Trojan Boat Forum

The big benefit to the conversion kit is significantly less ongoing maintenance. Points suck! Just a personal belief.... Once the conversion kit is installed and the timing is set correctly, you never need to mess with them again. I agree that you need to make sure timing is set correctly for you can cause some serious issues if the timing is way out but once they are in and set right, they are great. I have found them to truly make engines run more smoothly because you no longer need to set the point gap and dwell and they never wear out. I agree with an earlier post that a full electronic ignition set up is even better however as long as your distributor itself is in good working order, this works extremely well and is , will last for the long haul and is much cheaper to install.

Away On Busine$$ wrote:Hey Guys, I take it the +1 and +2 means you strongly support BigD's post.

That is correct

BTW when I said " Getting rid of distributors and coils and plugs was the best thing I ever did ."
I was trying to be funny about going to diesel

prowlersfish wrote:

Away On Busine$$ wrote:Hey Guys, I take it the +1 and +2 means you strongly support BigD's post.

That is correct

BTW when I said " Getting rid of distributors and coils and plugs was the best thing I ever did ."
I was trying to be funny about going to diesel

yeah we got that dig---I would of thought a mechanical type guy like yourself would have enjoyed the challenge of a set of points or two--

While I agree there is a place for the cheaper points conversion kits, I wouldn't say that you can simply convert, set timing and never worry about it again. I say that because even though you should first make sure the rest of the distributor is in good shape, let's not forget that it's likely you're converting a 20 year and older distributor that is likely to have something go wrong sooner than you expect it to, after all, you just upgraded it. I wouldn't want the advance mechanism for example to suddenly stop working properly due to age, even though it was checked prior to the conversion. What I saved in the conversion will be pennies compared to a repair due to detonation. Not trying to discourage the use of conversion kits, I have them, but I always check, maintain, and don't assume that all else will be fine from now on with my old distributors simply because I did away with my points.

I never had a issue with points , they did the job . Even when converting or even with complete units maintenance wise they can not be ignored . Operation should be checked as part of normal maintenance or any time you suspect performance is not up to par .Just like good old points

prowlersfish wrote:I never had a issue with points , they did the job . Even when converting or even with complete units maintenance wise they can not be ignored . Operation should be checked as part of normal maintenance or any time you suspect performance is not up to par .Just like good old points

+1+1+1+1

I agree 100% with Big D and Lean Wolf. Although my old distributors are not showing any signs of wear, (shaft) or frozen advance plate. My dwell reading was steady and advanced with throttle response. I like the "peace of mind" with the complete set-up. By no means do I like putting up 800.00 bucks but when I just touch the key and she fires up with less cranking of the starter. Should have slight overall performance increase as well. Then it will be worth it. With that in mind I know that when your dealing with mechanical parts nothing is perfect. With the age of 39 years old, its a crap shoot...

At this point in time, if you have an older boat, its a good upgrade.

I am not a fan of the upgrade kits in older engines simply because usually at this point, there is some wear and play in the older most likely original distributor. Sure you can eliminate the hassle of points kits by using an upgrade kit, but you can't take shaft slop, internal wear, or gear wear away from an old unit by installing an electronic conversion kit. They are two seperate issues.

I fully endorse the Mallory units in production now for this type of application. I put in YLM's on my SBC's this past season. A very nice upgrade. Easy to perform, and the new units come with some nice little wiring pigtails to tie into your current system. Nice clean aftermarket upgrade. I got mine from Summit as well.

Are those distributors marine approved? i am looking for new distributors for my crusader 454 now! But i think i want to do marine approved and stand alone distributors with built in coil.

bigrgh wrote:Are those distributors marine approved? i am looking for new distributors for my crusader 454 now! But i think i want to do marine approved and stand alone distributors with built in coil.

The Mallorys are marine rated. Here are the ones you asked about:
http://www.aaamarine.com/servlet/the-36 ... nix/Detail