is there a difference in rotors on a pionts style sbc(sorry) dizzy ...i've got lots of spark at coil to the center of the cap but can't get spark to the plugs...seemd the rotor is too short by about 1/4" to hit the pegs under the cap....how close are they supposed to be? i bought my dist. new w/cap...thanks
let me understand this better..you have a points distributor or an HEI? eather way the points rotor will not work with the HEI and viceaversa..they have to be like with like...the air gap on a rotor is close im not sure of the measurement..are you sure the center contact is touching the carbon electrode in the center of the cap? that is if you have the correct rotor!
old style dist w/pertronix II....dist and cap bought new...there are rub marks on the center rotor tab...so i think its working...nothing on the pegs under the cap tho...thanks fer yer help
I would find the ants on the floor, sugar bowl, someone's picnic in a park, and stack them under the rotor so the rotor is closer to send the spark trying to jump to the cap. Find a spider, squeeze it's rear end, snip the webbing and let it dangle from the brass cap points and like a shower curtain, let it contact the ant rotor, touch the cap and out to the spark plugs. Sounds like you have a lot of bugs to figure out there, fella. I Drag, may "bee" smelling something buggy, cause it ain't sounding fishy as he sees it. Edit: What if you look inside the cap to rotor tangs. Lay a piece of clay in the rotor contact end. squeeze the cap down on the clay. Measure the gap or if it's almost hitting to where the gap is too wide for the old shaft with the new cap/rotor that still fits; is the gap too wide to jump? Do you have the points hot or points wire grounded?
i measured from center of rotor to outside contact then measured the cap from the center to tangs ..there is a 1/4" difference....are there different rotors and caps...FIRat there is no points ...pertronix
thats got me scratchin my head?! you say for sure you have jolt to the center electrode? can you try pulling the cap touch the coil wire to the center electrode contact of the rotor with the coil wire..open than close the points manually and see if you have a spark jump to a screw driver held close to the buisness end of that rotor? try that see what cha get
oh sorry no points yeah im an idiot ..pertronix..ahh than activate the pick up coil by rotating the shaft instead of opening the non existing points
Bro, I don't know what the gap is supposed to be from rotor to cap, but the plug gap is only .035-.045, so I doubt it's way more than that. I don't even see the problem if they wiped each other as the rotor went by. I got an old dist w/ a clear cap at home, now I feel obligated to check it for you later since I made the smart comment. Geez, I was killing myself with "ants". Not the only time I amused just myself.
Had to look up the parts.. OK, so how is the "ignitor"? Do you have the dist if you are using the new "ignitor"? Name what parts are mixed and matched or is this the billet distrib? NO spark is the ignitor = Bad ignitor if hot to ignitor. EDIT: More dist parts search: Say we are using the, "Flame Thrower" HEI jolt boxes = Bad "Flame Throwing" means, NO JOLT No JOY! Parts is parts... As in, throw good know parts at it like, I Drag will drag his good known ants from their holes and check them as a, "good known ANT" being his dist cap.
new stock chev points dist..converted to pertronix...placed in a sbc(origionally a hei..needed clearance)...new coil..new plugs wires and plugs...wired right...power to coil...coil wire sparks heavy to center of cap...very faint spark at cap when jumped to a spark plug wire...very very faint occasional spark at plug when i closed the gap....i know its not rocket science but i'm at a loss unlessthe spark is being lost at the capand rotor...thanks
Is the dist. cap held on with clips or screws? If screws, then it is newer than 1956. A 1955 or '56 rotor would be too short in a later distributor. The early rotor and late rotor are noticeably different.
a guy I know had trouble with a pertronix installation in an old Ford, the thing was indexed wrong so it would fire when the rotor was right in between the two terminals on the cap. wound up taking it out and going back to points. don't laugh too much about the ants thing, although it generally only happens on cars that have been sitting around....not on cars you just put together. fucking ants got into the wiring in my garage, I ended up replacing a GFI outlet and a light switch because of the little fuckers. Anyways, put the points back in it, and bitch about them after 10k miles, they usually last at least that long. compare the rotor and cap to some new ones at a different parts store (different brand), could be you got some defective parts.
im leaning towards the voice of squirrel..you may have a F'ed up dizzy. or some miss matched parts givin you a head ache.. yah..those pesky friggen insects ..had issues with them too on an old car i was workin on...hate em!
got it figured out...even tho i'm in the right groove the dist position has to be close to get the proper spark cuz of the magnets in the ring...stupid me....squirrel got me in the right direction....thanks to all who replied
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