What's The Point?

The two wires in a factory setup for points operation during cranking and for points operation during running ARE connected upstream of the dizzy. So if the resistor wire were burned open, and someone just ran a jumper to bypass it, then it'll get 12 volts all the time anyway. So get a diagram and trace the resistor wire from the ignition switch forward. Unfortunately, it's hand-over-hand, a place I've been to way too many times.

 

A voltage reg is a cheap try.
Cured one of my electrical woes.... just saying.

 

A new voltage regulator was also my suggestion. They do go bad and can cause many problems.
Not sure how cheap they are now or where they are made!

 

Well,anyway I got the brand new "Echlin" points & condenser set and a solid state voltage regulator,installed all that and went on errands. The car seems to run all right, but not quite as smooth as I'd like. I put the circular metal and plastic plate back in the distributor, and the engine coughed and spluttered, so I took it back out again! That is the piece that for some reason separates the primary from the secondary.
The resistor wire is connected to coil + and to the connector at the firewall that goes to the switch. I don't understand how there could be another route that would avoid the resistor wire.
The voltage regulator was all corroded and rusty. The 4-element plug was especially green and required attention.

 

I am still trying to get to the bottom of all this. One thing I thought of: the resistor wire has one end with an orange pigtail and the other end is completely sheathed. Which end goes to the coil? Or is it the same either way? Right now,I have the pigtail end at the coil.
And I really can't understand why the engine isn't running as smoothly as it has in the recent past. New distributor,points,condenser,cap,rotor,coil,points gapped @.017,dwell within spec.

 

The resistor is not a diode, so it can go in either way. And you say Dwell is within spec, but what is the specific dwell reading?

 

Um,OK. Today,first I checked resistance w/motor running and the new resistor wire in place, & showed 9V. I checked timing, which was where the shop had set it. He drew a white line. It is about 3/4" from the pointer with timing light on. The wheel is not marked 6B,12B etc. Book says 6B,underhood sticker says 12B. Dwell is at 24 degrees,spec is 24 to 30 degrees. My plan is to go maybe 500 miles & see if it goes Boom again,or runs badly. I still have the single exhaust blown up muffler on there. It just hisses a little. Assuming nothing goes wrong again, my problem now is a rough idle and low speed part throttle stutter--just a mild stutter. Why is it doing this? With all the other ignition problems,it has run smoother than this (before totally frying points/blowing up mufflers/running rough/refusing to move the car). I pulled a spark plug, gap good,brownish tone instead of tan. I didn't observe any obvious vacuum leaks. Vacuum steady @ 20 hg.

 

The closer the dwell is to 30* BEFORE timing is set, the better it should run, assuming the breaker plate was replaced. Remember, any change in dwell causes a change in timing. Always set dwell first, and get it as close to 30* as possible, then check/set timing.

 

I went through several more hassles with "Miss Fire" the '73 wagon, but I hope this time I think I've finally achieved something...I guess I have to move the contact point assembly to affect the dwell,isn't that it? But it is at 26 right now,and utilizing a different timing light,I got the timing on the money. It's funny,almost everything about this engine is a PITA. The bolt to hold the distributor in place is way inaccessible. I ended up dropping a 1/2" socket down there and turning it with a large screwdriver at a severe angle,as the distributor wrench can only turn a few degrees either way before hitting cast iron. Anyway, I set the timing to spec using the different timing light and the weird stuttering went away. The idle is still a bit lumpy @ the specified 625 rpm,but the engine is otherwise satisfactory. I know I am going to have to figure out where to put the resistor wire if I want it to start in cold weather,but right now it is at the coil and to the connection at the firewall. As a detail,inside the distributor, I adjusted the position of the connector to the points so it doesn't touch the metal of the points protector disc, so I could have the disc in there as Mr. Motorcraft intended.

 

From what you describe, if you had a dwell meter and got it to 30*, then made the final timing setting to spec, I'm sure all the shaking would be gone. The problem with having the dwell at 26* is that's the bottom of the spec, and as the points wear down, not only will the dwell go down but the timing will retard. It's very possible the shaking is retarded timing.

 

I should know this,but...In order to get the dwell where I want it,the rubbing block would be farther away from the lobes,thus the whole angle of the points would change,but the gap would still be .017. Am I thinking this right?

 

first you need to make sure if your coil needs to be 6v or 12v, some have a resistor line, you want to keep it stock and also check the voltage if its a 6v and make sure its close, replace coil (should be 15 bucks or less), replace the condensers, they are capacitors, the same reason electronics fail with age, heat and moisture ruin them, ive heard the tale of well that's just to prevent static on am radio, but actually a capacitor is used to filter current in many electronic applications, for instance in my 1963 rca console stereo there is one on the power switch, this prevents extra "sparking" when contacts are made to turn it on, lessening the wear on the contact points, this may also be true of points. I replaced points in a 65 rambler with autozone ones and had no issues, it really wasn't that picky about perfect gap either. make sure distributor is properly grounded and if grounded by shaft get the crud out of the way.

if I recall correctly, the coil is charged and the point actually opens to fire the spark, opening the coils ground causes the stored current to fire through the next available ground (your plug wire) its been awhile so I may be misremembering some of this, and I didn't read the whole thread, so if this has come up and I'm just wasting my breath ignore me lol.

distributors are usually cheap if common also as last resort, oh and any condenser will work if the size is right they all have the same values unlike electronics, I think usually there are two one in the distributor and one somewhere pinned by the coil or something, this is from rambler knowledge so it may be off base for you. anyways good luck, essentially all there is to points system is coil, distro, wires and plugs, that and of course the power feeding the setup, just two wires. spark plug gap may have a part in it but I doubt it

 

had a guy with a dodge with electronic ignition he could never get right and me and an old parts store vet I worked with helped him convert it to points and it ran like a champ, we just talked him through it after he kept replacing modules and even put a distributor in it, when my friend had same issue I just tightened the module plugs connector holes and he was back on the road, wonder if this guy had same issue and was just not thinking about it

 

Right now,the wiring is back to stock,that is to say,ignition switch to coil+,9V with engine running. I still have to test what it is while cranking (12V,supposedly). It seems there is a resistance somewhere underdash,but I haven't seen it,though the test seems to prove it. Dwell is at 27,I'll try again to get it to 30. I replaced the muffler that was blown up,and it wasn't easy getting everything apart. The "back together" part was a comparative breeze. So,new distributor,points,condenser,coil,some wiring,cap,& rotor. Everything should work great now,right?

 

The closer to maximum dwell you get it, the better it'll run. Electronic ignitions are permanently set at whatever max dwell is, based on the number of cylinders. You have to remember also that the higher the dwell, the longer the coil charge time is before it discharges, giving maximum spark. So, maximum dwell and timing check/reset should keep the engine running better.