thanks gang!

[satashooter71]

i love this website! at around 11 pm i found a pic with the alternator back and i saw i had mine wired wrong! i thought that the wire that goes on the batt. stem of the alternator went on the ground. i test light it and it had fire so i thought why would a ground have fire. also thanks so much for the info on fusible links, can you believe that i went to auto store and no one knew about them, i went to lowes for some wire connectors and the guy working there explained them!! now it starts, thank God. i need to know how to set the points because i put in new ones, i need to time it, and one more biggie, when i went to cut it off the switch would not cut it off? any takers on these issues?

[SteveC]

i got this from a nother site quote
"get yourself a feeler gage and a screw driver. with the distributor cap and rotor removed, you will get a good look at the points. if you are not changing them, make sure to look at both contact pads on the points, any heavy pitting or metal transfer, change em. any way to set them there are 2 screws that hold the base in place, one is in a slot, this is the adjusting end. loosen both screws, on the adjusting end they usually have a v shaped notch and you can use a flat tip screw driver here to move the points. on the arm of the points there is a rubbing block that rides on the distributor shaft. to adjust the point gap, you must put the rubbing block on one of the high points on the shaft, this can be done by turning the motor slowly. the points can be adjusted now,
hope that helps

[satashooter71]

that does help, thanks!

[fordman]

you have to hold onto the dist points when settign them. soemtimes the screw will turn the points closed when you tighten them down.

[satashooter71]

i noticed that when i didn't push them down, when i tighten them they moved, i have noticed my coil is getting real hot and i haven't even got the motor running yet, still trying to set the points and work on the timing, any ideas?

[fordman]

sometimes the coils will get hot and stop working. have you checked for spark out of the coil?

[m-mman]

The electricty flows from the key THROUGH the coil to the distributor trying to reach ground through the points. IF electricty is flowing without the engine running (is your key truned on?) then the coil BECOMES an electric heater. (bunch of wires wrapped around an iron core)

The key should be OFF when changing/adjusting the points.

The timing is set AFTER the points are adjusted by using a timing light. Do you have one and know how to use it?

[satashooter71]

don't have a timing light but can borrow one, never used one

[m-mman]

Timing is the relationship between when the spark jumps the gap in relationship to the position of the piston when it is moving up and down.

Ideally the spark will occur at maximum compression the moment the piston has hit the top if the compression stroke.

Unfortunately the real world does not function this way. It takes a moment for the air/fuel mixture to ignite and burn and force the piston down. This means that as the engine is running the spark needs to actually occur slightly AHEAD of the piston as it moves up on the compression stroke. This means that there is a need to be able to adjust and set exactly when this happens.

The piston is operated by the crankshaft - the distributor by the camshaft. Checking the relationship between the two on an engine while it is running is accomplished with a timing light.

There are many exceptions and variations to what I am about to say, but in simple terms;
On the front of the engine is a pulley with a mark on it. (Commonly a notch sometimes a bump) Located near the pulley but bolted to the front cover, is a scale with lines and numbers on it. When the notch is lined up with the scale it tells you the relationship between the #1 piston and how far it is from the exact top of its stroke. (measured in degrees of crankshaft rotation. The scale commonly starts with a zero “0” and counts up to “15” or “20”.

If you look down at the pulley and crank the engine over slowly until the notch is exactly lined up with the “0” then the #1 piston is at Top Dead Center (TDC) Nudge the crank a little and you can align the notch with any other number and the piston will be that many degrees before TDC (BTDC).

NOTES:
Sometimes ADC (After Dead Center or ATDC) is on the scale. 5 - 10 - 0 - 5 - 10 - 15 - 20
It should also be noted that the notch actually lines up with the timing numbers twice as the crankshaft rotates. Once at TDC and once at the top of the exhaust stroke, but that is not the topic of this article.

A timing light is a strobe light that flashes every time it senses a spark traveling through a plug wire. All timing is set using the #1 piston and plug wire. Modern timing lights take power from the battery and sense the electricity by clipping over the plug wire. Old timing lights connected between the plug wire and the spark plug

As the engine is running the light flashes every time the #1 plug fires. Shine the strobe light at the moving parts of the engine (crank pulley, fan, alternator, etc) and they will APPEAR to stand still. (kinda neat to watch actually)

Shine the light at the crank pulley and the timing marks on the front of the engine and the notch on the front pulley will appear to stand still next to the timing mark numbers. This will tell you where the spark is coming in relation to piston movement. Loosen the distributor hold down and twist it slightly one direction or another and you will see the notch move in relation to the timing marks. Line up the marks with the specifications and the timing is then properly set.

[satashooter71]

thanks so much