[T3] Message to Jim Adney

[Jim Adney]

On 1 Jun 2020 at 21:36, charles tupper wrote:

>  On the T3 engine in the Dune Buggy ... I went ahead and ordered a
>  Pertronix and a coil...I've just had it with points.

Points actually work pretty well, as long as the distributor cam is in good 
condition. The cams get worn from grit that collects on the rubbing block and 
grinds into the cam. You can check your cam by running the tip of your 
fingernail up and down on one of the cam peaks. If it's not smooth, it can be 
refinished. I refinish them as part of a distributor rebuild.

Part of the routine tuneup should be to clean the cam and rubbing block and 
then apply a very thin smear of clean grease. At the same time, add a drop 
of oil to the felt on top of the distributor shaft. If you do both of these things, 
your distributor will stay in good shape for a very long time.

The Pertronix seems to work well, but they have a reputation for dying. I've 
never seen this and don't have any personal experience with them, so don't 
take my word for it. But keep a set of points and condensor as a spare 
somewhere, to save youself a possible long walk home.

There's no better coil than the OG black Bosch coil.

I happen to be a big fan of the Delta Mark 10 Capacitive Discharge Ignitions. 
These were add-ons that worked with the stock points and coil, but they 
happen to work just fine with the Pertronix, too. They have been quite 
reliable.  I buy them on ebay, clean them up, inspect and test, and resell 
them. Lots of happy owners out there. I've been using them since the 
mid-60s with only 2 failures in all that time. Both were easily fixed.  

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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