If the original slipped points was due to a worn securing screw - that hasn't been sorted properly - then could it be it's as simple as they've slipped again and closed a fair bit?

Can seriously closed points alter the timing enough to make it pink as bad as arty says? Fingers crossed (as long as no piston damage has been done...)

If the ignition was set too advanced with no "safety margin", ie peg in hole then it may not have pinked untill motorways had it on full load, wide open throttle. Add to this the small amount of advance caused by the points settling in( i alway re check dwell 500miles after fiddling with the points) may have been enough to tip it over the edge.

Intermotor cheap points, if fitted, wear too fast and the contacts can be loose giving inaccurate timing

Sean

thanks for all the replies. She is having her points swapped on monday to electric anyway. Called my mechanic and he said it must be the problem. She is going into the garage to see what the mechanic can do. Threadlock I believe is the solution to get me, my other half, a weeks worth of dirty washing, 2 kegs of beer, a scaeletrix set and the rest of my entire life back to stafforshire to be fixed and mot'd!

Hmm, Electronic ignition a dear way to sort a wee screw

just back off the accelerator if it starts the death rattle, be warned that it may start to leak oil so have some handy so you dont have to pay motorway service prices

and good luck wi getting it sorted

Sean

D.A,
if the screw securing the earth contact has been overtightened enough (aka butchered) so that it slips, the points gap will widen, which increases the amount of ignition advance.

If the thread is stripped, it can be repaired with an M4 insert, a job I did on Bertie's Bedouin engine at last year's Inter-National...

ken.

Not to forget a small amount of grease on the cam slowing down the wear on the plastic resting point. A dry cam will ''grind'' down the plastic quickly altering the gap (closing the points)

Cheers, Ken. I have to admit that it was a bit of an (un)educated guess when I said 'closing' the gap would increase the advance. I've just drawn a few sketches to try and clear it in my head - and I'm still confused .

I can now see that 'slipping' points would likely be 'opened' further as the cam would tend to push the loose points that way, but I'd have thought that opening the gap further like this would then make it take longer for the cam to actually 'open' the points and spark the ignition - it would ultimately end up only opening the points with the very 'tip' of the cam? Taking longer like this would, I think, equal retarded (that's enough sniggering in the back, thank you...) ignition?

Anyways, here's hoping that's all it was .

I'm dubious of a mechanic that says £100+ of electronics is the only cure. £5 worth of points and condenser will get it back on the road much easier and cheaper.

(not trying to start that debate again, I just don't understand what can be so wrong with the points that the only way out is with a chequebook)

D.A,
much easier to look at a picture, than taxing your brain by visualising what's happening...

If you look at the little selection below, it should be obvious that the further towards the top that the 'fixed' contact sits, the earlier the 'moving' contact is pushed away from it.

That's what was wrong with a car I checked over at Registers' Day, points gap set at something over 0.5mm, so timing had almost 30 degrees of advance at tickover and it pinked its nuts off when anything over half throttle was used.

ken

as ever a spade's a spade
I was tryingh to be polite(er)

at worst 4 or 5 pops with a centre punch will tighten up the hole for the screw
or a rummage for a new box
orpoints box and points!