[AT] Make repairs or payments

Ron Cook ron at lakeport-1.com
Tue Jan 30 08:50:41 PST 2018


Grant,

You saved me from typing a reply.  You got it correct and it is the 
reason I am switching to solid state as much as I hate to spend the money.

Ron Cook, Salix, IA


On 1/30/2018 9:28 AM, Grant Brians wrote:
> When people talk about how "they don't make points like they used to",
> there is a very specific reason for the comment. In the 1930's points
> were sometimes still made with platinum contacts. They were not plated,
> the contacts were actually a piece of platinum. This was true of
> Studebakers at least. After the Platinum days, the contacts were still
> made of unplated oxidation resistant pieces for the contact itself. Then
> the switch was made to plated contact points and thinner and thinner
> plating. While in some cases the plating material was substantially
> superior in both burn and oxidation resistance, the issue has been that
> the thin material can be consumed easier and that it cannot be touched
> up by filing or scraping like the older contacts. me
>        The other factor I know I rarely think about is the "spring"
> material. I recall in my first decade of working on motors (the 1970s in
> my case), I saw thicker spring material in the points that I replaced
> and also in the replacements I used than in recent times. In the days of
> slow engines (our antique tractors for instance), the material needed to
> flex less than it would on a faster motor. I cannot speak with any
> authority on this, but I wonder if as thinner material has been used
> could the resistance to breakage have been reduced? While Metallurgy has
> dramatically improved since the 1930s, so has the pressure to use
> cheaper and cheaper materials and amounts of material on low price
> items. It would be logical that the spring steel in points would have
> undergone "cost-saving modifications", especially since all of them are
> in the cost competitive aftermarket for all of the items we work on.
>                   Grant Brians - Hollister,California farmer of
> vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, nuts and fruit
>





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