Oddfire And Dwell Meter?

I connected my dwell meter to the coil to check point gap and got crazy readings (I had set them with a feeler gauge at .016"). Because of the "odd" dizzy cam lobe separation, will a dwell meter even work?

 

I tried both, neither gave me the correct 30* reading.

 

I have an old needle type meter, that has 4,6,8 cyl. option and that's all I use. I set mine at 29 deg as I recall. MUCH better than setting gap with feeler gauge.

After I set dwell, I unplug the vacuum advance and block line, lower idle so mech advance is not a factor and check timing mark (about 5 deg btdc). Thereafter, I reattach vacuum and bring idle back up. My engine seems to run very well and revs nicely so I guess it's working.

 

My old Sears dwell, point, tach meter works fine, no problems, you have something else going on.

 

What reading are you getting?

 

I just use a feeler gauge for setting points, and it has worked fine for me for more than 55 years.

 

Innova digital worked as expected.

 

I will recheck my setup. I do have an MSD 6AL ignition box. Does that matter?

 

Google says you must disconnect msd and go back to original to check dwell

The Internet said it so 50/50

 

I was afraid of that! Thanks for the info.

 

MSD boxes fire multiple times when ignited, they also control the dwell.

If your not old enough to remember.
Multiple Spark Discharge

 

Not on the oddfire unit, the points act only as a trigger unit, the MSD unit controls the dwell, that’s why I had to remove one set of points from my dual point distributor. At least that’s what the instructions tell you.

 

From the MSD instructions remove or disable the trailing points, set the gap on the primary points, the dwell is controlled by the MSD unit afterwards as the points are now the trigger for the multiple spark control. The MSD does not fire longer it sends multiple sparks in a specified time.

 

So it sounds like I just set the gap to .016" and let the MSD box set the final dwell. Does that mean as the points wear down, the MSD keeps the dwell at the correct 30* regardless of the point gap?