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Posted by: oldschool Oct 15 2009, 08:06 PM

So my car want idle the only thing I did was to put the gap at .16 what should I look at first, before that it run fine. 1973 1.7 d i

Posted by: SLITS Oct 15 2009, 08:45 PM

You need to reset the timing if you changed the dwell (point gap).

Posted by: zonedoubt Oct 15 2009, 08:55 PM

Check the dwell with a dwell meter, then do timing.

Posted by: 76-914 Oct 15 2009, 09:10 PM

Question: widening the gap will adv/ret timing???

Posted by: tradisrad Oct 16 2009, 08:38 AM

Put in a pertronix or similar electronic ignition and you'll never have to deal with setting the dwell and timing again.

Posted by: rmital Oct 16 2009, 09:02 AM

...and timing????

Posted by: tradisrad Oct 16 2009, 09:43 AM

I put in a pertronix then set my timing and I've never had to change it (timing) in two years. So that is what I mean by not having to deal with it. Am I missing something?

Posted by: SLITS Oct 16 2009, 10:14 AM

No, you aren't missing anything. As long as the dizzy is not moved, the timing would stay static save for wear in the dizzy drive.

Posted by: SLITS Oct 16 2009, 02:55 PM

I thought about this until my head hurt. I know that the saturation time (dwell) would be lessened. The points would open earlier, so probably retard.

Being a retard myself, it was only logical.

Posted by: tod914 Oct 16 2009, 04:18 PM

You can get yourself a decent variable timeing light and a dwell meter at Sears at a good price. Not likely to get it right without either. If you decide on pertronix, you can pass on the dwell meter. The variable timeing light is nice being you can verify your 0 mark and advance mark (not sure what it is for a 1.7). If they don't jive, then you probally would want to recheck your zero mark. By increasing the gap in the points, you decrease your dwell number and visa versa.