"New" ignition Points do not work as good as the old ones.

[Jimmie]

I had a mechanic rebuild my carbuerator prior to getting the car on the road. He wanted to adjust it when I got it on the road, so I took it to him and he discovered that the points were in poor shape(I saw them today and they are). I had put over 500 miles on the car prior to today when we finally got our schedules together and he installed a new set of Borg Warner points. When I left, and started down the street, the engine started running really really really rough with some popping sounds out the tailpipe when I wound it up to shift. I took it back to the service center and the timing checked out perfect, the points had not moved, but still it ran fine till I reved it up a little. After checking various things we decided that he should install the old points again. It ran fine and I have put around 40 miles on it on highway and county roads this evening with no problem.

The mechanic showed me the points and the spring on the Borg Warner is very very thin and weak, while the points on the car are the older type with a strong spring. He suspects that since the spring is so weak that it does not work right when the RPM is fast.

I hope to find some points with a stronger spring from one of our vendors, so if someone has a suggestion, please let me know.

Thanks to all who try to help,

[dong]

Have you considered a pertronix unit? I got one from Bill Cathcart for my 51 Champion and am happy so far.

[Jimmie]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sincerely,
Jimmie

[Milaca]

High quality points come with a steel spring that slides over a copper conductor spring (cheaper points rely on the single steel spring for conductivity). Look in the box that the new points came in and you should see an extra part in there (that being the steel spring). The problem with too little tension is that you get ignition point float when the RPM's increase.

[Mike Sal]

You new guys who didn't grow up with points ignitions need to understand that the points are nothing more than a switch. The rest of the system is what makes the whole thing work. When you see points that are in bad condition, it is usually (nothing is 100%, but more often than not) a clue that something else is amiss.

The condenser is the first thing I always look at. In fact, when I find a condenser that runs "neutral" (doesn't cause pitting on either side of the point contacts), I never replace it. I have the same condensor in my 50 champ that I installed 20 years ago.

Lot-o-luck
Mike Sal

[Gunslinger]

Back in the '70s I worked for JC Penney in one of the Auto Centers (long since closed up). All our tune up kits...points, condensers, rotors, Distributor caps, and spark plugs...came in JC Penney named cards and boxes, but were made by Prestolite. We even had the dual points for Avanti's as they also were used in Mopar Hemi's with dual point distributors. They were of excellent quality. I don't remember ever having a problem with them with any we sold or installed.

We even had air filters, oil filters and gasoline filters (made by Champion Labs) that fit late model Studes and Avanti's...mostly due to their being used in other cars but we still had them listed in the application guides.

When Penney's closed all their auto centers all those parts (everything...shocks, exhaust, performance parts, chemicals, care care products, brake and suspension parts...you name it) were marked down to pennies on the dollar to be sold...and what wasn't sold was marked off the books and trashed. We even had brake drums in inventory for early Corvettes!

I coulda bought that stuff for so cheap plus my employee discount on top of that! What I could do on Ebay today with all that stuff! Then again...everyone in the auto centers were about to be laid off and were going to be looking for jobs so we all had pretty bad attitudes towards Penney's at the time.

[SILENTBOB]

The mechanic showed me the points and the spring on the Borg Warner is very very thin and weak, while the points on the car are the older type with a strong spring. He suspects that since the spring is so weak that it does not work right when the RPM is fast.

I hope to find some points with a stronger spring from one of our vendors, so if someone has a suggestion, please let me know.

Thanks to all who try to help,

I have used BW points and the first time I used them I did the same thing I think you did - forgot to insert the spring steel inserts that go with the soft steel piece that is attached to the point. Take a look in the box that the points came in and I think you will find the two spring steel inserts. When they are in place you will have to reset the points and maybe retime the engine.

[Jimmie]

Ignition point float is the term for which I was searching when I posted my problem. I will mention the exstra part to him.

Thank you,