It was time to tune up our 351 Mercury…again. The idle was rough and uneven, the power had dropped off, and the fuel economy had steadily gone from bad to worse. Frankly, we're tired of that routine.

Back in the day, point-triggered ignition system tune-ups were routine and happened roughly every 12,000 miles, along with a set of spark plugs and an ignition timing adjustment. These days, we’re so ...

The demands for better emissions and fuel economy in the mid 1970s necessitated leaner fuel mixtures. These leaner mixtures required greater voltage and more spark to ignite. This challenge led GM ...