Points Gap on chevy distributor

[PeteVS]

That Chevy distributor has the possibility to set the dwell with the engine running. That is if you have a dwell meter. Set the dwell and THEN set the timing
I have a couple of those distributors and I've found that if you leave them for any appreciable time, the contacts oxidize and I get no spark. I've converted a couple to transistorized. Seems that the off shore repros are no where near what the OEMs were.

[40cpe]

Originally Posted by PeteVS

I have a couple of those distributors and I've found that if you leave them for any appreciable time, the contacts oxidize and I get no spark. I've converted a couple to transistorized.

I agree ^. After fighting bad points and condensers, I put a pertronix ignitor III in mine. I read of the bolt-on ring loosing magnets in the other Pertronix units and the ignitor III is lobe sensing. The engine ran so much better than with even new points. It is a little spendy, but so are points and condensers these days.

[V8 Bob]

The target dwell for an 8BA is 27 degrees, while the Chevy dwell is 30. Set the dwell first before adjusting the initial timing, as dwell/point gap directly affects timing.