Dwelling on the topic of Dwell, To continue to Dwell or Not to Dwell Options

[ctc911ctc]

'74, 2.0L 24K miles, all original

I have been trying to get the dwell angle to the specified number between 44 and 50 degrees. This has been a real effort

I rebuilt the Distributor, I thought I did a good job but the vacuum plate was being touched by the points. The shaft that the spring of the points hinges on has an extension that is used to anchor the points. This extension was touching the plate below the one that the points were mounted on.



The red arrow points to the top of the shaft where the other side there is a protrusion used to anchor the points to the top plate. This protrusion was rubbing against the bottom plate which is shown by the green arrow.

Sooooo, I did what all of us would do and ground the shaft to a few mils, just enough for it to anchor and NOT touch the lower plate.

Next I set the points to .014m to approximate the dwell angle and it was 25deg - grrrr, supposed to be between 44 and 50........sigh
Then I sent it to .013 and it was 55deg
Then to 0.12 and it was 15 deg.

I tried another Dwell tool (same results) and then I bought a new Distributor.

I bought it from a very experienced rebuild shop that was suggested by members here, It arrived and I installed it. Capacitor needs to be mounted on the side of the distributor that is toward the rear of the car.....learned this the hard way.

I now can get the dwell to 40 degrees - I am 4 degrees off. I was thinking of chasing this but decided I would check in with the Dwell team here at 914World.......should I chase 4 degrees?

Any direction as to this?

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ALSO - is there a correct method for setting the points? Meaning, I sometimes have the points "click" after I pull the feeler gauge out of the points, should there be ANY movement of the points after the feeler gauge is removed?

Signed: Long on Theory, Short on Experience.

[technicalninja]

Many years ago, when I worked at an independent VW repair shop, I was taught this method:

Hook up your dwell meter. Attach a remote starter switch. Take the cap off of the distributor and slightly loosen the screw which secures the points, just so there is enough friction to hold them in place. In the distributor are two little tits which correspond to a small slot in the points. Insert a flat blade screwdriver between the tits and the edge of the screwdriver into the slot on the points. This gives you leverage to adjust the points precisely. With the ignition on, crank the motor over with the remote starter and adjust the points until the dwell meter is reading 50 or whatever you want it to be. Tighten the screw fully and done. I've always done this with an analog meter. It's a quick and precise way of doing it.

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If you have to use points that is "the way".
Give the coil wire something to ground on or you can have "sparkies" inside the cap

I vastly prefer COP (coil on plug). Gets rid of everything!
Also has the ability to have 650+ degrees of "dwell"...

It's called "coil saturation time" instead of "dwell" and it increases the ignition systems power by a HUGE factor.
I've seen a COP system bridge a gap of 4 inches! Deep BLUE lightning bolt that sounds like an arc welder.

You have to be more careful!
In a worst-case situation, you will need a defibrillator to re-start your heart...
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[StarBear]

Give the coil wire something to ground on or you can have "sparkies" inside the cap

@technicalninja
Could you provide a bit of specifics on this? Sounds like good advice but not sure how to implement it if there is something additional to do as a part of this technique.