OMG! Another points question? Here, let me get to the point real quick like
According to my shop manual when installing new points, the gap should be set between .018" -.024" Is there a performance preference to lean towards the smaller vs larger gap?
Craig
Craig
My '50 Chevy 3100 5 window, '62-235cu, 3:55 rear My truck ....... Respect The Rust If I'm not working on my truck, '65 m00stang or VW camper, I'm fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.
The narrower gap results in more "points closed" time and gives better coil saturation for a hotter spark, supposedly. .020" is a good midrange setting and it's easy to remember. Try to use a round wire gauge, rather than a flat blade if possible. Any roughness on the surface of the points will result in getting a wider gap than the gauge indicates, and a round wire gauge like the old style pocket spark plug gappers also worked well for points.
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Thank you Jerry. The only wire gauge set I have is missing the .020" gauge. Go figure. So I ordered one of the above via Flea Bay.
Craig
My '50 Chevy 3100 5 window, '62-235cu, 3:55 rear My truck ....... Respect The Rust If I'm not working on my truck, '65 m00stang or VW camper, I'm fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.
Jerry, I know at one point, you posted dwell settings for the various Stovebolt distributors. Would you happen to have that info handy? I promise I’ll write it down this time.
My Chilton repair manual lists 1954 and earlier distributors with 6 volt ignition at .015" point gap or 42 degrees of dwell. 55-63 12 volt systems are listed at .019" and 30-32 degrees of dwell.
Now, in about 3-2-1 seconds, some Google guru will tell you I'm all wet and quote all sorts of distributor part numbers and factory specs to prove it. I have a comment about them that's not PC Patrol friendly! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Jerry, I'm not saying you're all wet, but I'd trust the manufacturer more than Chilton. Here's a page from the 48-51 Service Manual, showing readjusting at 0.018" and new points at 0.022".
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Setting point gap with a feeler gauge is a good example of the "measure with a micrometer- - - -mark with chalk- - - -cut with an axe" concept. Using a dwell meter is a much better method of setting the distributor. A dwell meter is simply a glorified voltmeter, a way of measuring an average of the voltage available at the points during the "points open" and "points closed" situations. That gets into a very theoretical discussion that's been done several times already, one that makes all but a very few stovebolters' eves glaze over. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Call me a weirdo, but I greatly prefer the dwell meter to the feeler gauge method. I find the feeler gauge clumsy and I never have much confidence that it got it right.
The dwell meter is also a quick and easy way to verify that my points gap is still somewhat in spec.
Dwell meter......hmmmmm Better check my stash of meters.
Craig
My '50 Chevy 3100 5 window, '62-235cu, 3:55 rear My truck ....... Respect The Rust If I'm not working on my truck, '65 m00stang or VW camper, I'm fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.
Just dwelling on dwell. I don't think dwell vs gap is a linear function. Number of cylinders, distributor cam profile and a bunch of other stuff factor in. So Jerry's .015" - 42 degrees dwell for 6 volt and .019" and 30-32 degrees dwell can't really be extrapolated.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
