L79 points and rotor advice

[Ara G.]

Hey guys,
took my 67 L79 out for a spin after sitting for a while. Ran great, but after I shut it off after short spin it wouldn't fire. It turned over and got gas, but no spark. I nursed it home. Bought a new ac delco rotor and points set, along with lectric wires. Have an NOS 202 coil and dist cap and ac 44 plugs. Question I have is how to correctly install the rotor and points . I have only generally worked on electric ignition cars and not done a rotor and points before. Any advice ? I see that I will need to adjust things when I install the unit. Any help is appreciated. I bought napa rotor points set part number CS791. Thanks and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy a Holidays! Ara

[Leif A.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Ara,
Happy New Year to you, my friend. You'll enjoy this little exercise. Do you own a dwell meter? If not, do you have a set of feeler gauges? There are screw clamps on either side of the distributor that you will depress with a standard screwdriver and rotate 180*, then lift the distributor cap off and tie back out of the way with a piece of string. Remove the two screws holding the rotor in place...it can only be installed one way as there is a round hole and square hole that will line up when you're replacing. Now, look at the two wires attached to the points. One is from the condenser and the other is from the distributor. They both should simply pull out. (Note, there is a flat side on each one of the "u" shaped clips, be sure to re-insert these to the new points flat side to flat side. Now, look for the two screws at the base of the points. Using a magnetic tip screw driver remove the one screw and loosen the second screw that's holding the point base plate with the slot in it...being careful not to drop these little screws down into the distributor. Reverse process and you're all installed. Now, if you're using a feeler gauge bump the ignition switch until the point open on the high cam lobe of the distributor. Using an allen wrench set the point gap at .019. If you have a dwell meter, re-intall the distributor cap, remove the center (coil) wire and with someone turning over the engine, slide the window up on the distributor cap, insert the allen wrench into the points and adjust (while the engine is being turned over) the points to 30*. Now before you do any of this, you said you had no spark. Did you pull a plug wire and check to see if the wire would arc to the plug? Could be something other than points...actually, probably is something other than points. Electrical gremlins can be a bit of a pain, but these older ignition systems are fairly straight forward and I can promise you we will get you running again very quickly. I'm going for a spin myself right now and will check back when I get home. Enjoy!!

P.S. Before removing the old points and condenser, if you have a dwell meter, hook it up and check the dwell on the points that are in there FIRST. They may simply need to be adjusted and burnished (using your wife's fingernail file...gently)

[Bill C.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

That is one of the best descriptions I have seen in a very long time. 👍

[Larry M.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Ara:

If you need additional help troubleshooting, etc, you can give me a call and I will be happy to assist. Leif has provided an excellent write-up, but sometimes talking to someone directly is more efficient and more questions get answered.

Just send me a PM for contact information.

Happy New Year.

Larry

[Ara G.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Thanks Leif and Larry. I appreciate the write-up as well as the offer to call. I will jump on this this weekend and let you all know i find....Again, appreciate it...
Leif, to your point...I have power and i have gas. We covered the carb and got her running, but half way home she died again. When i removed the shielding, i noticed that 2 of my plug wires were not pushed all the way down onto the dist cap. Weird..I pushed them down and got her running and got her home. I have owned the car for 8 years and have driven it (drives wonderfully) but haven't done plugs/wires/cap/coil, etc since i've owned it. I think it's time to do those items regardless. I do not have a dwell meter, but have a sear2 minutes from work so will get one this week.
Thanks again, and i will keep you guys updated.
ARA

[Larry M.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Thanks Leif and Larry. I appreciate the write-up as well as the offer to call. I will jump on this this weekend and let you all know i find....Again, appreciate it...
Leif, to your point...I have power and i have gas. We covered the carb and got her running, but half way home she died again. When i removed the shielding, i noticed that 2 of my plug wires were not pushed all the way down onto the dist cap. Weird..I pushed them down and got her running and got her home. I have owned the car for 8 years and have driven it (drives wonderfully) but haven't done plugs/wires/cap/coil, etc since i've owned it. I think it's time to do those items regardless. I do not have a dwell meter, but have a sear2 minutes from work so will get one this week.
Thanks again, and i will keep you guys updated.
ARA

Ara: Just let me know if I can help.

Regarding a DWELL METER, I would check Ebay for a nice used SNAP-ON or SUN/SUNPRO, Sears/Penske or ?? Just search for dwell meter, tach/dwell meter. or engine analyzer. I know you can still buy a new multimeter that has a DWELL function, but some of the older, used dwell meters are also very good. I prefer them. Just buy one from someone that states it is tested and working. Sears/Actron has a good dial-back timing light (new) if you do not already have one.

Larry

[Leif A.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Ara,
If Larry in unavailable you're certainly welcome to call me, as well. This is the dwell meter that I use and have owned for 20 years.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/anm-cp7605?seid=srese1&cm_mmc=pla-google-_-shopping-_-srese1-_-actron&gclid=Cj0KEQiAtK3DBRCBxt-Yxduq5p4BEiQAbFiaPdWy6ncOdLmP6fEFSQDtyCohYifYIG9nTeD12gQPDqgaAka38P8HAQ

[Dan A.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Ara,
If you can't find one to your liking I have one I would be glad to ship to you as a loaner along with an old school point adjusting tool. You were kind enough to inspect a car for me a few years ago and would be glad to return the favor.

[Ara G.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Thanks guys,
I should have mentioned this is an original Smog/A.I.R. K19 car. Dan, i may take you up on your kind offer with the proviso i pay for shipping to and from....
Seems the car has to be running to adjuster as Leif outlined, so i think getting it running is the first order of business. Thus, i think i need to do cap, plugs, coil first to see if she runs.
Thanks!!!!!

[Leif A.]

Re: L79 points and rotor advice

Ara,
Back in the day, when a dwell meter or feeler gauge wasn't available, we used a matchbook cover as a "feeler gauge". Works well enough to get the car running. Again, simply bump the starter until the point pivot is sitting on one of the eight high cam lobs on the interior of the distributor. You'll see what I'm talking about when you lift the cap and rotor off.