I set the gap on the ignition points today. I found that when I aligned the nose of the cam with the rubbing block it had enough clock wise and counter play that it would slip of the high point and move about a 16th down the ramp. After a few tries I got it to stay in place long enough to set the gap. The shaft also has some play back and to and side to side. One other challenge was the slotted points screws are badly damaged. Anyone know where to get a new screw set? Maybe I should get a new distributor. It's running much better at
017. It was somewhere around .012.

 

Most distributors will have a little slop after a while, but it should be minimal. the screws are pretty standard and good hardware store should have some.

Back in the day the rule was to set the points just where you could see them open. .012 is plenty, a dwell meter is ideal but few people have a working one anymore.

Now check your timing again, preferably check your curve if you haven't.

 

0.016" (a fuzzy hair over 1/64")... or a matchbook cover in a pinch ... works, Usually a few "Bump it"s worked to get the rubbing block on a high spot. I did like the GM external adjustable dwell setup.

I used to have a Dart with a 340 and it had a dual point distributor, two sets that overlapped to allow longer dwell time at high rpm ... I was ever so happy when I bought a Direct Connection electronic pointless distributor kit, was so nice to not have to do the "Bump It"s ... then I next had a GTO and it had the externally adjustable set up, that was good. Easy to set in minutes, anywhere, as long as one had their flexible tool and a dwell meter. In 1994 I bought another Triumph Trident, it had three points, one set for each cylinder, 120 degrees apart. I had had one in the '70s, but then I let a shop do the points ... I swapped the latest one to Boyer Mk III electronic. It was maddening to set three sets because every time you adjusted them, then check them as a set, the others would be out as you tried to get timing right on all 3 at 5,000 rpm. Boyer ... set it once on #1, the other two were perfect and rock steady.

If I had points now, I'd get a new distributor. Probably electronic, get a spare brain to carry with me ... maybe a GM type HEI based unit, or convert to a Dura Spark II.

 

What would concern me is the side to side play as there really shouldn't be any noticeable. Maybe .005 if you measured it but if you are easily seeing it move when you force it side to side its probably too much. Remember to reset timing after any point gap adjustment. Set the point gap to whatever the spec is and don't deviate. As mentioned if you get get your hands on a dwell meter, that is best to avoid human factor inconsistencies setting gap manually.