[Lloyd-TX]

You're most welcome, my friend.

LOL Steve - sounds like many of my projects! And yes - it's EASY to install the rotor backwards! I got quite a chuckle over your almost blowing the roof off of your garage - been there and DONE that . . .

Glad to hear the richer primary calibration is helping, Steve. Now it runs as it should have all along.

Should have REALLY helped with the cold start drive-away problems you were experiencing as well.

Once all is broken in and running well, I'd highly recommend a dyno tune (next spring) for your car as well, Steve. A "little birdy" I spoke with last week had some VERY enlightening information concerning the secondary calibration, on a '72 T/A automatic car!

One last bit of sage advice, Steve - PLEASE do yourself a huge favor and purchase the M & H "Breakerless SE" solid sate ignition upgrade from PY. Far and away the absolute best solid state ignition system, IMHO. One wire setup, looks absolutely stone stock and original with the distributor cap in place, and has worked flawlessly in my Formy for nearly eight years! Best $140.00 you'll ever spend.

[Lloyd-TX]

Your fuel economy WILL IMPROVE with the correct primary calibration (and ignition timing), Steve - if you can keep your right kneecap off of the firewall, LOL!

I know that it's nothing to brag about, but I regularly get 10.5 to 11 MPG in my Formula. 430 HP, 530 TQ, 3.42 gears, SD Q-Jet and a moderately loose torque converter. That's NOT granny driving it either - plenty of hard runs through the gears and 80+ MPH freeway speeds.

With my experience, plus Cliff and Rocky's assistance, it's tuned as sharp as a scalpel, though!

[njsteve]

I will definitely look into that breakerless setup. These points-frying episodes are really accellerating my male pattern baldness problem.

P.S. Lloyd, feel free to forward me that secondary recipe as well. :-)

[Lloyd-TX]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I will definitely look into that breakerless setup. These points-frying episodes are really accellerating my male pattern baldness problem.

P.S. Lloyd, feel free to forward me that secondary recipe as well. :-)

You'll never want to see another set of points again once you install the Breakerless SE system - I'll personally guarantee you that!

About the secondary jetting deal - I'll send you an e-mail. Gotta be quiet about that for a couple more months, unfortunately.

I hope that I've finally learned my lessons about opening my big, fat trap when I shouldn't . . . Pi$$ed a couple of folks off ROYALLY in the past.

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by Lloyd-TX

I hope that I've finally learned my lessons about opening my big, fat trap when I shouldn't . . . Pi$$ed a couple of folks off ROYALLY in the past.

Hey, I can keep a secret...ask anybody.

P.S. Nobody reads this thread anyway.
:-)

[superdutybob]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Hey, I can keep a secret...ask anybody.

P.S. Nobody reads this thread anyway.
:-)

Really? How did we get to 71 pages then? LOL I love this thread!

[Lloyd-TX]

Originally Posted by njsteve

P.S. Nobody reads this thread anyway. :-)

Yeah - uh-huh, right, Steve!

[njsteve]

OK, so I figured out the reason I keep burning up the ignition points. I just don't know how to remedy the problem.

Just out of curiosity I decided to check the voltage at the positive terminal of the coil (the black/pink resistor ignition wire and the yellow starter solenoid wire that are crimped together) when cranking versus when running.

It is completely opposite of what it is supposed to be:

When cranking it shows 9.2 - 9.6 volts. Which I imagine is a full 12 volts but reduced by the amount of juice it takes to run the starter motor.

When running it shows around 12.2-12.4 volts.

This is the opposite of what it is supposed to be doing! It should be 12 volts during crank and 9 volts when running. So those full time 12 volts are frying the points.

I just swapped out the ignition switch under the column thinking maybe it was defective but no change. I checked the starter solenoid and it is wired properly with the purple, and yellow wires in their proper position.

Anyone have an idea on this? Is the resistor wire not resisting?

The engine wiring harness was supposed to be the one for the points ignition. (AmericanAutowire part# FB20530) I am wondering if they built me the wrong harness, and gave me the unitized harness instead.

Can someone with a unitized ignition tell me what voltage they get at the pos coil terminal when the car is running? (Just connect a voltmeter red lead to the pos terminal and the black lead to ground.)

I don't know if this is a blessing in disguise since I am going to upgrade to the M&H breakerless setup this weekend and their site says it will operate on the between 6 to 18 volts. I know that you need a full 12 volts running when you put an HEI distributor in, just wondering if the unitized harness has the same 12 volt running voltage.