Peter Wrote:Scary, but that's actually true!
It worked for me -- in a slightly different situation.
I wanted to see how long a set of ignition points would last on my 1960 Volkswagen Bug. I figured that the tungsten contacts would wear out first, but I kept them clean and adjusted, and as "insurance" (or a threat to the existing set of points) I put a new set of points in the glove box.
They lasted for 94 thousand miles. And surprisingly, there was still a little bit of tungsten left -- what finally went was the steel on the moving contact arm. It broke from metal fatigue.
And here's another one you'll get a laugh out of Peter: something happened with the electrical system on that same VW Bug. I never could figure out what caused it, but if I stepped on the brakes, the generator "discharge" light would go on . . . and when I honked the horn the light would go back off again.
The car did that for several months and it stopped just as suddenly as it started.
That car was definitely fun. It had only three controls on the dash board: (fascia) the ignition, the windshield wipers, and the lights. I took one of those embossing tape thingys and labeled them "Der Putter Sparken, Der Drizzle Flippen, and Das Glimmer Button."
(The car's name was Vernon.)
Ken V.