[Zmagnette] Timing

[John Perkins]

Ken:
     I got my ZA because the guy I bought it from failed to diagnose a 
worn out distributor.  The original distributor had a cam that would 
only open the points on a couple of the lobes, the shaft was wobbly in 
the housing, the mechanical advance was rusty and would not operate 
smoothly, finally the vacuum advance diaphragm was leaking.  Your issues 
might be just a distributor that needs to be rebuilt.  Send it to Jeff 
Schlemmer and let him Schlemmerize it for you.  He's done two for me 
with excellent results.
     John Perkins

On 2/6/2014 12:59 PM, Ken Beisser wrote:
> Thanks all, I appreciate all the advice.
> I drive the car about 10 miles a day so that's less than 1000 miles in 
> 4 months.
>
> I'll look at the distributor parts again.
> The parts ie cap/points/plugs/condenser/wiring are pretty new but 
> there's obviously something wrong.
> The distributor is original on a rebuilt engine.
>
> The electronic distributor is appealing, but it sounds like it may not 
> be my problem right now.
>
> Ken B
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 7:01 AM, Steven Trovato <strovato at optonline.net 
> <mailto:strovato at optonline.net>> wrote:
>
>     You can argue the merits of points vs electronic ignition all you
>     want.  Fact is, what Wombat said is correct.  The way most of us
>     use our cars, it is not normal to require timing adjustment every
>     4 months.  The rule I remember from when all cars had points and
>     carburetors, was to do a full tune up every 10K miles, and a
>     "minor" tune up every 5K miles.  The full tune up was plugs,
>     points, condenser, adjust timing, dwell and carb mixture. Maybe
>     replace the rotor and cap.  The minor tune up was to basically do
>     the same stuff, but without replacing any parts.  You would just
>     clean and readjust what was there, unless something looked really
>     terrible.  This was not an MG thing, these were just the rules I
>     learned for typical American cars of the day.  In my experience,
>     timing did not change a lot. As Wombat said, wear at the points
>     may require adjustment over time.  Timing on my Magnette stays
>     pretty stable.  This is with 1500 engine and original points
>     setup. If the distributor is tightened so that you can't turn the
>     body with your hand, then that's not the problem.  Overtightening
>     just causes more problems.  I would take a look at the points.  If
>     they are secure, I would look at their condition.  Poor quality
>     parts might wear faster.  Also, a bad condenser can cause the
>     points to wear faster.
>
>     -Steve T.
>
>
>
>     At 08:52 AM 2/6/2014, charles durning wrote:
>>     X2 on getting rid of the points.
>>
>>     I know, I know the purists will poo poo the change to electronic
>>     ignition.  I say let them keep their points.
>>
>>
>>     Charlie Durning
>>
>>     If you are using Google or Gmail, Big Brother is watching.
>>
>>
>>
>>     On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 5:01 AM, Wayne & Isabel Hardy
>>     <gwhardy at suddenlink.net <mailto:gwhardy at suddenlink.net> > wrote:
>>
>>         No t normal!! Should stay as set for years literally, if
>>         tightened up properly at the pinch neck bolt.
>>         Slight wear at the points may require a very small adjustment
>>         over time, but only if driven enough to cause the points to
>>         erode... A lot of driving usually.
>>         Wombat 
>>
>
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