Need help with points and timing

austinpankratz

I have an 84 Par Car and it takes forever to get it running when the motor is cold. I've been trying to mess with the points and set them but i don't know the specs (at what point to set the gap, whether top dead center or slightly before). Also there are no alignment marks of any sort that i see to aid in this. When i have the 2 screws loose so i can turn the plate with the condenser and points and crank it over, there a small sparks arcing from the plate to the housing around it... Is that normal?

BGW

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Whitespider

I don't know anything about 84 Par Cars, but point gap on anything is set the same. The gap is set when the cam is holding the point gap at its widest open position.

As far as those little sparks... the points supply the ground for the coil. The B- side of the coil is connected to the points via a wire, when the points close the coil is grounded through the points, to the plate, to the engine housing, to the ground strap, and on to the B- side of the battery. Those sparks are because you have the plate too loose, it ain't making solid contact with the engine housing (you could also have a bad condenser).

I'm guessing the Par Car is timed just like the Harley, the engine should not be cranked or running to set timing. There are two timing marks on the flywheel (one for forward, one for reverse) visible through a sight hole in the housing next to the coil. When the marks are visible in the sight hole the points should just be starting to open. First set point gap and then set timing for forward by moving the plate, next check timing in reverse; if it isn't timed correctly for reverse you will have to change point dwell time (gap setting) and start over with the forward timing, and again checking reverse... takes a bit of messing around. I disconnect the coil and use a multi-meter continuity tone to set timing.