tyang wrote:It's a debate that is really up to personal preference.
Absolutely - and even purism comes in many shapes and sizes. I am very sloppy with cosmetic detail - I think I am a typical "Yurp" to whom dirt and patina are synonyms - but insist that everything must work exactly the way they were designed to work. Just to show the full range of opinions I wanted to raise my voice to show that there are also those who don't think converting to electric ignition just for the heck of it is a very good idea - and it may as well be that it does not provide any added value.
Your point is well taken on how many miles we plan to drive these cars. Some owners I know have put tens of thousands of miles on their cars, and installing a transistor ignition would make sense for consistent spark.
30-40 years ago people drove tens and tens of thousands of miles in cars of very low build quality, with kids in the back seat in all kind of weather, with little if any service to the distributor - and I have hardly ever heard of a problem.
On the vintage car scene most people seem to think points are unrealiable but still almost all the problems I've heard of have been related to lack of service and/or long storage. Most distributors need to be lubricated quite frequently or the bottom bearing and/or the cam follower wears out (Most distributors do not have top bearings, like the Marelli used by Ferrari). On the other hand it should at all times be noted that gap (or dwell angle) is just a secondary measure and good for adjusting a single point set-up. Multi-point set-up needs further checking to ensure that sparks are really devided evenly over the rotation. I have a hunch that many people dealing with a multi-point set-ups don't really know how to set it up. We shall see how I'll do: soon I'll be off to my garage to put mine back together... One thing is for sure: it will be almost impossible to mess things up worse than the pair of hands that serviced my distributors the last time they were worked upon.
On the sticker topic, if the Ferrari badge on your boot lid was missing, would you buy a replacement, or feel what is gone is gone? I have a problem with "over stickering" the car, but it's all up to the individual.
Yes, it is. It is also a very good question. Badges are easy though: you can always try to find original replacements. I find stickers and paint stamps more problematic: after faking a few how are you supposed to know which ones are original?
And yes, I know I have a very strict and complicated view on these things. Generally I am not restoring my car; for me "to restore" is a synonym with "to destroy what is original" and I try to preserve as much of the originality as possible. I love all the gunk, maybe I have been inhaling it too much... :o)
Best wishes, Kare