The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop distributor question

does the dizzy ground otthe engine by contact?

Would a dirty contact between the dizzy and the block cause a mis fire?

Clutching at straws to solve fro thei misfire problem

Rich

Yes the housing is grounded by contact & could not cause a misfire, but there is a ground wire between the breaker plate & the houseing. It could cause an ignition problem if it was loose or broken.

Did you mean to say if the contact betwewen the distributor housing and the block were bad that would NOT cause a misfire?

Does there need to be clean contact between the dist housing and the block?

I have a pertronix ignition so there is a wire to the positive side of the coil and one to the negative side of the coil from the igniotion module

It's unusual, not impossible for the distributor housing to lose its ground. A much more likely scenario is for the wire between the housing and the points to develop broken strands, and intermittently break the circuit as the vacuum advance moves. I believe some distributors have that wire, while others move the whole housing. The later-model point-type distributors for the 230/250/292 engines definitely have it, not sure about the 1st. generation stovebolts.
Jerry

Edit: I believe the Pertronix module just generates a signal to the coil, and does not rely on a housing ground, but I don't have enough experience with that system to have any definite knowledge. I do know they have a pretty spotty reputation for reliability, and some folks carry a set of points in case there's a failure out on the road. The GM HEI unit is a lot more reliable, not stock-appearing, though.
Jerry

There is a guy I have heard of on this site who builds electronic distributors from these stock distributors. I can't remember the guys name but if anyone knows him please send me the contact info

You get the stock look and he has a sterling reputation for relability. Should have gone there first. It would have solved a lot of questions regarding the mechanical and electronic performace of my current dizzy.

I had the same misfire problem with my points set up as well.