Timing gahh

[principal282]

Today, I went out to the shop with great confidence. I was in possession of an old school dwell meter, old inductive timing light. The works. So I start er up not too bad, the dwell was cranked at like 30-40. I try to adjust the top points,’got close to 11 on my v8 meter (22.5 for 4 cylinder should be a shade over 11) sputter sputter. Then like a complete Moron, I reach for something to pull my fat you know what off the ground, yeah, sizzzzz. So I burned my hand. Lots of choice words, water, water, rest, and three hours later I hit it again.

I followed procedures by the literal book. Points gapped to .014. Having a bit of a hard time making the continuity light go off at just the right time. I’ll keep studying.

 

[gggGary]

I wouldn't worry about the dwell gap is the spec 12 to 16 in that range is fine.
It's got two sets of points, so it's two singles, the points cam has only one bump. Dwell is PLENTY long.
get close with a continuity light then switch to the inductive timing light. With points some timing wander happens. Cam chain tension set?

 

[principal282]

I wouldn't worry about the dwell gap is the spec 12 to 16 in that range is fine.
It's got two sets of points, so it's two singles, the points cam has only one bump. Dwell is PLENTY long.
get close with a continuity light then switch to the inductive timing light. With points some timing wander happens. Cam chain tension set?

Yes to spec only about 4100 miles on it too

 

[5twins]

The dwell IS the gap. No need for feeler gauges with a dwell meter. Basically, you're dealing with two separate little ignition systems, one for each cylinder. I like to match the dwell (points gap) AND the firing point (right side of the range) between cylinders. Matching the dwell (points gap) isn't too hard, but matching the firing points can be a chore, lol. But once it's done, as the points wear (and close up usually) and the dwell changes, putting it back to spec usually puts the timing back as well, no need to mess with that.

 

[principal282]

Like everything, come back next day it’s better. I got it set statically dead on. But today I started with verifying can chain tight (it was), verify point gap, used a long breaker bar for better control. Knew what screws to crack oh so slightly. BEEEEEP . Setting valves and syncing carbs after supper. Thank you all

 

[principal282]

I EVEN GOT THE VALVES SET. I used Mr miyagi trick to make a tappet wrench filed out a 4 mm square in an old Allen wrench