Classic Car Tech-Ignition Points Explained
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- Опубликовано: 3 сен 2019
- We go through the most basic, and mis-understood ignition system and show how it works with a live demonstration.
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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
3:38 - "Nothing on Earth as reliable as a set of points..." Write that down! 📝
yeah, for 8-10,000 miles.
You want reliable go diesel. 10,000miles between oil changes. no electronics
@@fastinradfordable
Yeah until you get some water in your diesel,or you get some old Diesel with some algae in it and plug your fuel filters or it's really really cold then what do you do smart boy?
@@garyvisser9129 when it's cold u add cerosene (parafin)
I keep a set in the glove box
@@garyvisser9129 ive had a diesel for over 10 years, never had any of those issues. Lived in north dakota started @-30f with no block heater just fine.
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"
Finally a new episode of Uncle Tony's Garage. I started to go into withdrawals after that 36 hour Marathon. Talk about jonesing.
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
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.
Great demonstration, Tony.
hey nic!!!
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
Exc video!! Explained so almost anyone can understand. But then u always do
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!!!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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 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!!!
Everyone needs an Uncle Tony as their real uncle! He's like a walking automotive encyclopedia. 🤗
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.
"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.
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.
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!
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.
From a 34-year professional shop owner/operator (and frequent critic), great video and explanation.
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.
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. ✌
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.
Digging out my dwell meter and timing light and watching again. Just like my old school mentors w/o the dobbies !
Best example of how points work I have ever seen, I am 52 and a car guy! Great job!
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.
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.
"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
I swear nobody explains things better than Uncle Tony!!
Awesome demo Tony. Used to set my points on old small block Fords with a paper match book cover.
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.
I always used Standard Ignition Blue Streak points,rotors and distributor caps on my Mopars back in the day.
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.
I knew how they worked before I went to tech school in the late 90s, but im glad I did.
The teacher actually said : I need to teach you points before we advance in ignition theory.
Not all saw the humor in the advance joke.
Don't ever say never, there's still lots of points out there in all kinds of old equipment.
Good stuff , and it's usually fixable on the roadside.
You know how many cheap bikes I dragged home with no spark when I was a kid , and pops found they had the insulating washers all-out of whack in about 2 minutes,or some other grounded out points issue.
It's a switch and it ain't switchin!!
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!
Best demonstration of how points work I've seen! Definitely demystified it for me.
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.
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.
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
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 :)
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!
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!
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.
Your right to the 'point' with this nicely set up demo Uncle Tony!
Shoulda got Lambchop to hold that yellow wire and tell you what the voltage is.
The more i watch your vids, the more i become fascinated with the older Mopars, this coming from a chevy guy.
Best explanation about points I've ever seen or heard!
You are a treasure trove of info UT! Congrats on your YT success!
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!
Thats impressive, just how perfect everything is to make a engine run, the fuel the air and the spark. I love it
Very good demonstration. Simple as can be.
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
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.
I still have points in my old Gravely Tractors. I love them.
Uncle Tony, Thank you so much for having a RUclips channel
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.
The nut is on the coil by the positive post
Hidden in plain sight.
You need your own TV program! Tony . Knowledge is key . And your keychain is solid full ! Ty ! Your videos are awesome 👏
Damn uncle tony, you know a lot of stuff. I worked on points that were in my 68 cougar, 68 olds cutlass and 69 Newport.
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.
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
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!
Uncle Tony done got me itching to work on something. I'd give you multiple thumbs up if I could.
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 💪👍👍👌👌
Great video Tony. I have fond memories of doing monthly valve lash and point maintenance on my brothers old beetle.
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 🤙
This is the most teaching channel out here great content as always tony.never let old school die
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
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! ❤️❤️
Nothing more awesome than watching an oldhead discuss mechanics. Keep it up good stuff!
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.
always carry book matches. right thickness for most points or to wedge under your 8-track.
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'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.
Thanks Tony! My boss said he’d fire me if I didn’t learn what points are and you’ve saved my job!
Great video. My boat has a 302 with points and it really is a simple and easy system to get running. Best of all, I only need a flat screwdriver, a file, and a matchbox on board if something ever happens to make it run.
Uncle Tony that was a good basic explanation but I’m glad they’re gone. I loved it that my charger here in Australia had the factory electronic ignition.
Cheers😊
That was a clever setup!! WOW...I have not put points in a car in years. The last points car I had was a 1970 Buick Electra 225 back in the 80's. Need to get a points car to prepare for an EMP attack!!
Great video as always! I love this series of old school tech
I always thought it was some big complicated set up you couldn’t have made them any simpler thank you!!
I feel like by the year 2050 these the information on old cars and the knowledge that goes with them will all be hopefully stored here. For the future generations to really learn about the past.
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
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. 👍👍☮️
You're on point uncle Tony... Live marathon was 🔥
Haven't seen a super coil forever. Awesome man!!!!!
Do you get that many idiots that don't understand how points work? You have done many videos explaining how it works and are very easy to understand. Been running them for years on my 69 firebird ramair 3 with no problem if you keep them clean,gapped and dwel set. Keep up the good work and videos cumin.
I could hear the ballast of that fluorescent light screaming. They really are the prima donnas of illumination.
I can be dyslexic as hell and when my assignment in auto shop in my sophmore year was to memorize and draw the entire ignition system and describe the process, i drove my dad up a wall trying to get me to understand it and get it right. Anyway, i got an 'A' and rushed over to the shop my dad worked at and showed everyone, and they were all like, "Great, thats all we need, another mechanic". Goddamnit.
Thanks for the great video tony . I click like before I watch any of your videos.
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
Thanks Uncle Tony!
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.
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
Uncle Tony! You are a great teacher! Thanks for sharing!