got a multimeter but its a bit ropey so ill go with the bulb, so how does a coil with no wires attached at all, a bulb attached to it then earthed work?
i would of thought a bulb between the earth for the points box and the points box would be best? or maybe not..

points are a switching earth if you attach a bulb between earth and earth what will happen?

the coil doent need to be energised while your testing timing, you want to find out when the points switch

the other coil lead is 12v with ignition switched on that will supply the power for the bulb

nothing will happen, which is where im confused, oh god, so confused, was going to go out to the garage to go and have a go, but i think ill do it tomrow as my eletric blanket is on and bed will be warming

you all know what mayoianse looks like, but thought id take a picture anyway just to show you,

right so i had a go just now of locating what is what with thie rod in a hole business...
think i got it, although there seemed to be many holes, and i dont really know what you describe as the "bell hosuing" what that is really, so heres pics of what i did, i only took the fan off, and points box cover off, and had a look round





as you can see i went with a long bolt, which just fitted in the hole, if you can see where i came from, it felt like the point of firing as it was where there was most compression on turning, but i imagined it being a small slot so once it was in place it was dead on perfect and couldnt move, however i could move it a tooth or 3, i havent marked it as i just want to confirm im on the right tracks, i went below what looked like 2 pipes, and through to the flywheel, the lowest of all the various holes etc, and at this point, *looking att he points, they where closed at this point, the oil level was the exact same as ealier when i checked, and ive driven 50 miles since then, so i think it may of settled down again but still not sure,
anyway i would do more tonight as im nocturnal atm, but cant




*once sean has made me understand ?(sorry i dont quite understand still sorry!) how to go about using a lamp i shall do it this way

James,

there's a small hole in the left hand "horn" on the back of the engine. When you look at your engine you'll see a blue and red plate with the engine number on it. This is attached to the bit that I mean when I say "horn".

What you need to do is (a) read Haynes more carefully, because for all its faults it does explain how to set the timing statically pretty well, and (b) poke your 6mm rod (I use the oil dipstick) through this hole, then turn the engine by hand until the rod, dipstick, whatever can be pushed into the hole in the flywheel. To save you going through this every time you set the timing, mark this point with paint or a punch mark on the flywheel. Doesn't matter where, as long as you can align the mark you've made with a bit of the engine.

Done that? Good. Now turn the ignition on and connect your test lamp, one end to earth (the alternator bracket will do nicely) and the other end to the coil terminal which is connected to the points box. (You have, of course, already fitted your new points and set the gap to somewhere between 0.35 and 0.45mm (when the points are fully open on the heel of the cam) using feeler gauges.) Slowly spin the engine with a 14mm socket on the fan bolt while you watch the timing lamp. When the mark you've made on the flywheel comes into alignment with whatever point you're measuring it against, the lamp should just light up. If it doesn't, you need to rotate the entire points box by slackening off the two nuts which hold it to the front of the engine and tapping it gently around. As far as I remember, if the light comes on too soon you need to rotate the box anticlockwise and vice versa, but I might be wrong there.

Once you've got the timing right, rotate the engine by hand until the light goes out, then count the teeth that pass until the light comes on again. There should be around 65 of them, anywhere between 63 and 67 is ok. I always do this, mostly out of superstition I think since if you've set the points gap correctly it shouldn't be necessary.

Now put it all back together.

Allowing for the fact that it's a lot easier to do than to explain, that's pretty much how to set your timing statically. If your points cam is worn, or the balance weights behind the points box are knackered (and they do wear), your timing will drift out as your revs increase. Static setting cannot compensate for this, which is why it's a good idea to set it dynamically with a strobe and/ or renew your points cam and balance weights.

Hope that helps. Stop panicking about it and read Haynes slowly and carefully and you should be fine. I learnt by getting it wrong the first few times but it's easy once you get the hang of it.

ok lets take the last picture as the only picture ill talk about

you see the part of the engine casing that comes up to the bolt for the gearbox?

you want the one on the other side, the RHS one as you stand in front of the engine peering in
the bolt you got is in the correct hole in the flywheel so that gives you an idea of the height you look at its on the edge nearest the wing

you put the bolt in the hole its a bit tricky as there isnt much space and the manifold pipes are in the way you may have to cut it down a bit so it just long enough fit in the hole. Once its in, with gentle pressure on the bolt you turn the flywheel untill you feel the bolt drop in the hole that you found

thats the engine locked at "firing point"

now mark the tooth and the edge of the flywheel, that you see on your picture, thats under the gearbox/engine stud
or the one just coming out from under the casing, put a white mark on the engine casing as well to give you a good referance and so you can line them up by eye from the front of the engine

take out the bolt so the engine can turn to set the timing.

right test lamp bit
probably just easier if you dont think about it and just do as your told*. both leads off the coil one goes on one side of the lamp the points lead the other.

when you turn the engine over now the light comes on and goes off as the engine turns its on when the points are closed off when open

the points are a switch

you want the points to just switch off the lamp at firing point , when the paint marks line up so watch what happens

if the lamp goes out at firing point good pack up and put it all back

if not

line up the marks, loosen the 2 11mm bolts either side of the points box and turn it a bit so the light comes on then move it back till the light just goes off
tighten the bolts the light may flicker as you do this a tap on the box with the socket might ajust it back to light just off

spin the engine and see what happens ( often the light will go off at a slightly different place every other turn, this is due to the cam on the nose of the shaft being slightly off centre, remember a tiny error at the poits makes a bigger error at the flywheel)

once your happy that its all set put the coil wires back on and fire it up

no need for fan or cover yet

have a look at the points you can see them open and close, there should be no spark there' only the tiniest occasional yellow spark if there is a large bluish spark everytime they open or you can hear the ticking of the spark then the condenser is shot and you need a new one

have a look for your oil leak too before you switch it off you have nearly 10 minutes with a cold engne before you risk over heating

take it out for a drive and get it nice and hot then on a longish up hill bit of road 40mph 4th gear and floor the throttle, this puts the engine under maximum load, listen for what sounds like loose washers on the front of the engine. if it does rattle thats pinking, if the engine runs on after its switched off then its hot thats often a sign that the timing is too advanced and the engine is too hot.

re set the timing but time it to the tooth left of the painted one, so the painted tooth has passed the mark.
repeat untill you have a happy engine


* before you ask
points and coil are a simple circut 12v comes out the wire goes into the coil the coil is earthed through the points, when shut circut is made and the coil has 12v flowing through it as the engine turns the points open , circut is broken and flow of electricity stops. The energy thats soaked into the coil has to go somewhere at this point and is released as a high voltage charge that arks across the plugs.

the coil needs time to soak up energy, thats dwell, and is determined by the points gap

when setting the timing we dont need the coil charging up and if you leave it in an excited state for too long it will burn out
good advice for life too

Sean

were all singin off the same hymn sheet now!
however R-T connecting an earth to the points(earth) via a bulb wont do anything you can do that with the multimeter on continuity and buzzer but not lightbulb

you need the iggy on and bulb in place of the coil between the 2 leads.

Sean

Right thats very helpful and made it certain and clear. I think! Right bulb malarky, dtill some un cerntatity, haynes manual says keep both wires in the coil, but put bulb on the bottom one to points box... And other to earth..

just connect a bulb that lights when points closed and out when open

taking the coil out and subtituting the bulb eliminates any chance of error, giving yourself a belt or cooking the coil as you go off to make a coffee and another read of the forums

personally i use a multimeter with a buzzer

Ok right, makes sense now. Wante to take coil out so i dont heat garage up eith it, tunk ill go with one wire in tue feed and one wire in the points box wire, simples.
Thinking about therod posiion, i wasnt ib the right place? I was below the manifolds but above the red number plate, so im going tobhave a butchers tonight and see!