Restoring - General discussions that span across many different groups of years and models > Drivetrain

Points/Dwell

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Matt1968:
The points gap on my 390GT is supposed to be .016

With that in mind, when you set dwell,  you have to readjust the points gap to get the correct dwell (I believe?)

So if you have to readjust the gap for dwell,  you may no longer be at the .016 gap.  SO what is more important,  having the correct gap setting or the correct dwell setting?

67gtasanjose:
Dwell is the most desirable setting. The points gap is a rough "guess" for lack of better terminology, of getting the dwell set. I must say one thing better about old-school GM car, that window on the side of the distributor cap and an adjustable dwell WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING was the BOMB baby!

Matt1968:
A follow up question for those more knowledgeable than me,  if the dwell is too high, do you close the gap or make it larger?

rocket289k:
Hi Matt,

Dwell is the amount of time measured in degrees that the points remain closed:

Smaller gap = more time closed = longer dwell
Larger gap = less time closed = shorter dwell

Therefore, if the dwell is too high you need to a larger gap on the points to correct that issue.

Regards,


Ron

Brian Conway:
Thank you.  Very nicely put.  Brian

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