What's The Point?

9v is not enough for a coil, does it have a firewall resistor? it should essentially be 12volts or running voltage I think

 

That's all been gone over earlier in this thread. There is supposed to be a resistor wire in the ignition circuit,and it is definitely not on the firewall side. When starting,the coil gets more voltage.

 

Hi everybody. I am back with the ongoing drama of burned points. One of the sets of points is a Napa Echlin in a blue color with a felt brush to help with lubrication. Napa locally doesn't seem to have this type anymore (better quality,I think).
I ran into a guy who was a Ford dealer's wrench in the early 1970s. We popped the cap and looked,and he claimed that the breaker plate had too much vertical motion and that the shaft had a bit of side play. So much for my reman distributor! He also suggested points with ventilation.
That's as may be,however,my current setup is: I tapped into the Red/Light Green Stripe wire from the switch. This shuts off with the key turned to Start and shows 12V with the key on. I connected to this wire and draped my new resistor wire under the dash over to the passenger side and coming back and into the Red/Light Green Stripe wire as it continues to the firewall. Somewhere in there the Start hooks in and supposedly the factory installed resistor wire, of which there is NO evidence. So here I have my resistance,and I am still burning points.
My 1963 Chilton's manual suggests a solenoid problem whereby 12V would bypass any resistor. I think they mean the starter solenoid, but then,since it only has a "S" and not an "I" terminal,how would this happen?
I am at the point of going Pertronix,but given the distributor as described,might I still have a problem? Obviously,the 6 sets of points/condensers I've gotten have cost more than a Pertronix and its coil. And my main fear at this point is for an exploding muffler! I REALLY don't want to go through that repair again! The exhaust system is at 100% good.

 

If you go Pertronix, you won't have to worry about the solenoid. The 'I' terminal was eliminated for 1975 MY, IIRC. You can still get them aftermarket; you just have to specify one for point-condenser ignition, then look at it when the parts guy shows it to you. I'd have to look, but I may have an older solenoid with that 'I' terminal, if you do stick with points. I'll take a look and get back to you.

 

DS2 dizzy with MSD boxes.

 

Screw MSD...it's cheap Chinese-made crap now. Unfortunately, Jacobs isn't in business anymore, AFAIK. Jacobs was the GM engineer who designed the HEI system; he designed the Energy Pak system to work with the most cars, modified or not, to provide the best spark discharge.

 

I don't use them myself either, stock all the way here.
I think they are big and ugly.
But they are popular and readily available.

 

I suggest you start at ignition switch and strip all insulation on the wires in your ignition system. Your starter solenoid should have both the S and I terminals. Your resistor wire has to be there or someone has by-passed it. Follow the schematic for your car. With all that you have done to this point it might be worth the time spent. Even if you go electronic you still might have problems if you don't fix your existing problem. Shade-tree mechanics can make you pull hair out sometimes and waste alot of money.

 

He does have a point. It really sucks, but sometimes, going hand-over-hand through the wiring harness is what's really needed.

 

Prime example just yesterday I did a tune-up on 1974 Merc with a 400ci. which from the factory was electronic ignition and had the control module on inner fender but to my suprise when I removed cap I found a set of points. Someone just hacked the harness when they made the change at firewall and left things a mess. Been doing this for near 50 years and always love finding shoestring repairs. Get it running and sell theory.

 

It's pointless not to check the wiring.

It's amazing how many buy a vehicle and go backward mechanically because they are afraid of something more modern. Son got all the SBC TBI parts as spares free when a friend went back to a carburator on a 1993 SBC engine.
Lucky for son because the 93 TBI engine he bought used was missing a lot and the rest of the electrical and throttle body were worn out.
One of the first changes we made when GM switched to a modern distributor was HEI in all our old Chevys.

If I were Slidemanic I'd go thru all the engine and dash wiring and change to Pertronics.

 

Well,right now I am working on the theory that someone installed the 3-terminal solenoid in error,although there is no evidence of a preexisting 12V Ign hot in Start wire with its little pigtail near the solenoid. I went to NAPA and got them to replace points & condenser on warranty,which will be here in two days, and I got a four terminal solenoid which is supposedly stock for a '73. I already have the replacement resistor wire underdash, and the ign switch side of that is 12V in Run, and Off in Start.So, I want to bypass everything and go from the ign sw. through the resistor wire to coil+. Then I want to go from the "I" terminal on the solenoid er,um...I think right to coil+. And the heck with all the rest. Won't that work?

 

Do you have a wiring diagram for your wagon? You should be able to get one from the local library, or google it.

 

I printed a wiring diagram from Auto Zone online which shows two resistances from switch to coil split by another wire from the switch. (Makes no sense). Also it shows wiring for an electric fuel pump. That don't compute! Anyway, diagrams don't show the actual physical layout. The diagram does show a 4 terminal solenoid,not the 3 terminal one that was in the car. All I want to do is bypass everything and go from switch/run/12V through my resistor wire directly to coil+,then "I" terminal on solenoid to coil+. The existing wiring to the "S" terminal on solenoid would remain. Why won't that work?

 

The coil gets 12v to start then the resistence wire comes in to play cutting voltage for running. That is the purpose of them showing on a schematic as coming together as one. Search images of 73 ford ignition wiring scematic as they will show from switch throught the system. Ford kept wiring the same pretty much on all the cars and trucks even color codes.