help with points.

okay.. car **** on me last week. had no spark wouldnt start.
got the basic tune up gear.
cap- ****on -wires- plugs- coil -condensor and points.
there is a resistor between the hot wire and the coil. it doesnt seem to cuase any resistance. 12.** on one side an the same coming out. theres 12.** at the coil in and out, down at the distributor(on the outside) and at the condnesor and points. it had spark but then after fooling with it it didnt. can anyone give me any tips on how to get this thing running again. its a str8 six(235),the car had a 12 volt conversion before i got it. not sure what was done and if it was the rite way or not. any explanation on how the resisitor is suppose to work or any basic "how to install points" tips you got let me know. all my other stuff has hei so im new to the world of points. seems easy. cant see anything ive missed but hey..thats why im asking for you guys help...thanx..and any miniscule details that might be second nature to you guys...spit em out. they may help..thanx in advance.

 

You'll only get a voltage drop across it when there is current flowing ( basic ohms law) not when it is not running and the points are open. My first suggestion is to see if you have a good ground at your distributor and good connections all the way through. Your descriptions sounds like you are getting intermittent connections. Stu

 

Just a couple of things to consider,
What did you gap the points at and did you gap them on the high point of the distibutor cam?
There should also be another wire to the coil from the starter to provide a full 12 volts to the coil during starting then after starting the power flows through the ballast resistor to increase coil life.

 

set the points with a paper match stick. and set them when on the lobe tob the dizzy cam. i have no wire from the starter. should the wire from the dizzy be grounded? the that was fun there is a hot wire from the -side of the coil.. thanx for the help. w.

 

no, the distributor should be grounded by being installed properly in the motor.

you didnt turn the distributor at all did you? if so, it's probably in the wrong spot. if not...

if you know that your points are gapped right, the distributor is grounded, the coil is powered and the coil wire is hooked up, id recommend that you hook a meter to your coil on the positive and negative side and then manually rotate your motor to see when the grounding is occuring and then the coil is releasing its jolt. you should be able to see this happening as you rotate through. at that point, you can reference to ensure its firing at the right place.

once you see the coil doing its thing, you can pull the #1 spark plug, leave it out, grounded on the head or something and verify that spark is making its way across the rotor to the right cylinder. at the right time.

good luck

-scott noteboom

 

The old shade tree method is to use the match book cover, not the match. I would think it would never have a chance if you use the thicker match.

 

yeah it looked a lil wide with the match stick. i closed it a bit more than that. the dizzy hasnt moved at all, i knew it would be grounded when in place but figured id rather ask a stupid question an know for sure then have 2nd thoughts.
so do i need a hot wire form the ignition an the starter or just the starter?
thanx again fellas...w

 

should have both wires, but it will probably work without the wire from the starter and definately close that gap up

 

ok now we got another problem..
my ressistor was smoming. looked through everything an noticed the new points where different than the orig(old)ones. old ones had a plastic, insulator if you will. the new one were all metal to metal looked to be shortn out. so changed the points to the same style as the older ones. still have some smoke though. this is gettn rough. anyone have any other thoughts? thanx. w.

 

A good thing to do now is step back. What got hot lets see what got hot and how it got hurt. The resistor should have lived the coil maybe we'll see.
First the points condenser and coil are a little confusing. Unlike a light that gives off light and gets hot and uses power, the points condenser and coil don't really use any, except the tiny spark on the tip of the plug.
Switched ignition on voltage trickles thru the coil primary coil's and thru the points if they're closed. A funny effect also is the condenser wants the electricity much more and when the car is running no battery power should return to the battery's negative post but to the condenser only. Points open or closed the condenser takes all the first electricity. The resistor is only in circuit when the engine is not cranking. The resistor drops the voltage most when the engine is switched on running slow. The resistor is really only limiting the condensers charge speed, and is a current limiter really.
Give the engine a spin the points close current charges the condensor and the current also charges the coil like a magnet. Once the capacitor is charged the points can be counted apon to excite the coil. The points open, the capacitor not wants to be a source of D.C. and will fight to give electricity away much faster than a battery could, positively arresting the current in the circuit and making the engine block an electrical large target. The arrested current halted in the coil's primary builds incredible voltage on the secondary call it small sprocket big sprocket and the battle will be won with a spark on the plug.

 

i have spark at the plugs. i understand now what the resistor does. could my coil have gone bad? do i have it hooked up rite?

here is the lay out.

key switch- bat in and a line on the accesory post to the resistor.
resistor- hot line in from the key switch, hot line out to the + side of the coil.
coil- hot line in from the ressistor, hot line out to the post on the outside of the distributor.
dizzy- hot line in from the coilt o the post. on other side of the post is line from the condensor and the line from the points.
cap- wire from the top of the coil to the top of the cap, lines to the plugs with this firing order 153624.
with the points set to a gap of about 0.019.


any more help thas there thanx...not sure whats goin on with this thing. hopefully it is sumthn small i ve over looked....thanx again folks. w.

 

As far as the gap, if it starts with a ping they are too close, if it won't start at all they are too far apart. Points I mean.