dressing points...

[JaneHibbert]

Hello

I'm going to change my car to negative earth tomorrow and was wondering, when I have done it, how to sort out the points in the fuel pump and distributor? Do I need to take them out and rub them with sandpaper?

[bmcecosse]

You should clean them - but no need to take them out, just do it in place. I assume you know to swap over the coil connections......and to re-polarise the dynamo ?

[JaneHibbert]

Hi, so just sort of wipe them with a thin piece of cloth then? The rest I have seen on a 'how to do it page' on here, in the articles section.

[katy]

If the points are working fine, don't worry about them. If they act up after you switch polarity, that's the time to do something about it.

[bmcecosse]

No - you should clean them when you make the change - otherwise they will wear VERY quickly and possibly leave you stuck.

[Arthurdaily]

Actually I have a similar question to Janey BMC , how do you ACTUALLY dress them / clean them?

[bmcecosse]

An emery board does a good job...........handy if you should snag a nail too......

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

You should clean them - but no need to take them out, just do it in place. I assume you know to swap over the coil connections......and to re-polarise the dynamo ?

I beg to differ - cleaning dist. points in situ will lead to dust and abrasive particles falling into the mechanism which will then wear out faster.

You should also add a drop of oil to the mechanism to keep the bob-weights and springs in good order.

[bmcecosse]

Of course you are right.....but its such a hassle to take them out

[Arthurdaily]

where do you oil? In the distributor itself?

[Arthurdaily]

And what do you do, just sand the points on both sides with the emery board to make each side flat?

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Take out points and remove pitting with emery/sandpaper medium grade. If badly pitted renew completely. There is no need to completely remove all pitting as this will take away quite a lot of the contact.

Remove rotor arm and 3 drops of oil over the screw.

2 drops of oil behind the backing plate to lubricate springs etc.

Lightly smear cam with vaseline/plain grease.

Do not over-oil.

[JaneHibbert]

Thanks all done now except I still have the fuel pump on my desk clicking away nicely, but in the dim light of my bedroom i can see the points slightly sparking, is that right, should they spark a little?

[bmcecosse]

Yes - that's quite normal. Some pumps had a small internal capacitor connected across -and sometimes an external capacitor (wireless noise suppressor) is fitted externally.

[JaneHibbert]

thank you now have put the pump back on and all well except petrol is leaking from the float chamber top! really pumping out not from the pipe but from the top of the chamber itself. anybody know what that could be? i thought maybe the float was stuck cos of dirty petrol, but would that allow petrol to pump out of the top of the float chamber i thought itd be sealed somehow?

[bmcecosse]

The float valve is stuck open - or leaking.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Leave it for a few hours and try again - might be some grit or particle stuck there that has got past the filters, though there are 2 of them. A simple matter to take the top off and have a look.

[JaneHibbert]

I have taken it off and put it on, fine for ten minutes then leaking again. Is it norml for it to leak out the top if the valve is stuck open for some reason?

[JaneHibbert]

How do you clean the valve?

[bmcecosse]

Remove the lid and invert - then remove the float lever and the centre part of the valve will fall out. Inspect it for dirt - or (more likely) a wear ridge around the taper end. If so - new valve required. Do you have access to a Workshop Manual ??