tools for tune up

[doug v]

First of all, thanks to everyone for your input last week, Yesterday I revived my cub by buying a TSC 'tune up kit' and installing new points & condesor, rotor & cap. I'm a youngster from the electronic ignition era and never done it before, but it was nice to have it fire up on the first try. I do have a few questions though:

1) is there any other way to get the breaker in the right spot for setting the point gap than pulling the starter and hoping it stops on the high spot? I've got no hand crank- how did they do it with an auto????

2) am I just clumsy or is really hard to get at the screws for the condesor & points- can't use a regular sized screwdriver 'cause the oil filter is in the way, and the dang screw keeps falling off and you can't see anything anyway. Any special tools that would make it easier? Magnetic stubby screwdriver? I ended up using the insert from a '4 in 1' screwdriver turning it with a 5/16th wrench. Is this why they sell 'ignition wrenches'?

anyway, its good to have the cub running again to get things ready for winter. I am planting 2800 tree seedlings in the spring & want to get herbicide sprayed this fall before the grass goes dormant. Made a spray outfit from an ATV sprayer in my trailer with a small 12 v battery, run the hose up to spray nozzle tied to a piece of square metal in the front implement hole; my 6 yr old boy sits in the tralier to switch the power on and off, and he gets a nice ride around with me - works great!

Good luck to all---- Doug V

[Into Tractors]

Doug, you should be able to turn the engine over by just tugging on the V-Belt of the generator. Another way is to put the tractor into gear, jack up one of the rear wheels, and turn it which will also turn your engine over.

For the tiny screws inside, there are some "Special" screwdrivers made that have a set of small arms on them that will hold the head of the screw onto the screwdriver blade, but the best one I have found has a spring-loaded mechanism in it that causes a wedge to pinch the slot within the head of the screw. Sears calls them a "Screw Starter" and the part number is #41024.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product. ... Cookie=Yes

[Eugene]

I find it easier to remove the distributor, then install the points on the bench. Fat clumsy fingers, shakey hands.

1) Rotate the engine by hand until the TDC mark is at the pointer and the rotor is at the #1 plug wire tower.

2) Remove and work on distributor.

3) Reinstall distributor with the rotor pointing to the #1 plug wire position, tighten down bolts just to the point that you can rotate the distributor by hand, snug.

4) Rotate the distributor clockwise to open the points. Rotate the distributor counter clockwise until the points just close. You can use a test light or vom meter to check the closing of the points. I usually do the rotation bit two or three times to get the points set (firing position) correctly. Tighten down the distributor. Your are ready to fire her up.

[WKPoor]

My dad told me he has a point setting kit,( I'm going to get a hold of it this weekend ), that has a sleeve that goes over the point cam thus not making it necessary to locate the high point on the cam and the feeler quages compensate for the thickness of the sleeve. I too however remove the distributor when tuning up and work on it on the bench.

[Mac from NS]

I removed the distributor for the first time to put points in yesterday
and it made things so much easier to do. Thanks to that how to forum.

[Buzzard Wing]

I did mine on the bench, but only because I had it off to clean it up anyway. There is a similar screwdriver to that one from Sears that I used to use when I was was a technician, it had a split blade with a slide that forced em together.

One trick I did learn was to engage the PTO and use that to turn the engine... pulley for the Woods mower helped to give me enough torque.

[Cecil]

I had the same problem with the condenser screw the first time I changed points in a Cub. I finally got a stubby screwdriver and superglued the screw to the screwdriver. Worked great. Since then I mark the distributor for timing turn it to #1 cylider and remove it and do the points on the bench. Sooo much easier.

[Mac from NS]

P.o. put the condenser on the out side of the distributor.It seems to work ok there.