Reconstruction has begun.

[ew1usnr]

And yes there are a LOT of bugs out there on the road.

Hello, Steve.

Your trip sounds like it was a huge amount of fun. I congratulate you for skipping the airline ticket.

What kind of headlights are those?

Did driving 20 miles on a disintegrated wheel bearing grind up the wheel spindle?
How fast were you going when you hit the railroad track? I am amazed that the wheel bearing shattered.

I had to look up "TFI" to find what it was. "It is a small grey plastic module that houses solid-state electronic parts, all of which are suspended in a thick translucent, electrolytic (meaning it is conductive) film. The Thick Film Integrated Ignition (TFI-IV) name is proprietary to Ford. Others may know it referred to as a "spark module."

In other words, your electronic ignition quit. That "sparks" my interest.
After I bought my Falcon in 2012 I was surprised to find that the previous owner had replaced the ignition points with a PerTronix D-57-22 electronic ignition unit. I have left in place it has worked perfectly for the past 17,000 miles. But ....... my previous two Falcons and a Maverick had points and I never had problems with those either. The points seem like they might actually be more more reliable than electronic ignition because while points will slowly degrade, they will not just quit like an electronic module can.

Your TFI burnout issue heightens my concern that the PerTronix could quit, and makes me wonder if I should restore The Wonder Falcon back to points. I could either buy another Pertronix unit ($75) and keep in the trunk as a spare, or replace it with a set of points at the next 25,000 mile tuneup (in 8,000 miles).

In the light of your recent electronic ignition failure, would you recommend my staying with the Pertronix unit, or going back to points?