Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I have read a lot of comments about burning up your points. What do burnt points look like? Are they pitted? Are they black? Are they stuck together? What causes points to burn up? Thanks for your time.
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Bruce (VA)
Well-known Member
Usually they will have pits on one side & raised areas on the others. Sometimes they just wear unevenly. They will most always discolor as they have a coating on the surface. The usual causes of burned points are condenser failure, a decreasing gap caused by wear on the rubbing block, mis-alignment, sanding w/ a point file, excessive current, setting an incorrect gap, leaving the ignition key on w/ the points closed & poor quality metal. I've heard of points being welded shut, but I've never seen it happen.
Buy good quality points & condenser, set the gap correctly w/ a clean feeler gauge, use the cam lube, make sure they align correctly, turn the key off & have correct current to the points. My last set in my 1950 frontmount lasted one month short of 4 years. And, if you ever use a point file, plan on replacing the points very soon afterwards.
50 Tips
Buy good quality points & condenser, set the gap correctly w/ a clean feeler gauge, use the cam lube, make sure they align correctly, turn the key off & have correct current to the points. My last set in my 1950 frontmount lasted one month short of 4 years. And, if you ever use a point file, plan on replacing the points very soon afterwards.
50 Tips
(quoted from post at 08:10:21 06/17/08) Usually they will have pits on one side & raised areas on the others. Sometimes they just wear unevenly. They will most always discolor as they have a coating on the surface. The usual causes of burned points are condenser failure, a decreasing gap caused by wear on the rubbing block, mis-alignment, sanding w/ a point file, excessive current, setting an incorrect gap, leaving the ignition key on w/ the points closed & poor quality metal. I've heard of points being welded shut, but I've never seen it happen.
Buy good quality points & condenser, set the gap correctly w/ a clean feeler gauge, use the cam lube, make sure they align correctly, turn the key off & have correct current to the points. My last set in my 1950 frontmount lasted one month short of 4 years. And, if you ever use a point file, plan on replacing the points very soon afterwards.
50 Tips
Bruce, the worst set I ever saw (and it was still running!) had both contacts welded together on stationary side, but the moving steel arm with rubbing block was still opening and closing against the welded pair.
I have to share a story about burned points. Not on my 8n but on my bride's '73 Ford Maverick over thirty years ago. We'd only been married a few months and drove down to Houston on Easter Weekend (1975) to see her parents.
On Easter Sunday afternoon, we were leaving Houston on our way home. The car suddenly died right on the mixmaster of I-610 and I-45.
I coasted over to what little shoulder there was. Traffic was zooming by us. I raised the hood, hoping that the coil wire had popped off because that was the only thing I knew I could fix!
We weren't there two minutes when an old beatup pickup truck pulled in behind us. The driver looked old and beatup, too. I told him my problem. In about ten seconds he decided it was the points. He said "I think I have just the thing." He reached in the tool box in the back of his pickup and came back with a set of points. He said "about 20 minutes ago I finished tuning up my little sister's Pinto. These points ought to work." He stuck them in. The car fired right up.
He wouldn't take a penny for his time or the points. Ten minutes after our breakdown we were headed north toward Dallas and never had another problem with that car, ever.
Someone was watching over us that day. What were the odds that someone would actually stop to help, let alone have exactly what was needed to fix the car??
[/i]
On Easter Sunday afternoon, we were leaving Houston on our way home. The car suddenly died right on the mixmaster of I-610 and I-45.
I coasted over to what little shoulder there was. Traffic was zooming by us. I raised the hood, hoping that the coil wire had popped off because that was the only thing I knew I could fix!
We weren't there two minutes when an old beatup pickup truck pulled in behind us. The driver looked old and beatup, too. I told him my problem. In about ten seconds he decided it was the points. He said "I think I have just the thing." He reached in the tool box in the back of his pickup and came back with a set of points. He said "about 20 minutes ago I finished tuning up my little sister's Pinto. These points ought to work." He stuck them in. The car fired right up.
He wouldn't take a penny for his time or the points. Ten minutes after our breakdown we were headed north toward Dallas and never had another problem with that car, ever.
Someone was watching over us that day. What were the odds that someone would actually stop to help, let alone have exactly what was needed to fix the car??
[/i]
(quoted from post at 11:09:19 06/17/08)
Someone was watching over us that day. What were the odds that someone would actually stop to help, let alone have exactly what was needed to fix the car??
[/i]
Don't ever let anyone convince you that guardian angels don't exist.
I am sure that they do.
Bob........burned points are the natural result of OPENING an electrical circuit. (turn OFF) Them speedy electrons don't wannna STOP so they ARC-SPARK across the gap. The ARC is so HOT it vaporizes the metal of the contacts and depending upon the "polarity" will deposit the vaporized metal on one-side-tuther. Even yer house lite switch "arcs" and wears. But automotive points open'n'close thousands times a minute they just wear out faster than yer house lite switch. Isn't that amazing?
The condenser is an electrical "trick" to try and suppress the ARC-SPARK of the points opening. It does a pretty good job of it when matched to the ignition coil. Ignition points without a condenser will BURN-OUT in about 1-hr. So you can see the importance of the condenser for long point life. Surprizingly enuff, condensers don't wearout, yet are routinely replaced with the points. BAD condensers will BURN yer points.
The important thing to understand about points and "burning" is it creates a surface resistance that reduces yer sparkies and eventually cause hard starting and poor running. Yes, as an EMERGENCY measure, you can file or sand the points to gitt started but they won't last very long.
I once let the points on my hot-rod BMW 2002 go for 50,000-miles but I also had an electronics ignition and 12-volts. Still could pull 7500rpms but the bakelite rubbing block was slap-dap worn to the nubbins.........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister
The condenser is an electrical "trick" to try and suppress the ARC-SPARK of the points opening. It does a pretty good job of it when matched to the ignition coil. Ignition points without a condenser will BURN-OUT in about 1-hr. So you can see the importance of the condenser for long point life. Surprizingly enuff, condensers don't wearout, yet are routinely replaced with the points. BAD condensers will BURN yer points.
The important thing to understand about points and "burning" is it creates a surface resistance that reduces yer sparkies and eventually cause hard starting and poor running. Yes, as an EMERGENCY measure, you can file or sand the points to gitt started but they won't last very long.
I once let the points on my hot-rod BMW 2002 go for 50,000-miles but I also had an electronics ignition and 12-volts. Still could pull 7500rpms but the bakelite rubbing block was slap-dap worn to the nubbins.........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister
I used to be so cheap, I never bought points till they couldn't be made to work any more. Carried something like 400 grit and could get over 1k miles between sandings.
One thing I noticed was that wider gap ran ok at slow speeds but not high. Just the opposite for too close, if it ran ok, but was hard to start they were too close, usual situation. I got to setting the points a bit wide. Then when the protrusion grew a little, it actually ran better for a while.
One thing I noticed was that wider gap ran ok at slow speeds but not high. Just the opposite for too close, if it ran ok, but was hard to start they were too close, usual situation. I got to setting the points a bit wide. Then when the protrusion grew a little, it actually ran better for a while.
Bruce (VA)
Well-known Member
I'd love to know the brand name of those points! I went through a set in about 40 hours of run time on one of my N's before I just paid the big $$$ for Bluestreak NAPA points. No problem since!
Bruce,
They were on the family Pontiac and given my Dad's parts buying habits, they were probably BlueStreak, StandardParts, or Delco. Too much water under the bridge since then for me to do better than that, but one thing you can probably bank on.....in the early 1960's.........Made in America.
They were on the family Pontiac and given my Dad's parts buying habits, they were probably BlueStreak, StandardParts, or Delco. Too much water under the bridge since then for me to do better than that, but one thing you can probably bank on.....in the early 1960's.........Made in America.
WHAT ARE BURNT POINTS?
Burnt points are a problem of the Old World, you know, back when there were dirt roads.
Burnt points were a basterd of society, they may keep you from getting to Church, or to the grocery store, or maybe stop *dead still* ones progress on growing a living, especially if one didn't know to pull the front mount off to fixem, and tried the ole fixem on it, with the mirror trick.
Burnt points WERE, a way of life, in the Old World, that we USED to live in.
We have some fancy stuff nowdays, caddilack converters, and oxygen sensors, and computers that seldom let us down.
But let someone (Iran, China?) unleash a EMF nuke, and see what will still run, and what won't.
Burnt points are a problem of the Old World, you know, back when there were dirt roads.
Burnt points were a basterd of society, they may keep you from getting to Church, or to the grocery store, or maybe stop *dead still* ones progress on growing a living, especially if one didn't know to pull the front mount off to fixem, and tried the ole fixem on it, with the mirror trick.
Burnt points WERE, a way of life, in the Old World, that we USED to live in.
We have some fancy stuff nowdays, caddilack converters, and oxygen sensors, and computers that seldom let us down.
But let someone (Iran, China?) unleash a EMF nuke, and see what will still run, and what won't.
No argument here on that one. I have taken care of rental properties for years and being a natch'ral pack rat, used to have all sorts of junk in my shop that tenants left behind.
One January back in the 80s, a car pulled into my driveway. Young couple on their way to the PA Farm Show, had a tire going down on I-81 (about three miles from my place was the exit they got off at).
They were hobbling in the road I live on looking for a gas station when the tire gave up the ghost. Went out to see what was up, got the story. They'd just bought a used Chevy Nova (mid 70s), discovered there was no spare in the trunk.
Told 'em not a problem because I had a mounted tire down in the shop that some tenant had left behind, pretty sure it was from the Nova they once had.
Rolled 'er up, got my floor jack out and we put it on, fit like a glove. Guy said how much, told him it didn't cost me a dime. They said thanks, told them to thank the knucklehead that left it behind...he was the real "hero" in this deal. ;O)
One January back in the 80s, a car pulled into my driveway. Young couple on their way to the PA Farm Show, had a tire going down on I-81 (about three miles from my place was the exit they got off at).
They were hobbling in the road I live on looking for a gas station when the tire gave up the ghost. Went out to see what was up, got the story. They'd just bought a used Chevy Nova (mid 70s), discovered there was no spare in the trunk.
Told 'em not a problem because I had a mounted tire down in the shop that some tenant had left behind, pretty sure it was from the Nova they once had.
Rolled 'er up, got my floor jack out and we put it on, fit like a glove. Guy said how much, told him it didn't cost me a dime. They said thanks, told them to thank the knucklehead that left it behind...he was the real "hero" in this deal. ;O)
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