here's yet another stupid question. does a dwell care about 6volt vs. 12volt? or is it more important to find one that switches between 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder settings? thanks! jon
Dwell doesn't involve voltage. You need a meter with cylinder selection, they usually have 4-6-8 settings. If on the wrong cylinder setting the reading will be incorrect.
Dwell Meter Just so ~ if your Dwell Meter doesn't have a 4 cylinder scale , use the 8 cylinder scale and double the reading . For accuracy , I like to set the dwell by removing all the spark plugs and dizzy rotor then adjusting the points gap whilst cranking the engine and reading the meter ~ if it bounced a lot , there's a problem with the points as it should read nice & steady . higher Dwell : narrower points gap and better coil saturation for hotter spark but will need slightly more frequent service . Most 6 cylinder engines like 30° ~ 33° dwell . Most 4 cylinder engine like about 25° dwell . If you cannot get the proper dwell reading unless the points gap is way off , you probalby have the wrong points fitted ~ this is a DPO mistake you'll run into once in a Blue Moon that can drive you crazy . You can carefully file old pitted ignition points for many re-uses if you're really tight ($) but maintaining paralell contact surfaces is critical & you must check the resistance with either a points meter or a voltimiter set to read a .01 volts bleed , 6 or 12 volts , match your sysytem and don't blow the meter's fuse . Any time you file or clean a contact point , you must needs remove the SWARF by sliding a bit of lint free paper between them once you're done filing . use only a burnishing typ file , they're very fine .
