Would anyone know if the weights of the mechanical advance should be lubricated when installed? My 69's manual does not say so but there was definitely grease on there when I cleaned them up today.

Thanks for your help

Probably a few small drops of clean motor oil on the pivot points upon reassembly, but not a lot as any excess can fly off and foul the inside of the distributor cap (causing other problems!). Seems like there is supposed to be a flat rubber "pad" under them, so there's no metao-to-metal contact with the weights and the pedastal they are assembled onto?

A key point is that the advance does work and is not frozen-up or restricted (as many HEIs will do, but not usually the point systems.

ALSO, be sure to use some of the correct "point grease" to lube the breaker cam (thin coat) and a dab on the rubbing block of the points themselves. Not doing that will cause the rubbing block to wear down (and possibly wear the breaker cam sooner) causing the point gap and dwell to change sooner than they are supposed to. GM still has tubes of it listed in their Standard Parts section of the electronic parts catalog database. Mallory might still sell it, too (or whoever now owns Mallory, for that matter). HOPEFULLY, the new point set had a little vial of it, but some might not.

Just some thoughts,
NTX5467

I put it together dry and it seems to work really good. Before there was a lot of greasy dirt built up on them but they cleaned up nicely and the posts they pivot on appeared to be in good condition too. Those flat rubber pads you mention are what I called the "buttons" in the first post. They are still there. And the car seems to start easier plus has a bit more pep than it did. When I go for new points I will definitely use that cam grease.

Or you can put a Pertronics unit in and never change points or worry about cam wear again......Bob

Hmmmn, Pertronics. I think I heard of that before. Lets see, maybe when I wear out the 2003 set of points I have in both my 56 and my GS, I'll consider one of those. Or maybe not. I don't like the stories where the units drop dead leaving people stranded. And I really think the advice to carry a set of points and condenser with you in the event the unit breaks means there's not much point in putting one of these in in the first place. Unless, Have any users documented improvement in gas milage with the Pertronix or similar high energy ignition??

It's not a "high energy" ignition system. It's mearly a solid state sensor that reads the high point of the distributor cam and replaces the points. It's an electronic switch rather than a mechanical one that's subject to wear. It also is what every "modern" car on the road today uses to initiate ignition.
I have 6 collector cars and none of them have points, nor do I carry a "spare" set of points.
I also never have to hang over the fender reaching WAY back of the engine to wrestle with gapping a set of points. Nor do I ever have to retime the engine. I've used Pertronics modules for 10 years now with not a hint of trouble (sound of knocking on wood here).........Bob

I didn't know it wasn't a high energy ignition system. Does this eliminate the need for the mechanical and/or the vacuum advance units?

no pertonix uses vacum advance

I'm not so sure I agree with that statement. The module replaces the points and sets on the breaker plate. The plate is still attached to the vacuum advance. It and the centrifical weights still do their thing. The literature for the unit says it adjusts the dwell angle to account for electronic delay.
I use 6 of the things but I'm far from an expert. I just follow the directions and they've worked very well and lasted a long time.
My advice, John, would be to Google Pertronix and acess their web site. There is a bunch of info there and also contact info to talk directly to a tech rep who, I'm sure, knows a Hell of a lot more than I do about the units.........Bob

Well, I'm still not convinced the pertronix is needed for my cars. I had one set of points on my 56 from 1988 to 2003, and I only changed them because I was going to the centennial meet. The car still starts and runs nice everytime I use it with the set of points I bought in 2003. And the points I put in my GS have been there since 2004, with 7500 miles on them, and that car still runs great too. So I think I'll just stay with the original set-up, especially since the economy and gasoline price situation result in even less use of the cars.

The advantage of the Pertronics (or similar units) is the accuracy of the situation and also the "no maintenance" issue. I believe you CAN get a high output coil to go with them, but it's not really necessary on a stock motor. I believe it's a drop-in replacement for the contact points without any extra modifications to the existing distributor--maybe a few more wires going to it, but maybe not. The existing vacuum and mechanican advance mechanisms work as they do with the original contact points.

The one advantage of the normal contact points is that if they'll make a spark to spark a spark plug with a nearly dead battery, the engine will probably start whereas with an electronic unit, it'll probably take more voltage to fire the system than the minimum it takes to turn over the motor (slowly)--which can be variable from one brand to another. Hence, the motor spins pretty much at normal speed and does not start until you put some jumper cables on it or charge the battery.

There are many Pertronix users in here with many archived posts about the system. It seems to be the "ignition system upgrade-of-choice" for the Buick enthusiasts.

I suspect any fuel economy gains would be from a consistently-timed spark rather than the energy of the ignition system with the Pertronix added. As long as the spark plug will fire, the system will only build what is needed to do the spark rather than a 50+KV spark all of the time . . . just like with points. If the existing distributor has many issues as to spark accuracy, then a Pertronix (or similar) would make a more significant difference than on a low-mileage original distributor, I suspect. One other advantage of a Pertronix (or similar) unit on a distributor that has been rebushed, as there is no contact point set to put a sideload on the bushings, the distributor bushings (and related shaft areas) will wear much slower than they would otherwise.

Reasonable conversations can be had as to the benefits and non-benefits of any electronic ignition conversion on an older vehicle. Many of the benefits have no real monetary pay-off to them other than not having to do anything to the distributor (especially on a car that is driven pretty often), but if the vehicle is only driven a few thousand miles per year, a good set of points (correctly set) can last several years (or longer, as we used to replace them every 12K miles or so, but they'd usually go longer). Several different ways to look at the issue, which can be variable from owner to owner.

Enjoy!
NTX5467

I have pertronix in my 1956 buick along with their coil. My engine has never run this well. Your vacum advance stays hooked up so your advance still works. Best investment you can make. No more maintenance

I would recommend pertronix with one caveat. Do NOT use the high output coil. Both Old Tank and I have had rotors eat themselves up by using this combo. I have had zero problems with the system once I went back to oem style coil.

Mike

Correction Mike: remember they did not "eat themselves up", they burned...literally caught fire!
Ditto using the oem coil with the ballast resistor wired as stock.
Willie

If I remember correctly, one of you got stranded at a truck stop somewhere in Tennessee when this happened in the heat, while the other broke down in Dallas. Both on the way to the Nationals.

These kind of things never happen in your driveway or close to home.

Mine was the Dallas one on the way to the Minnesota Nationals. Luckily (for me at least), Willie had already told me about his problem, so it was one of the first things I checked. Sure enough, the rotor looked like a swordfish with the snout cut off. Burnt to a crisp. Luckily (for me again) they had a rotor in stock at a Napa store, back on the road in less than three hours.

Mike

It all boils down to whether you want to activate the coil mechanically or electronically. As for me, I use points in a car that origionally came with points. Advantages are many. Electronic parts can't be tinkered to work again when they fail. Points can. gap them with a match book (close enough to work)clean them by sliding a dollar bill thru them (20 dollar bill if you want to impress the bystanders. You can even file the points to get them working again. It is nearly impossible for a set of points to leave one stranded. We can't say that about electronics. Properly installed points are good for about 12 thousand miles without service. Throw them out and gap in a new set, clean and grease the cam, check the cap with a dwell meter and the 15 minute job is all set for another 12 thousand miles.