I fondly remember the times back in the late 60's and early 70's (when you could see the ground between the exhaust manifolds and inner fenders) tuning up my wife's car, and then mine in the driveway on Saturdays. First kiss the dog and pet the missus and tell her I'm going into town, then to the auto parts store to get plugs, points, and condensers, then to the beer store, and then back home for some quality time with the cars and the beer. It was even better when my like minded neighbor came over and we could both get in trouble. I loved those days and miss them dearly.
@John Johnson Like when someone's house needed re-shingling the neighbors all got together. The men worked, the women prepared food & drink and complained about the men and the older kids were made to help and learn something useful. Made a party out of it. No wonder most of today's kids will grow up without practical skills.
@@niemi5858 In my experience the older generations these days refuse to allow any kids under the age of 18 to do any kind of work for them because they're too scared of liability. Especially something like roofing. When I was a kid I'd always try going door to door in my neighborhood asking to shovel snow from their driveways if it was winter or mow lawns if it was summer, just to earn a few bucks. 99% of the time they'd say "No, if you slip & fall on the ice then your parents will sue me and I'll lose everything." or "No, if you accidentally get hurt while mowing then your parents will sue me and I'll lose everything."
When I started out it was using a tach/dwell meter and setting your points, adjusting timing, and adjusting idle mixture.....minor tune...plugs, points, condenser....bigger tune added cap, rotor, and wires if needed...fuel and air filters...maybe a breather element, perhaps a PCV valve....sometimes a carb rebuild. A Chrysler product...better put a spare ballast resistor in the glove box. Where have all the years gone? Uncle Tony's Garage sure brings me back....I sure miss those days. Thanks for keeping it alive Uncle Tony.
Saab Tech oh man... somewhere in time you got Shanghai'd into working on Swedish stuff. Long ago, they don't know the proper end of the engine to install a clutch on. In the later years, they couldn't get the complex central nervous system of FRED's (Fucking Rediculous Electronic Device) to integrate with GM properly. To many moduals, NO factory support for diagnostics. There was a local garage around here that worked on those sweeds for a short time. It was aptly named "A Saab story"
Uncle Tony, excellent video!! The ignition coil, is a step up transformer. ( auto transformer, because the primary/ secondary windings are shared. 3- wire connection.) Transformers do NOT work with D.C. HOWEVER, making connection to a coil / transformer and then breaking connection, and repeating the process, you are creating an A.C. signal. The coil steps up this voltage to fire the plugs.. It's almost the same way they used to get 90V AC in the old 1950's car radios, except they had a device known as a vibrator to create the A.C. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.
Glad to see you have recovered from the stream.The night portion was really good.I hope you will upload the portion with Lamb Chop at night.It was hilarious.Your streams are a breath of fresh air to the automotive cominunity.
My request is everyone ALWAYS include a thank you in their comments. Uncle Tony is literally providing a PhD course to us in classic car theory and practice to us for free in these videos. Thank you, UTG!
New subscriber here, you are a fantastic teacher! Right to the point and easy to understand for those that may be new to the older tech stuff. Love the videos keep up the great work!
Yeah it cracks me up how many have fallen for the Pertronix modules and such because they think they're gaining something. I STILL run points in my car. I check/lube them every other oil change or so(about 8k miles) when I rotate the tires. The last set I had ran 20k miles before I replaced them and even then...they could have gone more but I was already "in" there and so I simply pulled the entire dizzy, viced it, checked the weights/springs etc and installed a new set. Took an ENTIRE 20min or so including break. Whew...exhausting...especially considering the some of the same guys complaining on "how long" it takes to maintain them think nothing of spending that same amount of time every week or so wiping their car down with a diaper and ensuring there are no streaks in their chrome.
I really enjoy these videos Uncle Tony!! I used to replace the lean burn with old points ignition..Cheap at the pick a part style junk yards here..Guys were saying electronic ignition gains power and you feel it..I then bought a new orange box etc..well no difference on the street,just empty pockets(was a19 then)! Sure,when I found electronic ignitions at the junk yard I bought them and used them,but points never had an issue with them! One of my old Charger's still has points as does my '78 Dodge Magnum! **Hope you recovered from the 27 plus hours..You're a good guy! Same with Uncle Kathy,well she is a very good lady! Hope Keno was very happy with your effort,and you should be proud too..Remember people are always wary when giving out cash... Yeah some are cheap or just don't have any extra.. "A" for effort and a "Valiant" one at that!!!
Mate, I always had heard "it could be the points" if the family car was playing up. Never knew what they were until now- i'm 55. God Bless you for these awesome vids. You have a great gift of explaining things. Well done, UT.
"No one does the voodoo like you do", Uncle Tony...Great demonstration and the close-up camera work was excellent. The lighting was good and I could see everything clearly, Uncle Kathy.
Thanks for the excellent description! My Dad always used to have in his car and truck a tool box with all the tools and points, condenser, rotor, cap and plugs to do a tune up along the road if we broke down. That got us going a few times. Poor man, due to being born into a disfunctional family only had a third grade education, but he was wiser and smarter than 99%of the population!
Points ,I'm 36 Tony I have been playing with points and Carbs since around 10 my grandfather thought me how set timing and etc at an early age. There are a few of us young guys still playing with this stuff.
Good for you, you give me hope for the future! I was so poor I didn't have a timing light so we would just power brake with someone leaning over the fender twisting the distributor until it spun the tires the best and didn't knock! The good old days!!! Still don't know how we're still all alive...
@@garyvisser9129 I am a dieing breed of gearhead and on top of that I'm from the City New Haven there are a few of us left still.If it didn't have a V8 keep it.97 I bought a 69 Nova at 14 had all cool cars and Harley Davidsons since.But if you can just let a young kid hear a V8 run maybe it will help them one day.
@@johnnywrench9669 You're absolutely correct on that, the kids are the only ones are going to keep V8s alive! God Bless you and God Bless Uncle Tony!!!
You have the best explanation I have ever heard. And with the demonstrations it drives it home. I've adjusted, replace and set Points so many times. Never had it explained so simply.
The Tiny Little Lighting Bolt... that creates Spark!!! And Movement... Thanks Always Uncle Tony.. Oi oi oi.. great to see ya No Worse for the wear from the Live Mega Stream..
Jesus Christ I needed this. I was told to do a tune-up on my 76 C10, and that involved new "points". Well, me being a completely clueless new school gearhead had no idea what that meant. This was perfectly timed, and I am looking forward to the rest of the videos. I get paid Friday, so I might do the tuneup then if the student loans don't suckle me dry haha.
Good basic description of the system for guys like me who missed that whole generation of cars. I understood it before, how it worked, you helped fill in the blanks thoughts since I have never messed with one. Like the cam on the distributer shaft that actually did the mechanical opening and closing of the points.
Hey, Tony! I've been a Mercedes-Benz dealership technician for 7 years now. Loved cars since I was a kid, self taught until going to MB training. I never learned about distributors, points, or anything before ecu efi. I just want to let say I appreciate the video, and you have a new subscriber. Thank you for helping teach me something new, even a few years later it's a great help to us injection kids!
Had an old Galaxie back in the good old days.289...always needed to service the points when fall weather set in. Cool and humid weather is when they seemed to need cleaning and adjusting. Be alert UTG...THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LERTS. Truly enjoyed your weekend wake a thon. ✌
Back in early 70s Sun tune, had a distributor tester, That you can remove any distributor out of any car set the dwell either on single or dual points. They could run it up to 6500 to 7000 RPMs it sure as heck beat using a feeler gauge. Save a lot of time, and I believed on my 73 240 Z Datsun only charge like $30. Excellent video got me thinking.
"I'm just going to screw around with this because it's cool." Absolutely, and a wonderfully illustrated example of how a points system works. Thanks Uncle Tony
Hey Tony love the vids you have tought me do much I went out and bought and old jeep from a field and started restoring it and you have helped so much with the engine side of things and working on carbs. Keep it up man!
Interesting that there is no performance advantage to electronic over properly tuned points. My ‘73 has that reluctor electronic deal that works great. When I had points on a ‘61 Buick, I always had problems with a unified points and condenser set up. With separate points and condenser, it ran great. The condenser on the unified ones was usually bad. I eventually went to Pertronix upgrade on that car. Maybe I didn’t need to after watching this. Great episode!
Finally a you tube video that isn't totally pointless. I have a points screw driver next to the dwell meter and am asked often what are those, I use my points file on my finger nails.
FunFact: on HEI you can adjust the dwell time with an allen head through the little slide up window while it's running! It helps to have an oscilloscope to see the change and set the proper dwell timing obviously. The amount of dwell is the amount of time the coil has to build a charge, when the switch opens (points or electronic) the electromagnetic field in the coil collapses and seeks the path of least resistance ie: wherever the rotor is pointed at that split second, the 40k volts jumps out of the coil to that particular spark plug wire and fires off the cylinder.
You dudes are right, I haven't done it since 1991 and did convert my 70 SS Monte Carlo from points to HEI. Later in my 383 stroker Firebird I replaced weights and springs for faster total advance and had the adjustable vacuum advance also.
I’m so astonished with how well and easy to understand you word things when explaining what parts do what. Another excellent video uncle Tony! I’ve always wanted to learn the operation of points and people that I’ve tried to learn it from before didn’t explain it very well, this video explains it great to a T
I'm 48 and had cars with points as a youth. Points were always a bit of a mystery to me. Your simple demonstration here cleared it all up in my thick dumb skull. Thanks!
This is why i love your Videos. Perfectly and simply understandable explained. Thank you alot !! You add alot of Value to all of us !! Wish you the best :)
Hi Tony. I bought a complete distributor assembly for the dakota engine project and it was working well, at first. For some reason the clamping force was not the best with the hold down bolt securing the contacts. My timing light was showing it bounce around almost 15 degrees! Carefully with a dremel I took off both the flat washer and tiny lock washer and replaced with single but bigger lock washer only. Works great now. the lock washer just seems to bite and grip into the metal surface a lot better.
I’ve been hoping to see this tutorial from tony. I thought I knew how it worked and I pretty much had it right. Young people will find it hard to fathom how brutally simple this is. Surprisingly reliable. Is what has always surprised me.
After you are done explaining the points could you please explain mechanical and vacuum spark advance and why cars had both. I grew up running tractors that had mechanical spark advance on the steering column that we would advance for the smoothest running depending on the load. So basically I know the higher the RPM the farther you need to lead the spark
Glad to see ya alive!!!! Even though it was cut a little short, I'm still super proud of you my man!!! Great job on that 36! Nothing but love to the whole team! ❤️❤️
Fark uncle tony I’m a diesel mechanic but love learning about a bit from you about petrols engines keep up the good work best car guy on you tube hands down you’ll be crossing the million subscribers soon 💪👍👍👌👌
Cool! Can't wait til you get to the advanced phase. I would like to know about the weights and springs inside the distributor and how those are tuned / set-up. Thanks Unkie.
You'll be shocked at the simplicity , and wonder why more people don't fiddle with weights and springs more often. Answer: they are scared of the unknown.
Jeff Becker .....yeah! Those curve kits are worth playing with. They can make shit really wake up and come on strong. That is tuning that you can feel a difference with.
Thanks U.T. Please cover dual points as well. I am currently building a 225 Buick for my old Willys jeep. I enjoy all your stuff, I have been working on old cars since they weren’t that old. Taker easy!
Just LOVE your work Uncle Tony! To the point, simple language and no ad-lib extra hullabaloo to try to sound impressive. I still run points in my Valiants, even though folks think they're antique collectors items down here, and are starting to price them accordingly.
Outstanding explanation!!! Thank you so much. I’m a pretty good wrench that came up as points were fading out. I appreciate your thorough real world demonstration.
its realy good your spreading know how thats dying along with the people that grew up with it ! soon your will have to google what are points an don't think they tell you a paper set of matchs is bout 15 thou you can set points with it an use the light match part to clean them love your blog does remind me how old i am though lol
Even with the condenser there's still more spark at the points than I would've suspected. Interesting. This was an excellent way to demonstrate how points work. I miss them.
Think I need therapy..One of my pleasures in life is gapping points...I normally pull out my VW distributors to do it as I find it a little easier and then refit and re time...This was a great video...Thanks Tony......
Watch that distributor lobe for number 3, isnt it ground a few degrees slow? because the heat of the oil cooler blowing on cyl 3... I think aftermarket dizzys don't have that retard ground in the lobe. Some old timer told me that.
I've done that set up in my store with an accel gm hei distributor and the spark jumps from the towers on the cap all the way to the head of the distributor. Puts on a pretty good firework show.
My brother's German Konig-powered race boats regularly required changing its Bosch or Sems magnetos, often between heats, as they didn't like heat. When he came in from one heat and the magneto was snarly, he always thought it best to exchange it with a "fresh" one. Time between heats was 5 minutes, so time was in short supply. Before we yanked the hot mag off the engine, he always wanted to ensure the fresh mag was good, so he would hold the mag in his hands and spin the gear... with me holding on to the leads. My arms still ache some 40 years later. I much prefer your test, Tony.
Thank you, this video helped me immensely, I just spent 2 days trying to figure out why my 77 corolla doesn't have any spark. I thought that the wire on the distributor was supposed to be 12v, which lit a set of points on fire, luckily they had to be replaced anyway. Thanks
When I was a kid, my best friends stepdad raced sprint and super modified cars, mostly out of San Jose, Ca. Watching this video just took me back to spending time with him. I only wish I would have been smarter at age 13-14 to take advantage of all the knowledge he has. (yep, hes still living) I found out a few years ago, through the beauty of google that he was actually in an indy 500 pit crew sometime around 1962ish if I remember correctly. Im subscribed.
Thanks man I actually found this really helpful and informative I'm actually an apprentice mechanic and none of the learning material would be able to explain it like you did and actually show it working of a car 🤙
I was talking to a guy at a car show this past weekend, and he deliberately kept the points ignition in his 68 Impala coupe, 327. With those GM combination points & condenser, he just carried a spare pre-gapped set, for just-in-case. He thought this was better than converting the car to something like a Pertronix - if that failed far from home, big problems - if the points are pitted, just do a very quick swap. I thought of Uncle Tony - here was another analog guy.
points rock! best set is the blue streak points by stander ignition, thy have a wick to lube the points cam. i like hei to run a wide plug gap. so i use a ford gray remote mount tfi module and trigger it by points. i use a late 1970s ford cap on my points distributor along with tfi coil and efi plug wires! so i have the best of both worlds! for mopar the factory ignition box can be trigger by points to! the best is points with box! good video!
Hey uncle Tony, can you please do a video on re-charging your AC system, there’s a few videos out there but they’re all slightly different I have a 98 GMCS 10 pick up with a 4.3 motor and I just freed up the pump so I’m ready to charge any tips please make a video
I want to make a set like that so I can explain to people who are clueless to this technology they are the most reliable I have them on my 59 ford galaxie I have no major problems
I'm one of those "slightly" over-40 guys that never had to get deep into points (until I had to re-build an old 1953 5-1/2 horse Johnson outboard). All of the vehicles I drove had electronic ignition. My Dad talked about how they used to set the gap on side of the road with a pull-tab from a beer can. It was good enough to get you home.
Im a young guy and I love points distributors they rock and r super easy to work on. I had to use a finger nail file to clean them on acouple of my dads old cars after they sat awhile lol
I've always liked points, I stick with them on a lot of projects. Thier just simple and really don't fail. Back when I was younger I used to adjust them with a matchbook, then I stepped up to the dwell meter LOL I still have a couple of old dwell meters that I use somewhat regularly.
Well on your way to 100K subscribers Uncle T. Well deserved. I remember when new plugs & points were just a normal part of maintaining your car. Grab a book of matches because your feeler gauge was hidden in the bottom of your tool box. 👍👍☮️
Just made the likes hit 100 haha! Wonderfully perfect visual explanation of points ignition! Cannot possibly do a better presentation on the subject!! I still run points with an MSD Digital 6 box, the reliability and ease of diagnosis is unbeatable! Thanks again Uncle Tony for a fantastic video.
Uncle Tony, Would you do a video that addressed Ballast Resistors? I was reminded of these in this video but also seeing them on the firewalls of cars in your videos.
Really hope you cover the maintenance and service of point contact distributors. I never got the chance to dive into servicing one on a car. I’m only 19 and I see around me guys in my generation build these Ridiculous front-wheel drive rice burners. You need 100 more horse power to get the same results from a rear wheel drive vehicle. And could you do a video covering the rebuild process for a Dana 60 rear? Thanks!
I fondly remember the times back in the late 60's and early 70's (when you could see the ground between the exhaust manifolds and inner fenders) tuning up my wife's car, and then mine in the driveway on Saturdays. First kiss the dog and pet the missus and tell her I'm going into town, then to the auto parts store to get plugs, points, and condensers, then to the beer store, and then back home for some quality time with the cars and the beer. It was even better when my like minded neighbor came over and we could both get in trouble. I loved those days and miss them dearly.
@John Johnson Like when someone's house needed re-shingling the neighbors all got together. The men worked, the women prepared food & drink and complained about the men and the older kids were made to help and learn something useful. Made a party out of it. No wonder most of today's kids will grow up without practical skills.
@@niemi5858 In my experience the older generations these days refuse to allow any kids under the age of 18 to do any kind of work for them because they're too scared of liability. Especially something like roofing. When I was a kid I'd always try going door to door in my neighborhood asking to shovel snow from their driveways if it was winter or mow lawns if it was summer, just to earn a few bucks. 99% of the time they'd say "No, if you slip & fall on the ice then your parents will sue me and I'll lose everything." or "No, if you accidentally get hurt while mowing then your parents will sue me and I'll lose everything."
Probably the only accurate explanation of a basic ignition system I've ever heard from anyone in the automotive media. Good job Tony
When I started out it was using a tach/dwell meter and setting your points, adjusting timing, and adjusting idle mixture.....minor tune...plugs, points, condenser....bigger tune added cap, rotor, and wires if needed...fuel and air filters...maybe a breather element, perhaps a PCV valve....sometimes a carb rebuild. A Chrysler product...better put a spare ballast resistor in the glove box. Where have all the years gone? Uncle Tony's Garage sure brings me back....I sure miss those days. Thanks for keeping it alive Uncle Tony.
Saab Tech oh man... somewhere in time you got Shanghai'd into working on Swedish stuff. Long ago, they don't know the proper end of the engine to install a clutch on. In the later years, they couldn't get the complex central nervous system of FRED's (Fucking Rediculous Electronic Device) to integrate with GM properly.
To many moduals, NO factory support for diagnostics.
There was a local garage around here that worked on those sweeds for a short time. It was aptly named "A Saab story"
Uncle Tony, excellent video!!
The ignition coil, is a step up transformer. ( auto transformer, because the primary/ secondary windings are shared. 3- wire connection.)
Transformers do NOT work with D.C.
HOWEVER, making connection to a coil / transformer and then breaking connection, and repeating the process, you are creating an A.C. signal. The coil steps up this voltage to fire the plugs..
It's almost the same way they used to get 90V AC in the old 1950's car radios, except they had a device known as a vibrator to create the A.C.
I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.
Finally a new episode of Uncle Tony's Garage. I started to go into withdrawals after that 36 hour Marathon. Talk about jonesing.
Glad to see you have recovered from the stream.The night portion was really good.I hope you will upload the portion with Lamb Chop at night.It was hilarious.Your streams are a breath of fresh air to the automotive cominunity.
I still like points and condenser ignition. They are great for a daily driver.
Verily rarely ever leave you stranded
Daniel Leach
Yes they usually gave you plenty of warning before completely going out. Simplicity at its best.
Chump Johnson couldn't even tell you how many times I gap the points with a matchbook.
Or paper clip
My request is everyone ALWAYS include a thank you in their comments. Uncle Tony is literally providing a PhD course to us in classic car theory and practice to us for free in these videos. Thank you, UTG!
wow I've never seen that explained so simply you are such a huge asset for the automotive enthusiast
New subscriber here, you are a fantastic teacher! Right to the point and easy to understand for those that may be new to the older tech stuff. Love the videos keep up the great work!
Yeah it cracks me up how many have fallen for the Pertronix modules and such because they think they're gaining something. I STILL run points in my car. I check/lube them every other oil change or so(about 8k miles) when I rotate the tires. The last set I had ran 20k miles before I replaced them and even then...they could have gone more but I was already "in" there and so I simply pulled the entire dizzy, viced it, checked the weights/springs etc and installed a new set. Took an ENTIRE 20min or so including break. Whew...exhausting...especially considering the some of the same guys complaining on "how long" it takes to maintain them think nothing of spending that same amount of time every week or so wiping their car down with a diaper and ensuring there are no streaks in their chrome.
Exc video!! Explained so almost anyone can understand. But then u always do
I really enjoy these videos Uncle Tony!!
I used to replace the lean burn with old points ignition..Cheap at the pick a part style junk yards here..Guys were saying electronic ignition gains power and you feel it..I then bought a new orange box etc..well no difference on the street,just empty pockets(was a19 then)! Sure,when I found electronic ignitions at the junk yard I bought them and used them,but points never had an issue with them! One of my old Charger's still has points as does my '78 Dodge Magnum!
**Hope you recovered from the 27 plus hours..You're a good guy! Same with Uncle Kathy,well she is a very good lady! Hope Keno was very happy with your effort,and you should be proud too..Remember people are always wary when giving out cash... Yeah some are cheap or just don't have any extra.. "A" for effort and a "Valiant" one at that!!!
Mate, I always had heard "it could be the points" if the family car was playing up. Never knew what they were until now- i'm 55. God Bless you for these awesome vids. You have a great gift of explaining things. Well done, UT.
"No one does the voodoo like you do", Uncle Tony...Great demonstration and the close-up camera work was excellent. The lighting was good and I could see everything clearly, Uncle Kathy.
Thanks for the excellent description! My Dad always used to have in his car and truck a tool box with all the tools and points, condenser, rotor, cap and plugs to do a tune up along the road if we broke down. That got us going a few times. Poor man, due to being born into a disfunctional family only had a third grade education, but he was wiser and smarter than 99%of the population!
Points ,I'm 36 Tony I have been playing with points and Carbs since around 10 my grandfather thought me how set timing and etc at an early age. There are a few of us young guys still playing with this stuff.
Good for you, you give me hope for the future! I was so poor I didn't have a timing light so we would just power brake with someone leaning over the fender twisting the distributor until it spun the tires the best and didn't knock! The good old days!!! Still don't know how we're still all alive...
@@garyvisser9129 I am a dieing breed of gearhead and on top of that I'm from the City New Haven there are a few of us left still.If it didn't have a V8 keep it.97 I bought a 69 Nova at 14 had all cool cars and Harley Davidsons since.But if you can just let a young kid hear a V8 run maybe it will help them one day.
@@johnnywrench9669
You're absolutely correct on that, the kids are the only ones are going to keep V8s alive! God Bless you and God Bless Uncle Tony!!!
Everyone needs an Uncle Tony as their real uncle! He's like a walking automotive encyclopedia. 🤗
Best example of how points work I have ever seen, I am 52 and a car guy! Great job!
Great demonstration, Tony.
hey nic!!!
You have the best explanation I have ever heard. And with the demonstrations it drives it home. I've adjusted, replace and set Points so many times. Never had it explained so simply.
I don't miss points, always had problems with them. You did great explaining it
You think regular points are bad, just try a Lucas distributor. There's 10 ways to put the points in and 9 of them short out.
The Tiny Little Lighting Bolt... that creates Spark!!! And Movement... Thanks Always Uncle Tony.. Oi oi oi.. great to see ya No Worse for the wear from the Live Mega Stream..
I'm glad to see you've recovered from the live stream,plowing snow for 26 hours straight has taught me sleep deprivation is no joke.
Jesus Christ I needed this. I was told to do a tune-up on my 76 C10, and that involved new "points".
Well, me being a completely clueless new school gearhead had no idea what that meant.
This was perfectly timed, and I am looking forward to the rest of the videos.
I get paid Friday, so I might do the tuneup then if the student loans don't suckle me dry haha.
Good basic description of the system for guys like me who missed that whole generation of cars. I understood it before, how it worked, you helped fill in the blanks thoughts since I have never messed with one. Like the cam on the distributer shaft that actually did the mechanical opening and closing of the points.
You need your own TV program! Tony . Knowledge is key . And your keychain is solid full ! Ty ! Your videos are awesome 👏
Nothing more awesome than watching an oldhead discuss mechanics. Keep it up good stuff!
Hey, Tony! I've been a Mercedes-Benz dealership technician for 7 years now. Loved cars since I was a kid, self taught until going to MB training. I never learned about distributors, points, or anything before ecu efi. I just want to let say I appreciate the video, and you have a new subscriber. Thank you for helping teach me something new, even a few years later it's a great help to us injection kids!
I always used Standard Ignition Blue Streak points,rotors and distributor caps on my Mopars back in the day.
Awesome demo Tony. Used to set my points on old small block Fords with a paper match book cover.
I asked you to make a video on points during the live stream on Saturday and sure enough you're a man of your word tony! Thank you guys so much!
Digging out my dwell meter and timing light and watching again. Just like my old school mentors w/o the dobbies !
Had an old Galaxie back in the good old days.289...always needed to service the points when fall weather set in. Cool and humid weather is when they seemed to need cleaning and adjusting. Be alert UTG...THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LERTS.
Truly enjoyed your weekend wake a thon. ✌
Best demonstration of how points work I've seen! Definitely demystified it for me.
Back in early 70s Sun tune, had a distributor tester, That you can remove any distributor out of any car set the dwell either on single or dual points. They could run it up to 6500 to 7000 RPMs it sure as heck beat using a feeler gauge. Save a lot of time, and I believed on my 73 240 Z Datsun only charge like $30. Excellent video got me thinking.
"I'm just going to screw around with this because it's cool." Absolutely, and a wonderfully illustrated example of how a points system works. Thanks Uncle Tony
Hey Tony love the vids you have tought me do much I went out and bought and old jeep from a field and started restoring it and you have helped so much with the engine side of things and working on carbs. Keep it up man!
Interesting that there is no performance advantage to electronic over properly tuned points. My ‘73 has that reluctor electronic deal that works great. When I had points on a ‘61 Buick, I always had problems with a unified points and condenser set up. With separate points and condenser, it ran great. The condenser on the unified ones was usually bad. I eventually went to Pertronix upgrade on that car. Maybe I didn’t need to after watching this. Great episode!
Where's the nut? He's holding the pliers!
Hey that's what I was going to tell him lol lol
The nut was on top of the coil. Not in the pliers.
Badoom!
lol
Right in front of left wire lol
Finally a you tube video that isn't totally pointless.
I have a points screw driver next to the dwell meter and am asked often what are those,
I use my points file on my finger nails.
From a 34-year professional shop owner/operator (and frequent critic), great video and explanation.
Best explanation about points I've ever seen or heard!
You are a treasure trove of info UT! Congrats on your YT success!
How much fun is it to charge a condenser and leave it on a bench for an unsuspecting victim...Young guy asks" what's thi."...ZAP...It never gets old.
FunFact: on HEI you can adjust the dwell time with an allen head through the little slide up window while it's running! It helps to have an oscilloscope to see the change and set the proper dwell timing obviously. The amount of dwell is the amount of time the coil has to build a charge, when the switch opens (points or electronic) the electromagnetic field in the coil collapses and seeks the path of least resistance ie: wherever the rotor is pointed at that split second, the 40k volts jumps out of the coil to that particular spark plug wire and fires off the cylinder.
That's not HEI...you're thinking of the GM Uniset style points
Uncle Tony is correct. That's the later points setup that came right before HEI
wrong hei not adjustable that way ,some vac advances or change weights and springs.your thinking uniset!
You dudes are right, I haven't done it since 1991 and did convert my 70 SS Monte Carlo from points to HEI. Later in my 383 stroker Firebird I replaced weights and springs for faster total advance and had the adjustable vacuum advance also.
So many people today, think "points" is a bad word. I love em. Like ya said...reliable!👍😎
I’m so astonished with how well and easy to understand you word things when explaining what parts do what. Another excellent video uncle Tony! I’ve always wanted to learn the operation of points and people that I’ve tried to learn it from before didn’t explain it very well, this video explains it great to a T
I swear nobody explains things better than Uncle Tony!!
Your right to the 'point' with this nicely set up demo Uncle Tony!
I'm 48 and had cars with points as a youth. Points were always a bit of a mystery to me. Your simple demonstration here cleared it all up in my thick dumb skull. Thanks!
I remember my Dad explaining this to me on his E21 BMW 316 (1979) when I was 14. Now it makes more sense.
This is the most teaching channel out here great content as always tony.never let old school die
This is why i love your Videos. Perfectly and simply understandable explained. Thank you alot !! You add alot of Value to all of us !! Wish you the best :)
Hi Tony. I bought a complete distributor assembly for the dakota engine project and it was working well, at first. For some reason the clamping force was not the best with the hold down bolt securing the contacts. My timing light was showing it bounce around almost 15 degrees! Carefully with a dremel I took off both the flat washer and tiny lock washer and replaced with single but bigger lock washer only. Works great now. the lock washer just seems to bite and grip into the metal surface a lot better.
I’ve been hoping to see this tutorial from tony.
I thought I knew how it worked and I pretty much had it right. Young people will find it hard to fathom how brutally simple this is.
Surprisingly reliable. Is what has always surprised me.
After you are done explaining the points could you please explain mechanical and vacuum spark advance and why cars had both. I grew up running tractors that had mechanical spark advance on the steering column that we would advance for the smoothest running depending on the load. So basically I know the higher the RPM the farther you need to lead the spark
Uncle Tony, Thank you so much for having a UA-cam channel
This is the best description of points I've ever seen or heard. I'm definitely in the points are 'kind of sketchy' age group.' Thanks man
Glad to see ya alive!!!! Even though it was cut a little short, I'm still super proud of you my man!!! Great job on that 36!
Nothing but love to the whole team! ❤️❤️
Fark uncle tony I’m a diesel mechanic but love learning about a bit from you about petrols engines keep up the good work best car guy on you tube hands down you’ll be crossing the million subscribers soon 💪👍👍👌👌
Man that was great! So glad we all have our Uncle Tony!
Thanks for this video. I’m getting into motorcycle maintenance and kept hearing the term and wanted to finally learn what this stuff actually does.
Cool! Can't wait til you get to the advanced phase. I would like to know about the weights and springs inside the distributor and how those are tuned / set-up. Thanks Unkie.
You'll be shocked at the simplicity , and wonder why more people don't fiddle with weights and springs more often.
Answer: they are scared of the unknown.
Jeff Becker .....yeah! Those curve kits are worth playing with. They can make shit really wake up and come on strong. That is tuning that you can feel a difference with.
Thanks U.T. Please cover dual points as well. I am currently building a 225 Buick for my old Willys jeep. I enjoy all your stuff, I have been working on old cars since they weren’t that old. Taker easy!
Just LOVE your work Uncle Tony! To the point, simple language and no ad-lib extra hullabaloo to try to sound impressive. I still run points in my Valiants, even though folks think they're antique collectors items down here, and are starting to price them accordingly.
Shoulda got Lambchop to hold that yellow wire and tell you what the voltage is.
Outstanding explanation!!! Thank you so much. I’m a pretty good wrench that came up as points were fading out. I appreciate your thorough real world demonstration.
its realy good your spreading know how thats dying along with the people that grew up with it ! soon your will have to google what are points an don't think they tell you a paper set of matchs is bout 15 thou you can set points with it an use the light match part to clean them love your blog does remind me how old i am though lol
The more i watch your vids, the more i become fascinated with the older Mopars, this coming from a chevy guy.
Thats impressive, just how perfect everything is to make a engine run, the fuel the air and the spark. I love it
Even with the condenser there's still more spark at the points than I would've suspected. Interesting.
This was an excellent way to demonstrate how points work. I miss them.
It makes sense now that I see how the current flows through the circuit. Thank you for explaining this. I still think it is voodoo..Great video
Think I need therapy..One of my pleasures in life is gapping points...I normally pull out my VW distributors to do it as I find it a little easier and then refit and re time...This was a great video...Thanks Tony......
Watch that distributor lobe for number 3, isnt it ground a few degrees slow?
because the heat of the oil cooler blowing on cyl 3...
I think aftermarket dizzys don't have that retard ground in the lobe.
Some old timer told me that.
I've done that set up in my store with an accel gm hei distributor and the spark jumps from the towers on the cap all the way to the head of the distributor. Puts on a pretty good firework show.
Ken Leppek That is kind of fun isn't it?
@@rexcars1835 most definitely
always carry book matches. right thickness for most points or to wedge under your 8-track.
Awesome video, something I kinda wonder about and might make for an interesting video is why do engines with a blower have a surging idle?
My brother's German Konig-powered race boats regularly required changing its Bosch or Sems magnetos, often between heats, as they didn't like heat. When he came in from one heat and the magneto was snarly, he always thought it best to exchange it with a "fresh" one. Time between heats was 5 minutes, so time was in short supply. Before we yanked the hot mag off the engine, he always wanted to ensure the fresh mag was good, so he would hold the mag in his hands and spin the gear... with me holding on to the leads. My arms still ache some 40 years later. I much prefer your test, Tony.
Thank you, this video helped me immensely, I just spent 2 days trying to figure out why my 77 corolla doesn't have any spark. I thought that the wire on the distributor was supposed to be 12v, which lit a set of points on fire, luckily they had to be replaced anyway. Thanks
Uncle bad ass!! That's what this channel should be call...great video brother
Uncle Tony done got me itching to work on something. I'd give you multiple thumbs up if I could.
Great video Tony. I have fond memories of doing monthly valve lash and point maintenance on my brothers old beetle.
When I was a kid, my best friends stepdad raced sprint and super modified cars, mostly out of San Jose, Ca. Watching this video just took me back to spending time with him. I only wish I would have been smarter at age 13-14 to take advantage of all the knowledge he has. (yep, hes still living) I found out a few years ago, through the beauty of google that he was actually in an indy 500 pit crew sometime around 1962ish if I remember correctly. Im subscribed.
Thanks man I actually found this really helpful and informative I'm actually an apprentice mechanic and none of the learning material would be able to explain it like you did and actually show it working of a car 🤙
I was talking to a guy at a car show this past weekend, and he deliberately kept the points ignition in his 68 Impala coupe, 327. With those GM combination points & condenser, he just carried a spare pre-gapped set, for just-in-case. He thought this was better than converting the car to something like a Pertronix - if that failed far from home, big problems - if the points are pitted, just do a very quick swap. I thought of Uncle Tony - here was another analog guy.
Pitted points? Scrape 'em with a pocket screwdriver or knife, gap and keep on running.
points rock! best set is the blue streak points by stander ignition, thy have a wick to lube the points cam. i like hei to run a wide plug gap. so i use a ford gray remote mount tfi module and trigger it by points. i use a late 1970s ford cap on my points distributor along with tfi coil and efi plug wires! so i have the best of both worlds! for mopar the factory ignition box can be trigger by points to! the best is points with box! good video!
I always thought it was some big complicated set up you couldn’t have made them any simpler thank you!!
Hey uncle Tony, can you please do a video on re-charging your AC system, there’s a few videos out there but they’re all slightly different I have a 98 GMCS 10 pick up with a 4.3 motor and I just freed up the pump so I’m ready to charge any tips please make a video
Just subscribed. Was marine/car mechanic in the 70's on. Love your channel!! (A papar match book cover will set points pretty close in an emergency)
I want to make a set like that so I can explain to people who are clueless to this technology they are the most reliable I have them on my 59 ford galaxie I have no major problems
Uncle Tony! You are a great teacher! Thanks for sharing!
I'm one of those "slightly" over-40 guys that never had to get deep into points (until I had to re-build an old 1953 5-1/2 horse Johnson outboard). All of the vehicles I drove had electronic ignition.
My Dad talked about how they used to set the gap on side of the road with a pull-tab from a beer can. It was good enough to get you home.
Im a young guy and I love points distributors they rock and r super easy to work on. I had to use a finger nail file to clean them on acouple of my dads old cars after they sat awhile lol
Very good demonstration. Simple as can be.
I've always liked points, I stick with them on a lot of projects. Thier just simple and really don't fail.
Back when I was younger I used to adjust them with a matchbook, then I stepped up to the dwell meter LOL
I still have a couple of old dwell meters that I use somewhat regularly.
Well on your way to 100K subscribers Uncle T. Well deserved. I remember when new plugs & points were just a normal part of maintaining your car. Grab a book of matches because your feeler gauge was hidden in the bottom of your tool box. 👍👍☮️
Just made the likes hit 100 haha!
Wonderfully perfect visual explanation of points ignition! Cannot possibly do a better presentation on the subject!! I still run points with an MSD Digital 6 box, the reliability and ease of diagnosis is unbeatable! Thanks again Uncle Tony for a fantastic video.
Uncle Tony, Would you do a video that addressed Ballast Resistors? I was reminded of these in this video but also seeing them on the firewalls of cars in your videos.
Thanks for the great video tony . I click like before I watch any of your videos.
Awesome video! Thanks for helping get my 70 year old car back on the road
Really hope you cover the maintenance and service of point contact distributors. I never got the chance to dive into servicing one on a car. I’m only 19 and I see around me guys in my generation build these Ridiculous front-wheel drive rice burners. You need 100 more horse power to get the same results from a rear wheel drive vehicle. And could you do a video covering the rebuild process for a Dana 60 rear? Thanks!