Stubborn starting question...

Give that man a cigar!

Well, I have news and got back to a wyfy bar to read this today, only to find out that the previous poster had it right, at least partially.

Yesterday I went by to get the carb adjusted and she died again. I checked the points; all burnt.

I had a spare set of point and condenser I bought a week ago in the glove compartment, so I put them in. They burnt out in the test drive around the corner.

A old time mechanic at the shop heard about my woes and gave me some advice, that I am sharing with you.

He said that buying points for these cars from Autozone or Advanced was a waste. He'd had similar problems, and it was only after buying a set of heavier [Blue Streak] breaker points that he could get his late 60's Ford Mustang to work dependably, as the material used in the cheaper sets that he got from local chain stores kept burning out.

Well, in the mean time, I had bought a replacement distributor with a lifetime warrantee from O'Reilly, [the only place that had one available in town, and it initially worked but it burned the points out again in the parking lot. So I ran down the street and got the Blue Streak points that he suggested and they worked. She's starting well and I got the carb adjusted and Rubie's running smooth [for now!!!}.

Now, I am not saying that this was all absolute, but I swapped three sets of points and condensers in an afternoon, 2 from Autozone, one from O'Reilly's that came in the distributor, that same day and only the heavier set worked, getting me home.

So the previous poster was correct that the cam was slipping [there was heavy wear on the distributor shaft, making opening the points up difficult, and the new distributor seems to work better with the Blue Streak points, but if what I learned is true, then buying a set of points over the counter will lead to early burn out?

I have to field test this, but has anyone else heard this about points? Honestly, I had not heard that points were that cheaply made, but there did seem to be a visible difference in quality when I compare the old sets with the Blue Streak.

I'll field test her over the next weeks and if she holds, I'll be following advice posted here and getting an electronic distributor. I swapped out points when necessary, in years past, but chasing points this much was no fun. If its a matter of not trusting what I am buying over the counter, I'll want an alternative.

What do you think? Am I on to something?