Setting Points

When you set your timing, you have to have the #1 piston on the compression stroke. Since the engine is a four stroke, the timing mark is in the same position during the exhaust stroke also. Hold your thumb over the #1 spark plug hole and you'll feel the compression pressure on the compression stroke. then crank the engine by hand to get it to the proper position. Then with the points set properly, put the cap & rotor on the distributor, put a paper clip or a bent wire in the #1 spark plug boot and hold it near good ground. Turn on the ignition switch, loosed the distributor hold down and slightly rotate the distributor until you hear the spark snap. At that point, you engine is statically timed. You'll have to do it few timies to get it right, then carefully tighten down the hold down, not allowing the distributor to move.

Rotate your engine by hand until the points are at the most open position (at the high end of the cam in the distributor). Set your points to specification. This completes the point settings.

Now if you want to correctly time your engine, hand rotate the engine to the correct timing park (which I presume is the 7* you mention). This is the position where the points JUST OPEN. To check this, you can check it with an ohm meter or a volt meter at the connection between the coil and distributor... If incorrect, loosen the rotation adjustment bolt on the distributor and rotate the distributor to exactly the point where the point just OPEN. This is the point where the spark develops...

By the way, it is not surprising that .008 works when setting at 7*.. infact it should be very small (less than .001) at this point..

Hope this helps..

Jim

Adjusting points? Faulty condenser?

Why bother?

This is the distributor on my 1953 TEA20. Best investment I ever made!