170 ignition parts info needed

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Johnny Charger

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Hello
My 14 year old son bought his first car. It is a 1969 Plymouth Valiant 4dr automatic. We have been digging through the articles on here trying to find out what ignition parts to use. It seems like most everybody has the 225 but his is the 170.
We want to upgrade(but not go crazy) his ignition plugs, wires , cap rotor and preferably go electronic. Can you guys please steer us in the right direction of what works well with these /6s?
Thank you!!
 
Yes? Oh Hi you can use the same points/condenser/ and cap as the 225. I believe the plugs are the same also. If it isn't a daily driver points last for at least 10000 miles.
 
Point type ignitions work extremely well and are very reliable if they are taken good care of and maintained properly. You need to be very careful too, "what" parts you get, because "not everything" is an upgrade. If I was dead set on "upgrading" to electronic ignition, I would buy a good used distributor. Also, the Mopar orange box is no longer recommended, because they are now very low quality. What I recommend there is, go to EBay and pick up a Standard Ignition LX101. They are much better quality, especially the older NOS models. But the new ones are still better than the orange boxes.

All that said, the most economical is always fixing what you "have". Nothing wrong with point type ignitions. They work fine and rival any electronic ignition properly when they are in good condition.

One more thing I want to come back and add......keep this in mind. You could teach your son the almost "lost art" of setting up a points type distributor. If you don't know how yourself, yall two could learn together. That way, instead of just throwing parts at something, you have now learned how something works and how to properly adjust and maintain a point type ignition. Lots of good memories to be made there. Just a thought.
 
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Thanks Rob dead on. Only issue with new parts is the quality of them look for older stuff or if needed I know I have it all.
 
Any idea how many miles are on your car? You can remove the distributor and check it for wear, if it's good, you can go on from there. Also it will be easy to inspect the plastic distributor drive gear. Mine was cracked (about to fail) so I replaced it. Also used precision shims to set the end play per the FSM spec. This on a car that had 97,000 miles on it.

Maybe this is weird but I wanted to experience my slant as if it was 1964 so I used points and other ignition parts recommended by SlantSixDan. Including the extended reach NGK plugs. I like Denso wires so used those too. 8,000 miles later and I have done NOTHING to the ignition. I'll probably do an inspection in the spring. I have a NOS electronic dustributor on the shelf for later.

No need to get fancy on a slant, if everything is right they run well.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Point type ignitions work extremely well and are very reliable if they are taken good care of and maintained properly...
Click to expand...

RRR, every time the subject of electronic ignition comes up, you are touting keeping the original points ignition. While I agree with you in theory, (points worked just fine for 70+ years) there are some things we need to consider:

1 - Points ignition went away in the 70's (almost 50 years ago!)
2- Today's points are crap compared to what we could buy just 15 years ago (when I was driving my last points-ignition vehicle.) I have to adjust the points in my wagon about every 1000 miles due to wear. Points used to last far longer in the "old days," I could go 3,000 miles between adjustments, probably longer, I would just check and adjust when I changed the oil.
3 - When I was in trade school (1995) we were told by our instructors that points were obsolete and not to waste time learning about them.

I was taught by my dad and then my high school shop teacher how to properly set up a points ignition. This education was reinforced by working in a restoration/service shop where I was doing tune-ups on points-equipped cars on a weekly, if not daily, basis for a few years.

I am assuming the OP is about my age (mid 40's), and I would be willing to bet that he has never set up a points ignition. I could be wrong about him specifically, but I will maintain that bet for anyone my age or younger, and I'll win most of the time.

So while points are relatively easy to set up, when driveability issues pop up that would send you or I directly to the points, the OP may waste a lot of time and money with plugs, wires, etc. before he learns to look at the points first. Electronic ignition is set it and forget it, and potentially easier for someone who didn't grow up dealing with points.
 
Pertronix makes a electronic conversion that replaces the points and condenser but uses the original distributor. Many of their kits bypass the ballast resistor which can be troublesome. Depending on which kit, you may need to replace the coil. I have used a few of these kits with excellent results.
 
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Hi Guys
I really appreciate all of the responses. I have dealt with points also as my first car had them and I found them to be a nightmare. I am 42 so good guess on that one. I have explained to my son how points work but now they have to go. I am not a fan of them. I changed out the points on my D200 to the Pertronix kits but there seems to be a lot of options for the slant six and I am not sure which to go with. Or is there something better? I am not trying to break the bank....
I will look for a Standard Ignition LX101.
What NGK plugs are you guys running?
Are the NGK wires as good as they say?
 
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There should be one part # for all point sets that rotate clockwise . If you don't want to do a Pertronix conversion Rockauto .com can be your best friend . BTW, love more doors .
 
Mopar pn CH-15 is the points. for all except dual point distributors.
 
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