Changing Points
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,387
Likes: 123
From: CA.
Changing Points
havnt done this in 30 years. i want to change them in my 454. i know you got to get to high spot on dist. and adjust but i cant get a gage in to reach points. how do i adjust and what is hex screw for? maybe to adjust?
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 19,610
Likes: 778
From: Forked River NJ
The best way is with a dwell meter. I'll bet not to many of the young guys here have seen one. With a dwell meter you adjust the hex screw while the car is running and the dwell meter hooked up. To get them close the rotor should have a little bit of movement due to the centrifical advance. You can rotate the rotor slightly to get to the high spot and get your feeler gauges in there. Once you have it close hook up the dwell meter and adjust the dwell with the window open in the dist cap and adjsut the hex screw.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,547
Likes: 12
From: Carbondale Pa.
Wow, is this taking me back. It usta be that fresh from the box the points were set close enough to start the car and once it was running you'd use a dwell meter to precisely set them to 30*( I think, is the setting). Dont forget to lube the rubbing block, IMPORTANT. Good luck, Peace,,, Moosie 
Last edited by moosie982; Mar 1, 2008 at 01:48 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,681
Likes: 200
From: Waterford Mi
We use to set the pints gap with a feeler gage to 0.015" (or a match book cover). Then start the motor and adjust with a dwell meter to 30-31*.
Since Lars set mine up a few years ago I have not had to adjust them again. I check them every spring.
I found my dwell meter at a garage sale back in 1996. It is a craftsman and still works.
The other thing you could do is replace the points with one of these: points replacement
Since Lars set mine up a few years ago I have not had to adjust them again. I check them every spring.
I found my dwell meter at a garage sale back in 1996. It is a craftsman and still works.
The other thing you could do is replace the points with one of these: points replacement
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,161
Likes: 280
From: Springfield MA
St. Jude Donor '10-'11-'12, '19, '21
WOW! does this take me back. I haven't done this in 30 years. We use to put the points in, start the car, adjust (with the hex thingy) clock wise untill the car started to drop in idle and then back off (counter clockwise) about 3/4 of a turn. Worked like a charm if you didn't have a dwell meter.
Hope this helps.
Dave
and thanks for the trip down memory lane. LOL
Hope this helps.
Dave
and thanks for the trip down memory lane. LOL
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,097
Likes: 0
From: Olive Branch MS
St. Jude Contributor
Had to do this on my 72 Camaro I bought last year. The top to the box the points come in is very close to the setpoint if you can't get feeler gage in there. Guy at the parts store showed me on a digital micrometer. I was surprised. Get on ebay and find a dwell meter. I got an acutron for about $20. They still sell them new at summit for $40.
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Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
I used to drive Saabs and Alfas in the early 70's and you had to set the dwell with the cap off and the meter bouncing all over the place. Usually the dwell wasn't quite right when the engine ran so you had to go back and do it again. My father bought a 70 Pontiac and I remember being impressed with how easy it was to adjust the dwell with the engine running. The only problem with that car was that the 455 took up so much room that I had to climb on top of the engine to get to the distributor. 
Rick B.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Wow, is this taking me back. It usta be that fresh from the box the points were set close enough to start the car and once it was running you'd use a dwell meter to precisely set them to 30*( I think, is the setting). Dont forget to lube the rubbing block, IMPORTANT. Good luck, Peace,,, Moosie
A set of GM points that are so far wrong the car won't start right out of the box would make me think the points MAY be junk to begin with. After they're in, dwell is 30* and can be adjusted with a 1/8 allen.
And if you set them with a feeler gauge, make sure there's no oil on it. Oil insulates wonderfully.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 14,370
Likes: 6,361
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Buy a set of NAPA points part number CS786 and condenser part number RR175. With the rotor removed, you can get a feeler gauge into the points when the points are on the high (wide open) part of the cam lobe. Adjust the screw (the CS786 points have a slot as well as an allen head, so you can set the gap with a flat screwdriver) so you get .016" clearance intially. Start the engine and fine-adjust so you get 30-31 degrees of dwell (you need to buy a good digital dwell meter - the analog ones are so far off that they're useless). Always set dwell before setting timing since each one degree change in dwell changes timing 1 degree.
The CS786 points are good enough quality that you won't have to change them or worry about dwell for several years. I've had the same set of points in my bracket car for 15 years now. I check the dwell every spring hoping I'll get to adjust something, but they just stay where I set them 15 years ago... darn it.
The CS786 points are good enough quality that you won't have to change them or worry about dwell for several years. I've had the same set of points in my bracket car for 15 years now. I check the dwell every spring hoping I'll get to adjust something, but they just stay where I set them 15 years ago... darn it.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: West Chester OH
2020 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Cruise-In IX Veteran
St. Jude Donor '08 thru '13
You don't need the engine to start to set the dwell. As long as it cranks and you have power to the points you can set the dwell angle with a hex wrench.
The General did it right when he designed this distributor, you can't do it this way with a Mopar or blue oval dizzy.
The General did it right when he designed this distributor, you can't do it this way with a Mopar or blue oval dizzy.
