Hi,

I will redo my ignition on the weekend. I have points distributor. Unfortunately I have only the 75 Manual and they have HEI then. Does any1 have the wiring plans and firing order etc?

THX

Mo

 

the spark plug firing order is cast in the manifold, it's like 18436572, with #1 being the front drivers side plug like, 1,3,5,7 then passenger side from front is 2,4,6,8. wiring? like converting points to HEI? i've seen this done to a '74. some one got that heavy brown(ish) colored wire from a '75 on GM car that connects to the dist. cap, stripped-off one end of it, twisted two of the existing ignition wires together, connected the "new" wire/connector to them, then ran it to the dist. cap. it looked like s**t, it worked though, there had to be a better way. oh yeah, you'll need different type spark plugs, "R" type i think along with HEI style spark plug wires and a HEI distributor. oh yeah, and the olds. distrb. rotates counter clockwise.

 

Hello Mo.
As BlueRay says, the firing order is cast into the intake manifold, just like on German cars ("Zündfolge").
As for the manual, there is a 1971 manual posted online (sorry, nothing later that I know of, but it should be the same), and the section you will need is here.

Good luck!

- Eric

 

what is that? like a '74 delta or 98 in your post(thumbnail)? i had a '76 88 for quite awhile. it was a 4 door hardtop. had a 350/TH375, then put a 455/TH400 in it. then stripped it and put a bunch of it into a '76 cutlass supreme brougham.

 

Cast in the intake or not, the firing order of every Olds V8 from 1964-1990 is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. That's set by the crankshaft and the cam, not the distributor.

 

I think he just wanted it in case he pulled all the wires off the cap and didn't know where they went afterward.

And I am ashamed to admit that I do not have the Olds firing order memorized, or conveniently tattooed on my forearm .

- Eric

 

'yo, if they had eight digit license plates around here, i would have that on my car(olds. firing order).

 

Hey guys, I replaced cap,rotor,plugs,wires. didnt help.

today i replaced the contact. i messed it up. i wanted to set it up with feeler gauge (dont know correct translation). i dont have a strobe lamp. now i have the ignition wrong. who can help me ?

the guide from the above posted 71 didnt really help me, maybe i'm just too dumb

thx mo

 

OK, you replaced the points. Of course you need to set the gap with the points resting on a high point on the distributor cam. To be honest, this really isn't that critical of a measurement to just get the car running. In an emergency on the side of the road, I gapped a set of Olds points with a matchbook cover and it got me home. (The short story is that I had an early breakerless conversion in the distributor - this was about 1978 - and the electronics died. I pulled it out, installed the old points that I had kept in the glovebox, gapped them with a matchbook, and it ran.) Since the Delco distributor allows you to adjust the points dwell with the engine running, it's frankly been a long time since I did it with a feeler gauge, but I seem to recall it's about 0.019" or so.

Here's a 1967 Popular Science article on how to gap points:

http://books.google.com/books?id=jSE...ibutor&f=false

 

Joe,

thanks for the quick reply and that interesting story

I think 0.019 is correct it's also standing in my 75(HEI) book. But car doesnt start. Don'T I have to re-adjust the whole ignition somehow?

 

The best way is to use an Allen key through the little door in the distributor cap to set the dwell angle first (using a dwell meter), then set the ignition timing with a timing (strobe) light.

You may get it to run without a timing light, but you will not be able to get it really right.
It would be worthwhile to buy one. Used ones are cheap here (-10) and not hard to find, but I don't know if they are cheap over there. It would also be worthwhile to get a dwell meter - since they aren't used anymore for modern cars, they can usually be gotten very cheaply used as well.

You can set the points with a feeler gauge, but it is a very annoying process compared with simply turning a screw until the gauge shows the right reading.
To set the points, remove the distributor cap and rotor, turn the engine (with a large wrench on the end of the crankshaft) very slowly, until you can see that one of the eight points of the cam is pressing on the follower on the points and opening them fully (you could also use a vacuum pump to pull the advance diaphragm into just the right position, instead of turning the whole engine). Then use the allen screw on the points to adjust the gap to the right size with a feeler gauge (or a matchbook cover...).
If you NEVER loosened the clamp screw that keeps the distributor from turning, you MAY still have the timing set right, but you should use a timing light to check.

- Eric

edit: Darn, Joe, you beat me again... And I didn't see yours before I posted mine.

 

i had a '63 le sabre with points and window in the 'stributor cap. once while adjustin the dwell i got shocked pretty good. the HEI on later GM's is a real shocker too, especially with a MSD 6 A box on there. once, ha ha, while tryin to get my '76 delta fired-up, the mechanic almost got knocked off the car hoist. a few years later i got bit by it, yowzers! be careful. not sure if the shock value between olds. buicks or pontiacs is different. ;'0

 

The allen wrench I use is a cheapo specialty item, probably from a bin at some swap meet about 30 years ago, with a screwdriver handle and a flexible spring shaft - works great and insulates against such contingencies.

Also, Mo, here's a contemporary article that covers points adjustment for beginners pretty well.

- Eric

ps: Whoa - by a strange coincidence, there's one on eBay right now .
Here's a picture:

 

THX guys, I will try that.

BTW: Everybody in Europe has may Allen wrenches in his toolbox. Is it a special tool in the USA? Here it is very very common (For example it is used to adjust all the screws in your house and on ALL the stuff from IKEA )

 

thanks bro, i don't have any more cars with points now, although i do have the disrb./coil/cap/rotor/spark plugs/wires/AC Del. spare points out of a '70 olds. 455(2 bbl.), along with the T-3 headlights. and some vintage mallory/accel coils and a regulator/other elect. do-dads. the car had about 80,000 miles on it(D-88). not sure what i'm going to do with all of this stuff, i figured i could use it to get more parts needed for my '76, who knows :'o.

 

No, it's not an uncommon tool or fastener over here, but we don't have the number of socket-head fasteners on our cars that you do, and older American cars didn't have ANY at the same time that Mercedes and BMW had LOTS of them.

- Eric

 

...it's a 1974 olds., right? the blue one, in your picture? rocket motor equipped, possibly of the 455 variety. thanks, bye.

 

BIG THX GUYS.
Got the car running.
Did it with the feeler gauge as you said. I will go to a friends shop next week to get it exxactly with a strobe light.

Mo

 

Be aware that the strobe sets timing. You need a dwell meter to set dwell. You need to set the dwell before you set the timing, since changes to dwell can change the timing (but not the other way around).

 

...and watch out that the timing light connections to the battery/ground don't get tangled-up in the cooling fan/altenator...s**t!!! wear safety glasses.