DeTomaso Mailing List: February 1997, Message #75
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Here's more interesting comments from the Nor-Cal Shelby forum that are equally germane to Pantera owners, particularly those still using the dual-point ignition. Mike Drew --------------------- Forwarded message: From: don.wollesen@amd.com Sender: norcal-saac-request@norcal-saac.org Resent-from: norcal-saac@norcal-saac.org To: norcal-saac@trenco.Eng.Sun.COM Date: 97-02-10 12:22:03 EST Sorry guys, I had brain fade and forgot one thing on the "getting ready for your smog check" for your vintage machine. Make sure you have a fresh set of breaker points. If your distributor has no breaker points, you can skip the rest of this. The reason for this is the first thing to go on the breaker points is that they begin to pit, and when they pit, you will occasionally get arc-over on the points themselves, instead of the spark plug ... or at best a weak spark once in awhile. This arc-over on the points gets worse the lower the RPM is. Bottom line, with pitted breaker points, your idle performance suffers first. Therefore, if you want to be sure to pass idle smog specs, make sure you have new (or at least fresh) breaker points. You can check them visually by popping the distributor cap, open them up with a small screwdriver and peer at them. If they're shiny on both surfaces, great. If there is a dull-flat area forming on one or both contact surfaces, it's probably still OK. If there are ANY pits, no matter how small, then change them out. Also ... I like Ford points, not aftermarket points; the breaker contact materials are better (Ford probably knows this and a lot of other people probably don't). Like spark plugs, breaker points (at least used to be) one of those things that flaky aftermarket types love to claim they have a better idea and the major auto manufacturers and spark plug makers are just plain stupid. Yeah, Right. By the way, AutoLite/Motorcraft plugs actually have better center electrode materials than Champion or AC. My bias in this order are AutoLite/Motorcraft, then Champion, then Bosch. As far as Nippon Denso is concerned, I can't say cuz I have never tried 'em. And, Uh, if you have an MSD or other ignition amplifier whose maker claimed breaker point life into perpetuity, it ain't so. The rubbing block wears which retards your timing as the miles go by. The breaker points, themselves, will usually not pit (the reason for perpetuity claims), but some of those guys didn't put ENOUGH current throught the breaker points so they will get a thin coating of oil/carbon/plastic junk build up on them from oil vapor in the distributor cap volume (especially if your distributor shaft seal leaves something to be desired) which will cause some strange ignition behavior. I would recommend changing breaker points at 20K to 30K just on general principals (like the rubbing block wear) with electronic ignitions. And if your distributor cam shaft wobbles, get a new distributor or have somebody put a new bushing in it, as your spark timing from one plug to the next WILL vary all over the place (you won't see this with your timing light on #1). You can check this with your timing light (if it's a decent one) triggered from the coil wire, so it fires every time (you will need timing marks every 90 degrees for V8s) to see this. Note that the rotor does NOT press directly on the distributor shaft; there are TWO plain bearings of concern, the one from the advance mechanism to the distributor shaft and the one between the distributor shaft and the housing. They both have to be good, but the one to the housing is the one that the oil vapor comes through if it wobbles. Things wear out with time and usage. Hope this helps. Don Wollesen | Distributed by the norcal-saac mailing list. Send submissions | | to norcal-saac@norcal-saac.org, subscribe/unsubscribe | | admin requests to norcal-saac-request@norcal-saac.org. |