I took my '55 Bird out for a ride last weekend.   All went great for about 10 miles.  Out of nowhere the motor started missing and wouldn't idle.  It would rev fine for a few times then die.  At first I thought I had a fuel problem.  Popping off the air cleaner I could see I had plenty of fuel out of the accelerator pump. The motor was only running about 180 degrees.  I took the ignition cap off to see if I had  a bad rotor or a wire off.  All looked good.  I called AAA for a tow home.  While I was waiting, I messed around with the points and it started running great again. It ran great for about 2 blocks and quit again.  The first morning back in my garage the engine still missed.  I installed new points and condenser and it started immediately and has been running great since.  It made me nervous that I didn't find anything obviously wrong.

My engine is a stock '55 292 with a rebuilt '57 distributor from Macs Auto Parts.  Can a new condenser and points fail in less than 100 miles?

The short answer is yes, new points and condenser can fail in a short period. Most of 'em are offshore (read that Chinese) and are not made to the standards the originals were. I suggest switching to electronic ignition and just keeping a set of points and a condenser in the glovebox just in case. Two good electronic conversions are Pertronix and Accel. Accel parts are available at any auto parts store that carries the brand.

I bought a rebuilt '59 distributor from Autozone. The condenser failed in less than 50 miles. Suddenly started popping and missing. I barely make it home and it died in the driveway. I put a condenser from another distributor in and it ran fine until I recently converted to Pertronix with the points and condenser and a screwdriver in the trunk. 

Been hearing this a lot recently. Seems to be Offshore made Condensers-not the Points.that fail.

  

The condenser in mine failed twice and after the first one I purchased a Pertronix ll along with their coil. Being wiser I installed their system including continuing to use my ballast resister and have never had a failure.
Without a doubt it was the condenser, if it's possible for you to find a few NOS ones from BluePoint or even Standard it woul be worth a shot to keep with your points. Back over 50 years ago I learned from an old mechanic that if there was no growth from one side to the other side on the points, file and polish them and don't change the condenser. I follow this on my 39 Indian.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Replace the "condenser" with a .22uf 1000v FILM CAPACITOR from an electronics dealer.
No more problems!


"FREE SAMPLE"

Same thing has happened to me , the condensers available today are junk . 
Is your car an automatic or 3 speed manual  with overdrive ? The reason I ask is the overdrive cars have a ignition interrupt ( floor switch) that could cause similar problems .

My car is a manual transmission with overdrive.   No more problems since I changed points and condenser, but I haven't driven it much. I drive the car with the overdrive handle pulled out.   I don't care for the free wheeling in OD when you are coasting in gear.  I have always converted my cars using a Pertronix module.  This is the first points car I have had in years.  Good advice.  Thanks!

Phil, does your car freewheel at speeds above 28 mph with the OD handle pushed in toward the dash? 

I haven't tried that yet.   I have never owned an O/D car before.  When I first drove the car it seemed like the rear gear was extra high and it didn't drag the car down when I let off in gear causing me to use the brakes more than I like.  Eventually I realized the O/D was working, so I pulled the handle.  I just installed a tachometer so I can tell what's happening with the RPM. 

I like to drive the car with the transmission.  It seems to me the OD would only be useful on the highway.  I may never use it, but I sure don't want the OD to give me ignition problems. I'm thinking about manually disabling it for now.  I don't want to remove anything in case someone wants to connect it up in the future.