The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Burning Up Points - Help!

My 1955 Series 1 3100 with a 235 inline six, has a new distributor installed, new point, condensor, and coil. Let me know if you need more specific information. I am on my third set of points. They last less than a 100 miles. She has been upgraded to a 12v system. I did not do the conversion, it was done when I purchased her.

Does it have a inline resistor going to the distributor installed?

It does have an inline resistor. I have not measured resistance on it.

Are you buying quality points or the cheap ones? NOS Delco or Echlin from NAPA. Make sure you are running a internal resistor coil. 🛠

Points came with the truck. Should have been an indicator. I am going to purchase at NAPA today. Is there a specific part number? Is there 6v vs 12v points, or just points. I will verify the coil as soon as it gets a little brighter out, and report back.

You can run either a resistor coil or a ballast resistor but NOT BOTH. The advantage of a ballast resistor is, if wired correctly will deliver a full 12v to the coil when starting and reduced to approximately 9v when running. This reduced voltage protects the coil and points from burning up prematurely. The increased voltage when starting helps when starting, especially in the cold.

The ballast resister also needs to be matched to the coil to work properly.

I’m not an expert “Sparky”, so I will leave the testing to one of our expert electrical “Bolters”.

Good luck!

The coil requires an external resistor. I traced the wire into the firewall, where I assume it goes to the ignition. So it goes from ignition > ballast resistor > coil > distributor. Attached are some pictures.

Put a new condenser in just on the chance you got a bad one out of the box. What is the delco remy number of the distributor? the 2403 distributor is more common on the late 55 and up motors and takes a different set of points then the earlier distributor. The valve cover has slots which indicates a 54 motor which suggests the earlier point set but could have just as easily been changed at one time or another.

Looking at your picture, it not clear that it is wired correctly. I’m including a picture how mine is wired. (Please note that the resistor should not be mounted to the coil (as in this picture) because it generates too much heat. The suggested spot to mount the ballast resister is on the firewall where it will get allot of cooling air.)

Looking at my picture, the wire at the bottom of the resistor is coming from the ignition switch. The second wire on the left terminal is coming from the side terminal of the starter switch which supply's the 12 volts for starting (once you lift your foot off the starter, it disconnects that circuit). Once it starts, power is supplied thru the ballast resistor, which should be someware around 9 volts.

We are the same, except resistor location, and I am not running the other wire to the starter switch. That extra wire doesn't seem to have been a problem for me. I give her some choke and tap gas pedal twice, and she starts right up. Well, until points go bad. The green wire in the picture may be confusing you. It's currently connected to a non-functioning tach.

I would get rid of the green wire. A "non-functioning" tach may provide an unintentional ground which will shut the engine off. I don't know that it would cause points to erode prematurely, however.
I once had a mysterious lousy ignition issue from a wayward tach wire.
Carl

Well, I knocked the bowl with my screws off the car, and they have gone into a black hole. Got my daughters better set of eyes to help, and she couldn't find them either. Does anyone know where I can purchase the screws for the points?

I purchased a magnetic tray from HF just so that didn’t happen. I’ve lost many parts down the black hole.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=magnetic%20tray

Thanks, any thought on replacement screws?

I have trouble finding small screws and such when they make it to my shop floor. I made a long wooden handle for a large welding magnet. Pass that over the floor and I usually find what I've dropped.

Rick

Your local hardware store will have a large bin of sorted machine screws. More than likely you will have to cut and file to get the length you need. Most electric wiring pliers have threaded holes you can use to shear the bolt off close then file to the exact size you need. Maybe someone knows the thread size and pitch and will post them. Good luck.🛠

Even better than your daughter's eyes is to take a flashlight and shine the beam along the floor. That makes those little things like screws and nuts stand out.
I've inherited my dad's packrat gene and have a small parts cabinet full of salvaged screws, nuts, and bolts for the times I can't find what I've dropped, even with the flashlight trick.
I do have to resort to the hardware store on occasion.

Old trick..... get the magnet from an old radio speaker and tie a heavy string around it. Drag it around the floor and see what pops up. 🛠

They are a bear sometimes to come by. Everyone seems to have lost them over the years. I will bet half or more of the distributors I have looked at have the wrong screw installed. What Delco Distributor are you using?

I usually find the missing hardware after I have replaced the "lost" one. As long as your garage floor doesn't have a crack that looks like the grand canyon then they will pop up eventually.

I use instances such as this for incentive to do a thorough cleaning of my "busy" shop. Employ some young eyes. Pay them just enough for buying enough candy to make the sick. That amount is not 40 cents like when we were kids, so you will need to adjust for inflation.
Carl

Couple of photos.

So the original GM part number for that screw is 816784. GM made that number obsolete at some point and used 1914916 as the new number. The new number is now also obsolete. There is a guy on ebay selling a bag of 5 Delco remy screws at about $33.00 so about 6.60 per screw.

ALCON, I used the following for my missing screw https://www.ebay.com/itm/283468364767 This worked like a champ for my 235 ci distributor

I solved my points problem by going to an HEI (Tom Langdon). One of the best investments ever, It ran much better and no breakdowns.
Unless you are into originality, I would say an HEI is a good way to go, my experience with HEIs has been excellent.
don

Do you have a ballast resister hooked up? Check voltage to coil with engine running. You should not be getting 12 volts there. More like 7,8 volts Point systems need a lower voltage to reduce contact wear.