Electronic ignition Slant six with low comp

[Slantsix64]

Do you guys think its worth doing the conversion to a slant six if all the cylinders have a 90psi of compression will it run good? better? of would it make it worse cause the slant six runs great on points as of now let me know what you guys think!!

 

[pishta]

no difference. Spark is spark, electronic is just less maintenance. Id stick with points, easier to troubleshoot. 90 is about right for a tired slant, still run forever.

 

[whitepunkonnitro]

What he said! Back to back, you'll see ZERO benefit with an electronic over a properly gapped, clean set of points. Anyone who tells you they actually saw an improvement making that swap was dealing with a poorly tuned points set-up to begin with.
Spend 10 minutes cleaning, gapping and lubing the points whenever you change the oil and they will be the most trouble free thing your life will ever know.

 

[Slantsix64]

What he said! Back to back, you'll see ZERO benefit with an electronic over a properly gapped, clean set of points. Anyone who tells you they actually saw an improvement making that swap was dealing with a poorly tuned points set-up to begin with.
Spend 10 minutes cleaning, gapping and lubing the points whenever you change the oil and they will be the most trouble free thing your life will ever know.

cool thanks! in something unrelated whats a easy way to clean out my oil with out hot tanking the motor is already out of the car with the oil pan off any ideas?

 

[whitepunkonnitro]

cool thanks! in something unrelated whats a easy way to clean out my oil with out hot tanking the motor is already out of the car with the oil pan off any ideas?

You'll get 1500 guys telling you all the different ways you will get killed and forever damaged, but the way I've been doing it for 40 years is with some gasoline in a squirt bottle and a paint brush.
Do it with a good 20 foot distance to the nearest flammable thing. Try not to smoke or make sparks while you're sloshing it around and you should live to tell the tale.

 

[Slantsix64]

You'll get 1500 guys telling you all the different ways you will get killed and forever damaged, but the way I've been doing it for 40 years is with some gasoline in a squirt bottle and a paint brush.
Do it with a good 20 foot distance to the nearest flammable thing. Try not to smoke or make sparks while you're sloshing it around and you should live to tell the tale.

okay so just get inside the motor with the brush with gas and clean it out from underneath thanks!

 

[RustyRatRod]

If you want to make a difference, you can re-curve the distributor with lighter springs and bring the timing in earlier. That will wake it up nicely.

 

[bigus1949]

the points are fine. i was going to change mine but decided not to. if i was going to a build i would go with the electronic just for the hotter spark. we still have loads of fun showing and driving the car.

 

[TrailBeast]

no difference. Spark is spark, electronic is just less maintenance. Id stick with points, easier to troubleshoot. 90 is about right for a tired slant, still run forever.

What he said! Back to back, you'll see ZERO benefit with an electronic over a properly gapped, clean set of points. Anyone who tells you they actually saw an improvement making that swap was dealing with a poorly tuned points set-up to begin with.
Spend 10 minutes cleaning, gapping and lubing the points whenever you change the oil and they will be the most trouble free thing your life will ever know.

Ha, Ha, Tell that to the guys running HEI.

"Spark is spark" Psshhh.

I will agree that it won't help a tired motor much, if at all.

 

[Dartswinger70]

I have been under the impression for many years that points are junk. I may have been misinformed. I do believe in points on an inboard engine on a boat though. Carry a spare set, maybe even a spare distributor and you will never be dead at sea due to ignition problems.

 

[whitepunkonnitro]

When I last ran Top Fuel back in 97 or so, we were using two mags...Supermag V's. We were making approx. 3500 horsepower spinning 8000 in the lights and never had any ignition issues what-so-ever.
So, what is on top of a Supermag V triggering the spark? Right, a single set of points!
Points or HEI do not generate the spark, they only trigger when it happens.
30 years ago when I was street racing this stuff...High Compression BB's and Hemi's, I tried every ignition system under the sun. I ultimately found that a good quality Dual Point distributor gave the most reliable performance with the least amount of complication. If the point ignition is set up correctly, there is zero performance advantage when changing to electronic.

 

[Dartswinger70]

When I last ran Top Fuel back in 97 or so, we were using two mags...Supermag V's. We were making approx. 3500 horsepower spinning 8000 in the lights and never had any ignition issues what-so-ever.
So, what is on top of a Supermag V triggering the spark? Right, a single set of points!
Points or HEI do not generate the spark, they only trigger when it happens.
30 years ago when I was street racing this stuff...High Compression BB's and Hemi's, I tried every ignition system under the sun. I ultimately found that a good quality Dual Point distributor gave the most reliable performance with the least amount of complication. If the point ignition is set up correctly, there is zero performance advantage when changing to electronic.

I can agree with you on the performance side. I was thinking reliability/ maintenance. Street car use. I remember being in a Ford Maverick with some chick from school and she drove through a water puddle on a rainy night, car shut off. she knew what it was and how to fix it though, my kind of girl. If someone with a street car wants to toy with points every 10-12000 miles that is their choice I suspect. They are easy to troubleshoot, that is correct also. You can pretty much get the car running on the side of the road like I said with a boat. In that respect, I can tip my hat for points.

 

[TrailBeast]

When I last ran Top Fuel back in 97 or so, we were using two mags...Supermag V's. We were making approx. 3500 horsepower spinning 8000 in the lights and never had any ignition issues what-so-ever.
So, what is on top of a Supermag V triggering the spark? Right, a single set of points!
Points or HEI do not generate the spark, they only trigger when it happens.
30 years ago when I was street racing this stuff...High Compression BB's and Hemi's, I tried every ignition system under the sun. I ultimately found that a good quality Dual Point distributor gave the most reliable performance with the least amount of complication. If the point ignition is set up correctly, there is zero performance advantage when changing to electronic.

Tony, HEI is specifically the coil itself (Hi Energy Ignition is really only the coil output) and the triggering of the spark can be almost anything.
So in that respect I agree with you, as you can use points to trigger an HEI coil.
But to say there is zero improvement of HEI, or MSD or systems like that over points is pretty misleading, or I think it is anyway.

If you can run a .045-.050 plug gap and get 50,000 volt out of a points/coil system, then I would have to agree with it. (which I know can be done)Otherwise I can't accept the statement that "Spark is spark"

 

[whitepunkonnitro]

Tony, HEI is specifically the coil itself (Hi Energy Ignition is really only the coil output) and the triggering of the spark can be almost anything.
So in that respect I agree with you, as you can use points to trigger an HEI coil.
But to say there is zero improvement of HEI, or MSD or systems like that over points is pretty misleading, or I think it is anyway.

If you can run a .045-.050 plug gap and get 50,000 volt out of a points/coil system, then I would have to agree with it. (which I know can be done)Otherwise I can't accept the statement that "Spark is spark"

I agree completely with you! There is no substitute for a good quality coil as well as all the supporting parts...and it all needs to be matched to the job needing to be done. And yes, the HEI coil is a fantastic piece for general street/strip use.
That wasn't the original question though. The OP was only wanting to change the triggering method...and in his case, no upgrade beyond stock is going to do anything for him.
The popular misconception/myth is that a change from points to an electronic triggering method is going to net an improvement all by itself, and that is just simply not the case. For decades I've heard people say that they switched to electronic ignition and all of a sudden their cars started quicker and got better gas mileage. I stopped arguing with them a long time ago..now I just smile and think to myself how jacked up their original system must have been.

 

[TrailBeast]

That wasn't the original question though. The OP was only wanting to change the triggering method...and in his case, no upgrade beyond stock is going to do anything for him.

Ah yes, then in that case it won't help a bit to change it.

Carry on.

 

[BillGrissom]

A hotter spark helps a leaner mixture ignite. Very important for better mileage and lower emissions, and why no cars have been designed w/ points ignition since ~1990. If your carb runs even slightly rich (typical), e-ignition won't help much. If you do go electronic, skip the earlier systems that require a ballast (Mopar 70's, original Ignitor, Crane XR700, ...).

My 64 slant had ~1/16" gunk under the valve cover. I washed it away with gasoline, w/ oil pan off and a big pan to catch it. Diesel also works, or any of the spray engine de-gunkers. I also removed and cleaned the oil pickup, changed the rear crank seal, and used silicone gaskets on both pans.

It is possible that your compression measurements are incorrect. As example, some people mistakenly replace the Shraeder valve w/ a regular tire one. Compression gages must have a special one with a very weak spring (white collar usually). Try turning the engine over by hand and feel for each cylinder to test for good sealing.