[greensmurf20]

hi everybody, i know its best to upgrade to electronic ignition, and that and a weber is what i plan on, my weber went to hell and i only have 200 bucks right now, and thats gotta last me until june, so no electronic ignition as of yet. i just bought new points and condenser from OGTS, and i can't get the dwell set over 35, no matter what i do. any suggestions? coil maybe?

Problem #2: the point gap never stays the same. i set the points as high as i can get them, and then about every 50-60 miles, the car starts running shitty and within 5-10 more miles, it's sure to die, and its always because the points "close up". same problem with 2 distributors, and 3 sets of points, and i know the screw must be tight enough, tight as i dare to tighten it without stripping the head. getting frustrated braking down everyday. thanks in advance for tips, help, solutions or any pennies you can throw at me.

 

[Dmcbrass]

Jared,
Are you sure that your dwell meter is reading correctly? Is it set for 4cyl? Have you checked the point gap to confirm the 35. .018 should equal a dwell of 50. You mentioned that you have had two different distributors in the car, is it possible that both have worn shaft bearings. i.e. loose distributor shaft. You can check for this by making sure that the dwell doesn't vary from idle speed to 3500 RPM by over 3 degrees. When you have to reset the points, is the fiber block worn?
Just some ideas.
Doug

 

[bear]

Jared, I know this may sound dumb, but did you lube the cam lobes in the distributor where the point block rides? It seems that the points are closing way too soon after putting them in and having to reset them so often. JMTCW.

Ron

 

[Old Hippie]

Jared, Ron and Jared make excellent points about std. distributors. A light coat of the white lithium grease on the eccentric is needed for a smooth flow-over. Take the dwell plate off one of your units and clamp it into a padded (or smooth face) vise. Wiggle the rotor end sideways and in/out, watching for the slightest of side play. If you don't like what you see, take it apart and find new bearings at the local auto or bearing house. Some units in the past, talking other car makers here, had problems with bearings. Can't say for positive about the Opel. Oh! don't forget to check the wire conditions on the + coil post and the coil > dist.
My 2c's.

 

[nobody]

I've seen this one before. Had an Opel that did the exact same thing. It turned out that the "mechanic" that had been working on it had in essence polished the breaker plate by fussing with it so much. From then on you could count on setting the points every 100 miles or so. I finally found it by changing the only part I had for the distributor.. the breaker plate. After that I changed the points everytime I put the motor in another car.

 

[First opel 1981]

Cam lube!!!!

Killed me the first time I forgot to use it. I was 16 and dumb as a stump. DROVE ME NUTS!!!!

 

[greensmurf20]

the dwell meter was different from what i normally use, and long story short i missed fine print on the dwell meter, and i was setting it at double what i thought it was, which caused my points to get hot and die all the time......got it straightened out now, runs great, i did lube the distributor shaft, i killed myself trying to figure out why point gap kept closing up already. hopefully the points wil stay set, been fine for a little while now, but we'll see.

 

[greensmurf20]

with the dwell WEAKENED to the correct setting, i havent been breaking down any longer!! A full 100 miles today without problems, except for those people that love to tailgate the smallest car with the biggest SUV they can find, actually thought one mini-van was gonna hit me!!!