216 points

I have a 53 chevy with a 216, 12 volt. its missing all the points, condenser, ballast etc. Can someone please give me a walk thru on putting it all back in? what points are set at, what ballast to use if any, how it gets wired, what size coil it should have etc. thank you.

 

Its a

an easy fix.

 

Hi Chris. I'm sure it's 6 volt, and it really doesn't matter much anyhow. And we don't really need a picture either, though that usually helps. You might need a picture, though. If you get stuck on ***embly, PM me. I've got a pile of 216/235 distributors, and I'll send you a pic or two. It's pretty simple though. Points and condensor mount to the backing plate with little screws. The wire from the condensor and the wire from the negative side of the coil go to the same lug on the points. Standard 6 volt coil available at any auto parts store. Sometimes, there's a condensor on the outside of the dist. too. There is no internal vacuum advance mechanism on those...it's all external...the whole distributor turns as the rod from the vac diaphram moves in and out. To do this, there's a collar at the base of the distributor that the dist shaft turns in. Again, let me know if you need a picture.

I'll let others speak about the ballast resistor deal, 'cause I'm not 100% on that.

 

Its a 12 volt. The car previously had a pertronix points eliminator kit. I would like to change back to points. That being said, pics would be a great help.

 

Buy a pertronix, easy as can be, been running mine all summer and love it.

 

Ok. I'll try to remember to send you pics tomorrow. (Tuesday) If I forget and you don't hear from me, (excellent chance of that...) send a PM to remind me.

 

I use a Chrysler ballast resistor, Autozone part #AL795. It's what I use with all my points vehicles, or anything else I wire up with points. Stock points and condenser. If I remember right, its .017 for new points, .011-13 for used points.

 

Every thought about putting in an HEI distributor. It less than a couple hours of work and inexpensive. May not look traditional but it works out great, here's how I did mine:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=679518