Re: Suggestion for tailgater haters and MSD

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

The aliens commander decided John Fleck <jlfleck@domain.elided> would make a
perfect specimen for dissection, and he yelled...

>I mean can 90% of the 300 or so drag racers that
>came to the track I was a member of (Bremerton Handlers Racing Association
>in Gorst WA) be wrong????

Oh I get it...

Then we need nitromethane, roots blowers and open header pipes on our daily
drivers too because 100's of funny car drivers can't be wrong... right?

I respectfully disagree with you John.  You don't need a $200.00+ ignition
system to get an otherwise *properly* functioning stock IH engine to run
perfectly.  But yes... if someone feels the need to spend some money to
cover up other neglected maintenance items, then an expensive ignition
system is a perfect place for them to start loosing cash.  This is America
after all and that's the beauty of stupid consumers... they help the
economy by buying stuff they don't need.  It's the same mentality that
keeps those oil additive manufacturers in business even though countless
studies have proven them unnecessary to outright useless.  Sooner or later
(probably sooner) they'll be back to spend more money on the other items
that needed fixing in the first place... but those needed repairs weren't
quite as attractive as a shiny new MSD computer and pretty spark plug
wires.

I'll stick by my position that a setup with say a Pertronix Ignitor,
something like a set of cheap 8mm Autolite spark plug wires, platinum plugs
(brand of your choice) and an Accel super *stock* coil (or brand of your
choice) will give just as good performance and fuel economy as a Jacob's or
MSD system with all the expensive bells and whistles.  That's on an engine
in otherwise top mechanical condition.  If you have some neglected nasty
oil burner that fouls the plugs every 1/2 mile, then *possibly* something
like the MSD might help keep the plugs cleaner because you can open the gap
farther and run the plugs hotter.  But again, it's a band aid and you're
still going to have to fix the engine at some point.

95% of the people installing aftermarket ignition systems replace just
about every component (plug, wires, ignition module, rotor, cap, etc.) when
they perform the upgrade.  They're blown away by the performance increase
when they could have gotten the same effect by replacing everything with
quality auto part store fare and doing a tune-up in the first place.  It's
the $350.00 they just spent at Jacob's that finally gets them off their
butt to tune-up their engine.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the aftermarket ignition
systems... just that more value for the money can be had elsewhere... like
purchasing some basic diagnostic equipment and doing regular tune-ups, etc.

Just MHO,

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