Still missing

I think the days of filing down points are long past. Taking a file or sandpaper to a set of points only grinds the tough plating right off the points surface and they burn up again in short order (maybe even within 4 hours).

About the only thing you can do to points now is burnish them. I've had good luck with a clean (as in CLEAN) white vellum business card. Run that sucker back and forth between closed points until the card comes out clean. Keep turning the card to a clean spot while burnishing.

If the points tear up the card surface with only a couple of passes, it might be time to replace that condensor along with the points. A sharp tip forms on either the ground side or the coil side of the points if the condensor capacity is too large or small (ie. going bad). A pronounced tip, replace the condensor and the points.

Hope this helps.

Forgot that very important point.

JerryU

being a tinkerer at heart, I just installed a Vellman electronic ignition (well kind of) kit from Radio Shack. It utilizes the points to fire a transistor circuit which fires the coil. No condensor, and no high current to the points. You do need to run two wires out of the distributor which is really not a problem. A plus is that if the module conks out you can disconnect it externally and wire in the condensor externally and be back in business in a number of minutes.

Now....I just finished it. The tractor runs, my son has used it to move a brush pile, but have no real operating time on it. Plan on bush hogging the four acres in another week or two, so at least I will have a couple of hours on it.

Will post anything that I discover.

JerryU