a.johansson84

How much should Ignition Breaker be open?
In the old Volvo cars they used to say about 0.4-0.5 millimeters (about 0.016 ").is it the same on old 318 engines? (This is the engine in my Dodge Pioneer, 1961)

Mr.4spd

Just enough to fit a paper matchstick in. I've never measured one though.

a.johansson84

thanks for the reply.
Will order new breaker and condenser tomorrow .. My Dodge just died yesterday for me and there was not a spark on the sparkplug. Then I saw that the breaker was exhausted, there was not a single pin left on the rocker arm.
The car has ignition failure on and off for a while. Suspect breaker has been poor for long time.

Mr.4spd

Hope it works out for you, good luck.

pro-tech

The best way to do it is with a dwell meter.. But if you don't have one... .017" is a good place to set it... Never have been fond of the matchbook trick... It is the thickness of the matchbook not the matchstick just for correction...Bill

moe7404

i think most mopar V8 s chrysler calls out .017". i have found if very carefully make sure that the points are flat to each other, this is VERY important. and use a small .015" feeler. let the points trap the feeler. then put the shafts tang in a vice. so the body rotates freely. then adjust the points so the feeler falls through ONLY on the two highest lobes. only when turning the body VERY slow. at a a medium speed the feeler does NOT fall. on the duel point dist of the late 60s i would set them like i said and the dwell angle would come out at 42 degrees on the nose. EVERY time. a smaller feeler to get more dwell will NOT work. dont try.

440roadrunner

Set them with dwell and NO OTHER WAY. You have access to a friend with an ocilloscope? You can set them with that. This does not have to be a special automotive scope. It can be a general purpose test bench scope. You can calculate dwell by percentage of the waveform. Nominal 30 degrees dwell for a single points V8. Set them a touch wider to allow for wear - in, and apply a tiny bit of lube to the "approach" side of the rubbing block.

If you use a scope, each points cam is 45 degrees. The dwell is 30, which is about 2/3 so the points should be open 1/3 of the time.

a.johansson84

Have do i know if i have chrysler or IBP Distributor??

moe7404

if i remember right the high performance dual point dist in the 60s was cast iron houseing, and single points was aluminium housing. and most if not all of the chrysler , hemis in the 50s was dual point all so. and many others in the 50s was dual point but not all. i think. i just happen to have a Max Wedge stage 2 dist. it has NO vac advance. I.E. points plate is bolted solid to housing. on any dist plate that moves to get vac advance i would put a wire and take it to a ground. i got better spark, and the points lasted longer.

440roadrunner

Pretty much agree..........So far as I know all Chrysler built distributors are single point and aluminum body.

moe7404

i remember the aluminum single point dist the dwell angle would droop off a lot with a lot of RPM. never found a fix. even with good bushings. but could do 130 MPH with one. in a 300 L

RacerHog

Let use know how you come out A.J. ?????

Moe... For some of the Higher RPM stuff, WE use to install the old fabric washers between the stand and the point spring lever. Or what I would call the ignition feed nut. A lot of my buddies wear trying to figure out how AI was getting the Standard points to work so well...lol The only problem was, Man would it wear the points block out....
Anyhow... Worked great on the old 64 New Yorker with the 413 C.I. and also My 1967 Dodge Monico 383 C.I. along with all My 331 & 392 Dist.
Did a Boat load of Chevys and Fords Also... Spun up real nice on the old Dist Machine....

http://www.arruzzahighperformance.co...shop/dist1.jpg

moe7404

thats good idea bob. i just slid the spring as far as it would go. but never measured the spring pressure. the factory does have spring pressure specs. my 1967 coronet manual shows most arm spring pressure to be 17-20 OZ. but the 426 hemi at 17-21.5 OZ

a.johansson84

I have ordered a breaker from a U.S. auto parts dealer here in Sweden, just waiting for it to come in the mail. Then I get to see if the car starts when I mounted it.

RacerHog

Will Help you as much as we can....

moe7404

hay racer did you know that for 60s hemi chrysler had a spec points with small contact point? to reduce the weight to improve point bounce trouble. back then they was $10. ea. i have only seen pics of. NEW subject: some where i have a Motorola transistor ignition made for chrysler. i think it was called Hot Coil System or something like that. have you seen one? i have some at the drags in Tulsa in the late 60s.

allcollectorcars

agree with pro-tech. best of luck!

a.johansson84

Now I have changed the breaker points. Now the car runs like a dream. no shooting when I run with kickdown, etc.

RacerHog

Good Deal A.J.

Moe... Not that I recall.... I have looked at a lot of cars here in SO-CAL Thou..