Okay, years have passed, and apparently a lot of people are not getting the message, not reading the notes, or are still delusional about reliability of electronic parts in the hostile environment of an automobile. I am still getting lots of questions about electronic ignition and my opinion(s). I am almost at the point where I may just stop answering the questions. Clearly my opinion is, "DON'T DO IT". And now I suppose this needs more supporting information on why you shouldn't do it.

Up front, my own first hand experience. I have seen far too many cars on the side of the road with failed electronic ignition modules, the forlorn drive with cell phone in hand trying to find a replacement part (which is not available at local parts stores). For the past four years (2014-2018) I have been traveling all around North America visiting car clubs and service shops, and showing people how to fix and maintain their vintage British cars. I have been tinkering with about two cars per week, more than 450 cars during this road trip. I don't often get called for a roadside break down, but I do often get called for assistance with a car that had been towed home and has not been running since. I have lost count of the number of failed electronic ignition modules I have replaced or removed (usually in favor of replacing original style points and condenser).

I carry lots of original type contact points and condensers in my mobile parts inventory, but I do NOT carry any electronic ignition parts. If someone has a replacement electronic ignition module in hand, I may install it for them. More likely I will coach a bit while I have them install it (to be sure they know how to do it), accompanied with a long chat about the risks and disadvantages of such parts. But aside from the cost and risks of electronic units, there are lots of reasons why points and condenser are superior to the electronic modules. Well, to be honest there is nothing particularly great about points and condenser, they are just "normal", meaning there is nothing wrong with them, they just work as they should. Just that the electronic parts have so many inferiorities. The following "testimonial" may be one of the best examples.

On April 3, 2018, Jeff Schlemmer in Shakopee, Minnessota, USA wrote:
"While I rebuild roughly 1500 Lucas distributors a year, I refuse to carry Pertronix any longer. Failures are pretty common - 1 in 5 I'd estimate fail in their first year, even with a good installation. At one point, I made up a list of 34 items that would cause the failure of a Pertronix, like a failed alternator or an ineffective engine ground strap. The most horrifying thing I learned was on the chassis dyno. Every time I removed a Pertronix and install points in a B-series, we'd gain 4-7 hp with no other changes. Over the years I came to expect it, and it proves true on pretty much every dyno trip. It doesn't matter if its a bone stock engine or a vintage race setup that's been tuned to the end of its life. If I remove a Pertronix, reset the timing at the same setting, and dyno it back to back, we gain 4-7 hp.

It's due to a better fuel mixture. The random rich mixture that's prevalent with Pertronix goes away and the spark quality improves. The mixture stabilizes, and the engine makes more power. It's worse if you use copper core wires in a side entry cap - the power increase can easily by 10-15 hp with points. Any electrician will tell you NEVER to install a low voltage signal wire next to high voltage wires, and that's what you're doing when you install an electronic trigger (12V) inside a distributor with 15KV plug wires attached.

The biggest improvement I've ever seen was in a TR6, 39 hp gained by no more than removing an electronic ignition and installing points. 40% power gain. Unbelievable, but it happened with the engine builder, myself, the dyno operator, and the car owner present. The owner of the car had no idea what he was missing because the car "drove great" down 39 hp. I hear this comment a couple times a week from my customers. "Car runs fine" is far different from car runs GREAT! You'll understand when you get there.

You'll get the same general results on this survey as if you do a "who had points or condenser fail" survey. Brown matter happens - for a multitude of reasons. You still need to go into your distributor to lube it annually (read your Bentley manual) so "maintenance free" is a misnomer. You just get to skip one step. And keep in mind that Pertronix units made 10 years ago are far more durable compared to the new ones, although they carry the same warranty and the same inherent driveability flaws. They also show the same issues on the dyno. So does Crane, FAST, Mallory, all of them.

If you want the most reliable combination, use a stock type 3 Ohm coil (I like the Bosch blue), with a low resistance set of plug wires, BP6ES NGK spark plugs gapped at .025", verify you have full alternator voltage at the coil (within 1V of alternator voltage), and no resistance in the carbon brush in your distributor cap (common failure). This is a proven scenario, on the street, vintage racing, and on the track at the Bonneville salt flats". -- jeff@advanceddistributors.com

Next item for consideration is this. The electronic module (that is supposed to install directly into the original distributor housing) has in very small print: "Will not work with solid core wiring". But the original side entry distributor cap on the MGA has screws that perforate and clamp down on the wires. You cannot reliably get good connection to carbon core wire with a perforating screw, so how are you to use this module? The seller does not tell you that you would need to change the distributor cap to top entry type to have reliable connections with carbon core HT wire.

There will (probably) always be firm believers in the electronic modules because they have been running one for some years without failure. However, there is (or was) a recent pole asking, "Have you experienced an electronic ignition failure"? In the first three days the results (from those who cared to respond) were 10 yes and 19 no. Does 34% failure rate affect your opinion? If you ask the same question about contact points you may get similar results. The most significant difference is that contact points are easier to fix and a lot less likely to leave you stranded on the roadside. There are lots of examples of people carrying points and condenser as back-up parts in the event that their electronics module might fail. I have never heard of anyone carrying an electronics module as backup for points and condenser.

Food for thought.