points?

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Apr 11, 2004 | 09:22 PM

handx2

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Joined: Jan 2004

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From: river ridge,La

points?

my engine has a bit of a miss to it,particularly at idle.it has new rebuilt engine,new carb,rotor button ,wires,plugsand distributor cap.the guy that built my engine put in new points(cheap ones from auto zone),but i`ve had to go behind him and fix several things that he had wrong(plugs were gapped to .045).so i`m pretty sure that my points are set wrong to.i`ve never done points on anything more complicated than a lawn mower.i found an old post in the forums that VERY briefly described it without going into detail.could you please break it down in better detail,so a novice guy like me can understand.thanks for your help..............wayne hand

Apr 11, 2004 | 09:45 PM

Al_V

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Joined: Aug 2003

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From: Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

Its been a while, but here is the the way I remember it:
You can turn the crankshaft with a socket wrench until one of the lobes open the points to the farthest point. Here, you set them with a feeler gage. This gets you close. Then you hook up a dwell meter, and make the final adjustment while the engine is running. Follow the instructions for the dwell meter, but I think you remove the vacuum advance hose and plug it. There is a "sliding door" on the side of the distributor, through which you insert an allen wrench to make the adjustment while the motor is running.
Good Luck.

Apr 11, 2004 | 11:15 PM

motorcyclist

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handx,

The 292 distributor is a pain to get to to adjust points. Turn motor to high side of breaker cam the gap should be .016, then check dwell, should be 27 deg. If dwell angle too small [ low] open points a bit, if too much dwell [ high]close them slightly and re check. also on the ford you must pull the cap to re set dwell, that was the delco remy distributor on the GM that can be set while running.

I just installed a pertronix 2 on my 64 the other day, about 90 min time because I got tired of adjusting points in that difficult distributor location.

You might want to check your valve clearance [.018 hot] also, and maybe a compression check, also how old are your plug wires? One other thing, check your low speed idle mixture setting on your carb.

Last edited by motorcyclist; Apr 11, 2004 at 11:19 PM.

Apr 12, 2004 | 02:37 PM

Rosati

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Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 2,557

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From: Texas

If correcting the points adjustment doesn't fix your miss, Wait until dark, open the hood and fire it up. Watch the plug wires for arcing. Sometimes they crack or burn through and will actually short the spark to the block.

Apr 12, 2004 | 06:24 PM

Al_V

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From: Cleveland/Akron, Ohio

He said he had new wires.

Apr 13, 2004 | 09:29 AM

William

Logistics Pro

Joined: Feb 2000

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From: Sun River St. George

Install a Pertronix Ignitor and their coil. Install a Ford flat cap, adapter and long nose rotor. Install quality 8mm plug wires, gap the plugs at 45, set the timing and post back. That miss at idle could be any of about a hundred things. 9 times out of 10 it will be in the ignition, so if you eliminate all those possibilities you will likley solve the problem. Check the firing order. Post back! Later we can talk about vacuum leaks around that new carb, sticky advance mechanisim and burnt valves.

Apr 13, 2004 | 07:48 PM

handx2

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Joined: Jan 2004

Posts: 186

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From: river ridge,La

my engine was just built 600 miles ago,so i pray to god it`s not a burnt valve.the guy had my plugs gapped at.045,so that was part of my problem but it did`nt solve it.the firing order is correct.i haven`t checked the timing yet,i`m afraid that it`s probably wrong to.i`m looking for an inexpensive dwell meter to check my points.i didn`t find any vaccum leaks either.how much did the complete petronix setup with coil cost you,and where did you get it?right now i would just like to get it running right,but i`m probably going to upgrade later.tell me more about the advance mechanism,and how to check it.