Re: Jacob's

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The aliens commander decided DORKIEST@domain.elided would make a perfect specimen
for dissection, and he yelled...

>That doesn't sound
>like the same claims by Jacob's.

Geeee... what a surprise!

That's been my contention all along.  If you add a Jacob's, MSD, Crane,
you-name-it ignition system to an otherwise properly tuned up and running
stock IH engine, and you'll notice almost no improvement in fuel economy or
performance.  The problem is that most people almost completely neglect
their ignition system to the point the engine gets horrible gas mileage and
performance.  Then they spend $300.00+ on a fancy ignition system and
replace all the old worn out components... then lo and behold it's a
miracle!  Fuel economy increases dramatically and they actually start the
engine on a cold day again.  Oh how they sing the praises of Dr. Jacob's
when they could have easily saved $250.00 and replaced the aging ignition
components with quality parts from the local chain parts stores and had the
same basic results.

But hey, when you spend that kind of money on an ignition system, you have
to justify it to yourself, your friends and your spouse... right?

A couple of years ago I installed a complete MSD 6A ignition system
(including Blaster 3 coil and spiral core plug wires) on my well tuned
V345A in a Traveler and noticed *zero* increase in fuel economy either with
or without it.  The only benefit I can perceive is that due to the
multi-spark capability, the engine is harder to kill once running even when
bogged down to a very low rpm.  Once the load is reduced, the engine will
spring back to life from rpms that would have surely killed it before the
installation.  The other neat feature is the optional adjustable timing
control.  But in retrospect, I don't think I would go back and spend all
that money again for so little real improvement.

IMHO one of the best values on the market is the self contained Pertronix
Ignitor ignition module used to convert a breaker point distributors to
very reliable electronic ignitions.  In fact, considering the low cost and
excellent performance of the unit, I would even recommend obtaining a
points distributor just to install an Ignitor and ditching a Holley gold
box system.  One nice feature with an Ignitor equipped breaker-point
distributor is that you can always pop the points back in should the
Ignitor fail.  Can't do that with the gold box system... even if it's the
trigger for an MSD or Jacob's.  And don't forget Pertronix gives Ignitor
owners a de facto lifetime warrantee!  Their unwritten policy is to replace
any Ignitor no matter how old (unless there's some clear sign of abuse).

One again my $0.0000000002 worth.

John L.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
jlandry AT halcyon DOT com      | 
Conservative Libertarian        |  "The road to  tyranny, we must never
Life Member of the NRA          |   forget, begins with the destruction
WA Arms Collectors              |   of the truth."
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   |                     William J. Clinton
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |    10-15-95, speech at the Univ. of CT