doesnt sound the most scientific


what you need to do is follow haynes and peg the flywheel

set the gap first

take both leads off the coil and connect the lamp between them

peg in the flywheel and mark a line or a tooth on the flywheel and one just on the upper left stud of the bell housing so you can see when the two lines meet again use tippex pen or a whith touch up pen

then with marks aligned turn the points box till the light just goes out, turn the engine a full turn and watch the marks and the light it should go out again when the marks line up.

if you find the light goes out before your marks lign up its too advanced if, after its retarded

now youll probably find that when timed perfectly to the peg the engine pinks, runs on and gets hot, thats because modern petrol is not what it used to be( and the points and advance are worn)

time it so the light goes out at the tooth after your paint mark and run it for a bit looking out for running on or crackling noises from the fan when you select 4th at 40mph and floor it

any of the above then set points to 1 1/2 tooth etc etc

as the camshaft which tuns the points operates at 1/2 crank speed when your mate marked the points 1 degree error of the points box= 2 degrees of timing error
and that may have been enough to over advance it. plus you see the plastic bit thats pushed by the cam? that wears quite quickly in the first few hundred miles as it beds in to the cam as it wears it closes the gap and effectivley advances the ignition.

take time and learn to set your own points using the bulb and listening to what your engine does before you spend any more of your mums money on confusing stuff like a strobe

Sean

6mm rod, what sort of house hold objects work? house is full of crap, so suggestions please