I had that question in my cranium when I put a Pertronix in the 289 distributor in my 1940 Ford. I had got fed up with trying to get points and condenser as the parts counter kids can not find their nutz to scratch them until all the boxes on the glowing screen are filled in. With your concern in mind, keep the original wire from the coil to the points and a new point set and condenser in a zip lock bag in your glove box or trunk. If the Pertronix Igniter should fail it is easy enough to put the points back in. Takes up virtually no room.