I set em in the fuely by blocking one set and then set the other with a feeler gauge--light er up and ck dwell--then do the other set--have done it in the car probably 25 times over the past 37 yrs--do the solids at the same time. Dist is a little different on the fuely--to take it out you have to disconnect the fuel pump drive and the oil feed line so I just do it in the car.
I have been looking for a points file for a long time. I lost mine. Anybody know where to get one now? Every file I find is way too thick.
Well duh! on me. I never thought of looking there. Must be the oldtimers disease. Edit: Ebay led me to find one at NAPA. Guess I wasn't looking good enough.
I just did my Accel dual point. I pulled it out from the motor and set both points with a feeler gauge, then I put it back in and checked the dwell. It was supposed to be 34 +/- 2 degrees and it read 34.5 that was for both sets of points. The dual point I have does not have the adjustment window. it is a 34100. I am looking for the 37100 that alows for the adjustment from the outside. Did I do this wrong?
The '57-75 type GM distributors could be set VERY accurately in both dwell and gap with no tools other than the Allen wrench to turn the adjuster through the window...from memory, the procedure was to slowly close the gap until engine was barely sputtering along, then back out 1/2 turn. Slightly more sophisticated, perhaps, was out a full turn then back in 1/2 to take up any alleged play in the screw's spring. The thread pitch put this way right on the dot. Some older NOS breakers will have a bit of tarnish on the points that can reduce contact, sometimes to zero. Check resistance and give them a polish with fines abrasive you can find. The best point files back then actually had a pocket clip!
I found some ignition files still on the file rack at Sears about two years ago. Bought both of them, haven't been in a Sears lately to see if they still stock'em. Sears is dumb enough to keep supplying something like this even though no one who goes in there has ever heard of a point... And you can still find them on Amazon, though probably most of the brand names are now actually Chinese. The tool I remember as a real goody was the "Flexstone", a very fine synthetic something file made for contact points. Look around, trying terms like "contact" and "relay", etc., and you can still find things very like flexstone. Last ones I bought were from a place that specialized in repairing old pinball machines! I'd love to find a complete set of voltage regulator files and bender things.
The Jalopy Journal
