[Ed in Maine]

I had a hard starting problem just last month. The spark was weak or intermittent. Occasionally it would back fire. I purchased a new coil, the "flame thrower" by Petronix. The spark seemed better but still had difficulty starting sometimes. I am using the new upper plate by Nurex and have the condenser mounted on the firewall. I did have 6v right up to the points with the ignition ON with a piece of paper between the points. So new coil, new condenser with cleaned points and 6V available at the points. What is the problem?? On a hunch I opened the fuse and checked the continuity across just the closed points. There was a high resistance or open circuit across the points. The points were definitely off of the cam and closed but no continuity. This was the problem but why? I found that when the block on the points wear, the points can be ever so slightly held apart by the mounting screw opposite the contact end of the points. As I was adjusting the point gap, I could see that the mounting screw was moving into the edge of the elongated hole on the end of the points which was binding up the movement of the points. I took a Dremel Tool and ground the edge of the elongated hole on the points to give a freer movement for the point adjustment. I rechecked the continuity across the points and now the resistance was zero ohms. Problem solved.

I think the tapped hole in the upper plate for securing the points is slightly off because it doesn't take to many miles of driving to wear the points block and create interference during the adjustment of the point gap. Lkitchens, have you checked the resistance across your points when they are closed? Ed