Electronic Ignition swapped for points

I became fed up with points in about 1973 and since then I’ve always fitted electronic ignition to my cars if it wasn’t standard.

 

Yep, I could understand why. I haven’t played with them since my first car, so fancy a dabble, tinker

 

No, not charging for corrections

 

The points securing screw was fully tightened. So guess all ok as long as I check the 0.4mm gap. But this shouldn’t have changed as the screw was firmly down

 

... but probably worth checking to make sure

 

Nail, head.

 

As did the rest of the motor industry since about '75...

 

Remember i was still fitting points & condensers in the late 70s early 80s at a Ford dealership i cut my teeth at. Mk2 Escorts etc.
Remember going on a course down at Daventry on the new Mk2 Granada with this new fangled electronic ignition system

 

Must have been weird not to have to shovel coal into the boiler ...

 

I couldn't get on with this gun, it was ok at idle, but seem to loose the timing spark when the revs increased and didn't fire

 

Mm, I’ll be having a go at this soon, hopefully will be ok. Did you use another gun instead?

 

I've not had time to try it again, just in case it was my fault it wasn't working.

 

thats a reproduction Timing scale

 

Should be ok though

 

Yeah it’s fine just missing that little detail

 

It's likely the pickup was too near other HT cables or even the wrong way round. It's an oop and under thing.

 

Re slipping points. Tightening the screw that holds the points is one of the most nerve wracking thing to do in my book. Knowing theres not much thread i am always scared of stripping something .
Have you sorted this out yet. Take it back ,give them the opportunity to put it right FOR FREE , we all make mistakes and the mechanic may be as nervous as me with the screw and didnt use enough torque to tighten down so they have slipped . Wonder when the last time he/she saw points

 

Thanks, all sorted. The screw was firmly home, so I don’t get the slipping.

Anyway to familiarise myself, I cleaned and regreased the dizzy shaft, oiled the pivot point, measured the gap. This was 0.35mm. Spec says 0.4 to 0.5mm so I set them to 0.45mm.

Fidly job. I had a torch strapped to a screwdriver and the feeler gauge in there. But strangely satisfying. Runs great

Will setting the timing at max advance when the rain clears

 

A lot of people, myself included, would remove the whole distributor C/W clamp to set the points. Keeping the clamp attached retains the timing within about 1 degree.

 

That’s really useful, I’d have never thought of that. Very fiddly, dark and on an angle, got to Give that a go