electrical and ignition Points Adjustmen

[AustrianVespaGuy]

Hi ATD,  here's my opinion FWIW.  Depending on your budget, I'd invest in the following and in this order:

 

1.) New Condenser.  In my experience they tend to be more finicky than points and of course not adjustable, just replace regularly.

2.) Feeler gauges to make sure you get your gap set properly.

3.) New points if yours are old/pitted/suspect.

4.) Do check the choke to make sure that's not your problem, twas a good suggestion from Path88

5.) New Bosch Blue Coil.  My personal favorite, throws a great spark and doesn't need ballast resistors and crap like that, just plug-n-play.

6.) A timing light if you don't have one.  You can even hook one up just to see if you're getting good spark firings while cranking just to make sure your ignition system is in good working order before you even start looking at setting the timing itself.

7.) New plugs/wires (if old/suspect).

8.) Check/adjust the timing.

9.) If you're still not having much luck after all of this, PM me and we'll go into more depth on some of the finer points on compression and fuel delivery.

 

Hope this helps!

 

-Carl

[Hans]

Until you've gained some experience, I'd be inclined to start with a dwell meter and timing light to get it set properly. Then you can develop an ear. Too much advance is not a good ides, even thought the engine may sound "good".

[jimk]

Thing to ponder is that it may sound good at an idle, but may not be at all good under power.  The distr curve is what you get when speed picks up.  That's why the timing is done as some speed to rule out the slop, stickyness, etc.

[jgerock]

There are different types of points and condensers for the M10 engine.  Carefully examine your existing parts to ensure the proper new ones are purchased.   Some condensers will have a square plug - others will have a round plug.  Some have the mounting "ear" on different sides of the barrel that could interfere with the distributor cap hold-down clip.

 

IMO, adjusting points is pretty easy. The difficult part is when you remove the distributor from the engine to replace/service any distributor-related parts.  The notch in the points base is used to allow a screwdriver to move the base.