By John Logan
First published in Rootes Review, 2007
Use a distributor with both vacuum and centrifugal advance, and replace the mechanical points with an electronic ignition. Electronic systems increase dwell time, the time available to charge the coil between firings, far beyond the old single or dual mechanical points.
The “Hall” effect pickups used with electronic systems, provide more accurate timing. There are many systems available such as Accel, Mallory, and MSD. One low cost system is the Pertronix I. It is available for Stock Ford and Sunbeam distributors for under $80.
Use a distributor with vacuum advance. Vacuum advance is important because it advances the spark as far as possible without knocking under part throttle highway conditions. Some Tiger owners are using distributors without vacuum advance such as the Ford dual point. Those were meant for race cars on racetracks, not city and highway driving.