Thanks guys for giving me some things to chew on...Bubba, the measured voltage (from coil + to ground)with the engine not running was 5.63 volts... after I ran the engine a few min (where I did the 10 volt measurement) the voltage at the coil was about 6.3 volts....I do recall measuring the ohms on the ballast when I put it in, but do not recall the value.... Regarding my wire from the coil to the distribuor, The wire was broken out of the distributor about 3 or 4 inches sticking out. My coil is on the inside firewall so I ran the coil wire thru the wall and out to the short stub on the dizzy....I know that this is not a resistor wire as I used just regular stranded wire for this connection..... With the 1.4 ohm coil and the 1.6 ohm resistor they should be a good match... question is, does the resistor actually test out to 1.6 ohms? that I do not know...yet...When I got this ballast the reason I selected it was because of the 1.6 stated value.. some of the others were listed as 0.5 to 1.5 ohms... don't know if I possibly bought the wrong one? The new points/Cond were some ones I bought quite a number of years ago.. they are Wells brand heavy duty and i recall them being of better quality....
Do you have the wire from the starter to coil that gives a full 12 volts when cranking? Is it possible you are feeding 12 volts from the starter to the coil all the time and essentially eliminating the ballast resistor?
So I went out and got some of the numbers Bubba was looking for and here is what I came up with...I'm no electrical genius, so bear with me if I make a mistake... Engine off: one end of ballast to the other was 6.61 volts Engine off: coil positive to negative was 5.47 volts Engine running: (Charging around 14.2 volts) from one end of the ballast to the other was 4.40 volts. Engine running: coil positive to coil negative varied from 3 to 5 volts with some loer and some higher, this was not consistant. Engine running: from coil positive to ground on bulkhead was about 10.2 volts. I have not done an ohm test on the ballast as it will need to be pulled loose to disconnect all the wiring as I assume it would have continuity while wired in? That is where I'm at now... to me things look to be good?
I'm using a diode equipped wire to prevent this from happening. The wire I'm using is from Powermaster.
I missed this last part of your response. I maybe did not note it but the dwell is set currently at 31 deg. this might be a little wide I know.....
My old dixco engine analyzer instructions said point voltage should be one and a half to two volts. Harley
Engine off: one end of ballast to the other was 6.61 volts Engine off: coil positive to negative was 5.47 volts Great ! the drop is 12.08 volts , now go to NAPA and get a set of echlin heavy duty contacts and a new condensor and your problem will be solved. Also check you charging voltage as well....
Replace that old points dist. with an MSD stand alone unit. Put a black cap on it insted of the brown one and it will still look like a points dist. It will solve the problem and bring that engine to life. Trust me I know.
Thanks for everything guys...I will see if the HD points set will do the trick...really going to try and keep this as a points unit as I've always been able to get things to work as they should...... Thanks for all the help and opinions, makes this place great! Tom
You have a nice 327. It's almost the same as the 350 in my Vette. I am also using the small cap Delco points dist with a B26 vacuum can. My distributor has been curved. Mech advance of 19 deg is fully in at 2900. I have the dwell at 30.4, & the initial timing is 17 deg at 700 RPM (with the vacuum advance disconnected). I also have the vacuum advance hooked up to a full-time vac source on the carb, so it pulls in at idle - had to back off the idle screw once the vac advance line was hooked up (I was going to use a B28, but the B26 can is ok). Super responsive & runs great. Total advance at cruise is around 52 degrees I do use a MSD 6al box with it though. The points last much longer with an MSD, & no need to worry about ballast resistors & the bypass wire. I'm also using the Napa HD points as Bubba suggests above
tjet... do you happen to know the part number of the point set you are running? I do know the B28 vac can was a hard one to find (Eichlin has dis-continued it), but I did locate one thru Autozone... usually never go to Autozone, but they did have this can... It really helped at stop signs with the truck in gear, all the lights on and elec. fan on...
I will check the box if I can find it. It was either CS7860 Echlin High Performance, or CS7860C Echlin Racing Only. I also got my B28 Vacuum can thru Autozone, #DV1810. It's going on my new 350 build because I will be installing a big hyd cam. It starts pulling in @ 5" Hg, & fully in around 8". I'm using another delco tach drive distributor with it. These old Delcos are good distributors - way better than most modern aftermarket dists IMO. They also look cool with the old black Pat Pending cap & black 7mm wires. I have a couple of really good distributor tuning articles. PM me your email address if you want a copy. ________________________________________________________________________ Edit: p/n's confirmed - Echlin Heavy Duty Points: CS786, & Echlin condensor: RR175
If all those ideas fail, I'd look to the coil itself. It's secondary voltage may be too high or low. It must also be matched to the condenser because together, they have a resonant frequency range which should be within usage design. I'd try another stock coil.
Hello Rustang! Don't waste another set of points on that machine of yours! What type of ignition switch are you using??? This may sound crazy but you need to separate the starter circuit from the ignition circuit !!!! Some of these newer switches aint switching correctly!!! A buddy of mine had a jet boat that ate up every set of points he stuck in---his pertronix ---got toasted!!!!! He wired that sucker up with all new wire --ignition switch--new ballast resistor--alternator---as per the wiring diagram!!!! POINTS WOULD FRY!!!He would call me from the lake and I would go to napa pick up a new set of points drive out to the lake--- I would disconnect all his wiring--install new points---wired my way without his new switch--I would HOT-WIRE the S.O.B. ---with a ballist resitor of course---I would use a remote starter button---set the points-with a dwell-meter------FIRE THAT MUTHER PUCKER UP---and it would run all day!!!!!He would have fun all day--but he hated that REMOTE STARTER BUTTON--bottom line he would replace the ignition switch with the same Muthe pucker as the last one --TRUST ME---I LIVED THIS NITE-MARE !!!!!!!!!!!
I was taught,in my auto tech classes 50 years ago,that condensers were the most common cause of point burning,and pitting. I remember the teacher telling us,when you are doing a tune up,"if the points are not burned or badly pitted,you have a properly balanced condenser for that system,SAVE IT". Todays condensers are made from different materials,than the old days,and they don't last nearly as long. Echlin is just a brand name that Napa owns. All their parts are made by Standard. I love working on point ignition,but it is almost impossible to find quality parts. Thats why I stopped rebuilding distributers to sell. If I do work on a point distributor,I use NOS parts only.
Thanks again...all good points to ponder....I ran the truck a good amount this weekend, and all seems to be holding for now....I guess time will tell if it will keep on....I think I've done all the tests as I can....I will need to get some of the HD point sets (thanks for the numbers guys).... And it was interesting regarding the switch problems... I do have my start and ingnition separate but do use a push button to start..... We'll see if the problem continues...
A loose distributor shaft will allow oil fumes to rise into the points area & burn them.... is there a oil film on the plate? Also, over lubing the rubbing block causes problems similar.
No, the shaft seemed tight, and there was never any oil up in the distributor.....I hope I may have the problem under control... I've put a couple hundred miles on it on some better points, and everything seems to be holding... for now... Thanks!
If you have 12 volts comming out of your ballast resistor that is whay you are burning points. If you go to autozone or even a real autoparts store you should be able to buy a ballast for the chevy. You should not have more that 9 volts comming out of the down stream side of the resistor. I actually have a couple of GM resistors (stock) that only have 3volts comming out of them. Now once you get that aprt sorted out get yourself a set of Blue Streak points of you intend to run that distributer. They are marketed by NAPA and are an Echlin product. hey will last about forever (compaired to other points).
I did go through everything and all the voltages were pretty much spot on where they needed to be...I changed out the point set and condenser to a HD set that I was able to locate (as rec. by bubba), and all seems good.....snowing here now and I have only about 250 miles on the points, so i will see in the spring once i get more time on it.... Seems to be solved... my guess is just the cheap points and condenser were the issue... Does run good for now though...
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