Modern Points

The strange thing to me is I never had any trouble with the mod points that were in it the car the first 2 yrs. After sitting for over 1 yr fixin the old girl up I installed new points and cond and it seemed to run like always. That was in late Feb and have since replaced them twice. The cam seems smooth and clean.
 
Gary Gregory said:
The strange thing to me is I never had any trouble with the mod points that were in it the car the first 2 yrs. After sitting for over 1 yr fixin the old girl up I installed new points and cond and it seemed to run like always. That was in late Feb and have since replaced them twice. The cam seems smooth and clean.
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Gary, you never did specify whether it was the rubbing block wearing abnormally fast or the contacts themselves burning up that are the problem you are having. I'll assume :eek: it is not a rubbing block problem, as that is rather straightforward to correct and you do state the cam is smooth and clean.

Quickly burning or disintegrating points can be a problem caused by mismatched coil inductance (measured in units called Henrys) and arc suppression capacitance (units = Farads) or an excessive current problem. All coils are not created equal, a specific type/part# may vary 10-15% between samples, and different make/part# coils may show a much greater difference. Capacitors are not created equal either, within a specific part# 20% variance is standard.

If, at inspection after a few weeks running, there is any visible change of the mating surfaces from flat toward concave/convex or pointed and cavitated, you have a poor inductance/capacitance match. Changing capacitors is often the first thing tried, but it is important to know that coils do age and suffer minor shorts between adjacent windings that change the inductance without disabling the overall function. You may wish to try a different known good coil.

Internal shorting between primary windings may also result in abnormally high current drain, resulting in points burning up quickly. Again, try a different coil.

Add to all this some coils have split personalities, behaving one way cold, another hot, or sometimes flipping randomly based on vibration.

If you have access to an oscilloscope and understand some electronics you could actually diagnose the specific cause, but most Fordbarners are a bit more shadetree oriented.

My 2c- try a different coil, the old one has probably changed. Often something as seemingly benign as cranking the engine with the coil output lead disconnected and not grounded will cause internal arcing to the primary, damaging it enough to make points burn but not enough to prevent running.
 
Thanks Mike. Yes the contacts themselves are burning. I was wondering about the coil..I'll switch that and see what happens. Thanks again !
 
I haven't had any luck with the points from the two major supply catalogs. The wear bar only lasts a short time. I have tried new cams also thinking the surface was the problem. I went to a modern upper plate and the problem has gone away.
 
Just a wild thought. I have not seen a modern point set yet because I'm up to my but in body restoration. But I think I read somewhere that the cam follower on the modern point set is Delrin for low friction and long wear. But Ii think maybe there is too much heat for plastic followers and they are deforming (collapsing). Could this be? Bill G
 
The rubbing blocks never showed any wear on the ones that I used. Iused the lower plates from Bratton with the longer wire The points would appear to short between the condenser wire to the points and to the dist housing. There would be no visible defect but replaceing the points with a fresh set would cure the problem for a while. This came up a couple of years ago and one of the regular posters told how to correct the defect in the points that cause the problem. I didn't copy the info because I can see no improvement with the modern points and they are hard to set. I can really see no reason to make it harderon myself. If you think about it, the modern points are mounted in a different place on the breaker plate and will probably effect timing.
 
"the modern points are mounted in a different place on the breaker plate and will probably effect timing."

This may be true. I have found that the modern points seem to worker better with about a .016-.018 gap instead of the .018-.022 normal Model A gap.
 
That only stands to reason. The early 28s had the points in a different place on the breaker plate. The best that I remember, the early points adjustment specs were listed as .015 to .018 .

As a seasoned shade tree mechanic, I can make most anything work if I have to. Being as I don't have to, I can see no advantage to useing the modern points and will use the original points that are easy to set and have worked good for me.
 
Just an observation.... I find the term "modern points" to be hysterical! The last time points were used in a production car was nearly 40 years ago. For a while there, the logic behind using modern points in an A was that if you needed to replace them, any corner auto parts store would have them in stock. Are auto parts stores still stocking points, or have they become special order items, thereby wiping out the reason for using them?
 
Gary Gregory said:
Thanks Mike. Yes the contacts themselves are burning. I was wondering about the coil..I'll switch that and see what happens. Thanks again !
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Gary,

Also check the condenser if the points are burning. Another topic, do you lubricate the cam when you replace the points?

Charlie Stephens
 
Will N said:
Just an observation.... I find the term "modern points" to be hysterical! The last time points were used in a production car was nearly 40 years ago. For a while there, the logic behind using modern points in an A was that if you needed to replace them, any corner auto parts store would have them in stock. Are auto parts stores still stocking points, or have they become special order items, thereby wiping out the reason for using them?
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I see nothing hysterical about the term "modern points" They arn't original style...and are more modern than original. They must be called something besides just "points". Yes they can still be bought at some auto parts stores. Matter of fact i just picked a 6volt condenser.
 
Gary Gregory said:
I see nothing hysterical about the term "modern points" They arn't original style...and are more modern than original. They must be called something besides just "points". Yes they can still be bought at some auto parts stores. Matter of fact i just picked a 6volt condenser.
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We could call them what they are Ford V8 points.
 
Gary Gregory said:
I see nothing hysterical about the term "modern points" They arn't original style...and are more modern than original. They must be called something besides just "points". Yes they can still be bought at some auto parts stores. Matter of fact i just picked a 6volt condenser.
Click to expand...

Well, if you don't like modern points, how about jumbo shrimp, or perfectly awful, or toll free, or happily married ;)
 
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