improved advance
curve he developed, along with rotors that don't fail at the rivets.  The
car has never run better.   Pertronix seems to be the most popular
electronic system, and often discussed in the past.  Quite a few of the
folks with that system have a "backup" that is essentially a distributor
plate with set of points ready to install if the electronic system
fails
.which they do/did  often enough that folks felt this was necessary.
So MHO is get it rebuilt with points or have the e-ignition supplied
installed and bench tested at the time of rebuild.  Personally, I stayed
with points to keep things simple and reliable for the time being.

"I'd like to buy a "better" coil, since mine is probably fifty years old.
Does anyone have any recommendations?"

You might want to make a decision on the electronic ignition first as some
require a ballasted or non ballasted Coil set-up (can't recall which) which
is different than the stock configuration.

Mike Godley
65TR4A