After the breakdown on the way to Wheels Day 2017 and some diagnosis the Pertronix module was the culprit (well the symptom anyway :))

This is the second module failure, so it’s back to points which as least can be fixed on the road. I’ve gone for the “modern points” setup by Nu-Rex, “modern” is pretty amusing as the new plate contains the 1957 onward Ford V8 points as opposed to the original 1929 setup.

Before I began I set the timing to TDC via the timing pin as per usual on the Model A I then started to remove the Pertronix system

During removal I found that the lower distributor plate had been deleted, a bit annoying as I’d ordered the upper plate from O’Neills. Luckily John Cochran had a used item I could use (thanks John :))

I’d also ordered the recommended longer pigtail for the lower plate, this is recommended to alleviate the stress on the original which is a little short and often fails due to fatigue. So after desoldering and drilling the old pigtail was removed. Then it was a matter of a little cleaning and soldering to get the new item fitted. As my car has no pop out ignition switch I further modified the plate to securely fix the hot cable to the plate by drilling the dimple which was designed to contact the original pop out switch.

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Once all the modifications were completed I installed the plate into the distributor.

The pigtail was connected to the points contact ensuring that the connector was not able to accidentally ground to the distributor housing.

Also checked that the timing advance lever was in the fully retarded setting at this point

Next the upper plate was installed taking care to wrap the pigtail around the cam spring whilst making sure not to pinch the cable.

The upper plate will only install one way into the tabs and groove and should turn freely.

See the next episode for rewiring, points adjustment, timing and hopefully an engine start.