Thread: help with points!

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i bought points for my 283 and the orig. ones have a resistor-looking behind the actual contact points take a look at my pic and please help me figure out if i can use them or not. the orig ones are on the right...
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...zpoints002.jpg

The style on the right are "unipoints" and have the condenser built in as opposed to seperate. You can use either, but if you use the ones without the built in condenser you need one that is remote from the points.

These were developed to make it easier to do a tune up, kind of an all in one approach.

Don

PS: You may be missing a screw to hold down the conventional condenser. When someone goes to the unipoints that screw is sometimes tossed out as it is not needed any longer.

do i need to install one if i use the new points w/o it?
sorry i've only replaced caps before and my knowledge is still limited

Yep. A points system needs a condenser to build up a charge. You can get one at any auto store.

BTW, do yourself a favor and convert your points ignition to a Pertronix electronic setup. Much better, it eliminates the points and gives you modern electronic ignition. Price is not bad, and you will never have to adjust points again.

Don

I seem to recall it was about 7 to 10,000 miles on points at the max......before new ones ...or was that reset the points every 700 to 1000 miles and replace every 10 thousand????It was a pretty often and they do not do half the job of a new electronic conversion does.

Y eah, if you are a stickler for antiquated crap,keep the points,if you need help setting them let me know. I've got feeler gauges,point files,tools to bend and square up the contact points,and dwell meters. You'll get real familiar with them,I haven't used them in almost twenty years.. Definately go with electronic. P.S. When they were in everyday use.points were about 3 bucks,What did you have to shell out for yours? Hank

Oh I forgot all about the dwell settings..... Can you even buy a new dwell meter ? I think I remember that its was about 3500 rpm spark scatter sets in on points from what I have read/5000 with duall points and about 4500 to 5000 on stock hei modules.The engine will rev easily past this point ,but you are far from a good peak spark by then.
The electronic conversion is nice if you want to keep the points look of the distributor and need a small cap for clearance.

Originally Posted by shawnlee28

Oh I forgot all about the dwell settings..... Can you even buy a new dwell meter ? I think I remember that its was about 3500 rpm spark scatter sets in on points from what I have read/5000 with duall points and about 4500 to 5000 on stock hei modules.The engine will rev easily past this point ,but you are far from a good peak spark by then.
The electronic conversion is nice if you want to keep the points look of the distributor and need a small cap for clearance.

how old are you shawnlee never had a car with points? i had the accel HD points and every two week you would have to reset the dwell if you run it hard they would go past 6500 easly with the accel and they made blue streak to that were good .alot of boats still run a mallory point dist when i work on the boats in the late 80

I confess.....1970 was my first breath of air!!!
I did not know that..I guess these got used alot in racing untill the electronic stuff came along ,I never thought about high performance points I learn something new here every day!!!
By the time I was messing with autos ,points were something very few people my age had messed with and since they did not understand them /everyone talked bad about them or said they were no good...only points cars will run after a E.M.P. blast also.Just fer anyone in the middle of a survivalist type project

well, i think i have it all figgered out. this is my 1st time with this and i have no book to go by so its kinda slow goin. i suppose i am a "stickler for antiquated crap," but not for points. im gonna install them for now, but i will switch over to elec. ign in the near future
and i think my points were 4.99 at kragens

i think them old accles were 32oz?????????? not sure.i killed a lot of brain cells in my younger days. you could hardly open them by your hands. but they did work.

it is old stuff but a set of points a coil and cap rotor/ condenser and that all you would need to drive a car any were and if it crap out you could fix it in no time flat with very basic tool one screw driver . set the points by eye and your running .you can not say that for the new stuff???

good point about simple and easy-fixable.
p.s. my points i took out looked like they had been welded together, then torn apart, so i really think this was my misfiring/stuttering problem. i'll let you all know how she runs after the job is done.
thanks

How many of you are old enough to remember the old trick of cutting up a pair of points to get a second flat spring from, and doubling up on the one you were running, to get more spring pressure and less point bounce?

Done that more than once.


Don

if you leave the key on it will weld the points and runinng 12volts to them will weld them to