Quote Originally Posted by merc53man
well, i think i have it all figgered out. this is my 1st time with this and i have no book to go by so its kinda slow goin. i suppose i am a "stickler for antiquated crap," but not for points. im gonna install them for now, but i will switch over to elec. ign in the near future
and i think my points were 4.99 at kragens
If you go with a petronix unit you might as well pull the distributor and service the advance weights and springs. I would try and find a Chilton's manual for 1956 on ebay and it doesn't have to be for trucks. You also might look in the local library and they might have one in the reference section that you can borrow.
There should be a ballast resistor mounted on the firewall and I would replace that also. It drops the voltage to 7 or 8 volts when the engine is running so that the points don't burn up. When it fails it normally opens, but I had one short once and it will burn up points in a hurry.