Ignition Checkout - Part 4 - 02/07/2015

The day has finally arrived to replace the old ignition parts of unknown age and variety.



Accel 32oz performance points are the only ones I ever hear being recommended by the various professionl distributor builders and engine rebuilders, so I went with them. And since the Accel cap and rotor have copper terminals and aren't much more expensive than the generic cheap ones from the parts store, I went with them too.



Remove the old cracked cap. #1 spark plug wire is removed for reference to avoid having to re-do the timing to get it to fire.



Old parts. The second wire near the points wasn't actually connected to anything, it was just laying loose. This was the condenser wire.



The ever trusty book of matches used to set the rough gap for starting.



New on left, old on right. Lots more wear on the old one.



New capacitor is installed. Almost dropped the screw but got lucky I didn't!



The points come with a tube of grease and a felt cover. The instructions say to grease the cam and the other side of the felt, then apply it to the cam to prevent wear. Warranty void if not done and all that. I have never see a greased set of points but did it anyways!



New points are all installed in the distributor.



New rotor is installed as well.



New cap is put on and adjustment tool in place to adjust dwell when it starts.



New spark plugs! All gapped correctly to 0.040".



New spark plug wires are ready for install as well.



Number 1 is marked right away to prevent any stupid mistakes.



All done and ready to go!



Now we get our dwell meter and test everything out.



Dwell ends up being set right at 30 degrees per the books.

Engine starts up and responds very effectively now. No more hesitation or popping or misfiring. Drove it 40 miles afterwards and everything seems great!

Return to 1973 Grand Safari

Last updated February 8th, 2015