184 new points

[rednax]

I put new points on my 184 and they don't line up. I tried tightening everything differently and it did't line up. Should I grind some of the metal off of the plate the fixed point is attached to? I tried putting the old points back on and they didn't line up. Maybe I'm putting something in wrong?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10HzNgE ... sp=sharing

[john2189]

Looks like something is worn on the points pivot pin. At the bottom of the picture

[Eugene]

Points do not appear to be setting down square on the pivot pin.

Suggest a good cleaning up the "stuff" in the distributor.

Also, oil the wick under the rotor, center of the distributor rotor post.

[Dale Finch]

I believe your problem is that the end of the moving points (the spring steel where it attaches to the spring anchor terminal and held behind the nut) is not completely seated. The tab on the brown insulator is supposed to be on top of the steel to keep it aligned.

http://www.tmtractor.com/new/el/957fp.htm

If that tab (which should be at the top) is broken off, it will allow the points to misalign...TM's insulator is a good replacement. I have replaced about half a dozen that were broken.

[Dale Finch]

I just happened to be working on a distributor this afternoon...it came off a running cub, fairly new to me, so I hadn't driven it much. Good thing I opened it up. The plug wires, cap, rotor and points all looked fairly good.

It was missing the dust cap and that large gasket under it and the center felt (fortunately I had replacement parts on hand). Figured while I had it off and opened up, might as well go further down. The weight cover showed evidence of rubbing on the weights, plus one of the 2 weight springs was unhooked. It looks like it may be stretched out a bit, so might replace it.

Ah! But the reason I am posting is that the insulator I spoke of above was broken, and I had the opportunity to take some photos of the new one, so you could see what I was talking about.

The new black insulator...note the top edge of the insulator sticks inward over the top edge of the points spring end, behind the nut and condenser terminal.

[rednax]

Part of the insulator was broken off.

IMG_0630 (1).JPG (34.15 KiB) Viewed 1004 times

I'll order a new one and hopefully it solves the problem.

[Dale Finch]

Be careful when tightening the nuts that secure the terminal screw on both sides... it's easy to crack those insulators. Hope this resolves your problem!

[rednax]

I got the insulator today and the points still didn't line up. With the insulator and its bolt off the distributor, I was able to wiggle the moving point around the pivot pin. Is there a way to check exactly how out of round the pin is, and would there be any way to fix it without replacing it? I could buy a new breaker plate, but that's 100 bucks and the electronic ignition kits are $72.

[outdoors4evr]

Do yourself a big favor and ditch the points altogether. The Pertronix 1442 is a perfect fit in the 184. I have been using the pertronix for a decade in my 184 and it never misses.

[john2189]

You could try bending the pin a tad. If that doesn’t work, get the pertronix like outdoors4evr suggested.
Or run it as is.

[Gary Dotson]

Contact misalignment is nothing new, most folks grumble then accept the best they can get them, it's not a perfect world. They'll certainly last longer and perform better when properly aligned but not $100 better. I, too, like the Pertronix, if you favor going that way, otherwise, put it together and run it.

[Jim Becker]

Contact misalignment is nothing new, most folks grumble then accept the best they can get them, it's not a perfect world. . . .

I'll go along with that, and suggest that having the two contacts square to each other is probably more important than perfect alignment. Try to avoid having them close up so an edge of one contacts somewhere on the flat of the other.

[1CavRoohauler]

Do yourself a big favor and ditch the points altogether. The Pertronix 1442 is a perfect fit in the 184. I have been using the pertronix for a decade in my 184 and it never misses.

Is there anything else needed to do this ignition upgrade besides that Pertronix 1442 kit?

[outdoors4evr]

The pertonix kit came with everything I needed - minus the tools and the time.
It did require a little bit of wiring skills.

[SONNY]

Run the points!!! they are the ONLY way to go! --- most of mine dont line up either but never give any problems!!