What's The Point?

Points, that is. Burned another set, had to get towed to the shop. "73 Ford Country Sedan, 400 engine, this was the last model year for contact points. I've had many Fords with points and never had this problem before. The car just won't run well enough to move itself. The mechanic suggested I might have left the key on with the points closed, but no, I would not do that. I can only wonder what might be causing this!

 

Pointless

I'm no longer familiar with Ford points sets. GM has a resister to prevent burned points. Does your Ford have such a thing?
We were just discussing this as we are reviving our old SBC Ford with points. Haven't run a points distributer in years. As for us, since I still had a new set of points and rotor we decided to try to keep it as close to 60's style as possible.
Most likely in the future, and my suggestion to you, is swap for a Pertronics replacement. Then you will be pointless. Get the point?

 

I'd say your coil is bad. Ford used both external resistance and internal resistance coils. Yours should be internal and if it doesn't cut voltage after car is running then 12v constant to points will cause them to burn. check your coil.

 

I've heard the points produced these days are junk and do not last at all.

 

Me too along with most other replacement crap. Glad I had a new 1972 dated points and rotor set hanging in the garage for the old 1969 307 SBC.

 

Get a ballast resistor. Might help.

 

Remember, the wire from the ignition switch to the coil has an inline resistor. If someone bypassed it because it burned open, the 12 volts will burn them or the coil eventually. Just so you have them, here's the specs on the Ford setup:
--coil draw, amps...4.5A KOEO, 2.5A KOER
--coil resistance, ohms...PRI 1.40-1.54 ohms, SEC 7600-8800 ohms; test SEC from PRI POS to tower
--IGN resistor, ohms...1.30-1.40 ohms; test from IGN switch pigtail (disconnected) to coil POS (disconnected)

 

The new coil installed recently requires an external resistor. Key On, ignition wire to coil = > 12V. Now I'll go check Ohms. The wire goes into a bundle of wires, of course, so kinda hard to see where a resistor might be or what it would look like. On a '56 Ford, I know where that is and what it looks like!

 

It is at 0.5 ohms.

 

That's only 1/3rd of what the resistance should be; It's likely the resistance is only of a copper conductor. Did you short the probes together to get the meter's standing resistance? You do have to subtract it to get the true resistance reading on low-resistance measurements. So, anyway, see if you can find an early '70s Ford at a junkyard (up to '74 with the 351C--that was the last engine with points/condenser--my '74 Chero Squire was factory with the 351C-2V) and pull that wire from end to end. You don't want to cut out the resistor unless you plan to try to solder it in behind the dashboard. Install it and see if that eliminates the points destruction.

 

So,the resistor is supposed to be a Pink "Do Not Cut" wire under the dash. I don't see it. Is the pigtail that curved gray connector attached to the steering column? Hard to get that connector apart, no luck so far. And why is there 2 ohms resistance Coil primary wire to firewall connector with both ends disconnected? That is what I had thought would be the resistor wire.

 

I don't know, as I'm not the one doing the measuring (not to say you're doing it wrong or badly, just that I'm not the one doing it); the pigtail for the ignition switch will hang above the electrical switch, which mounts on the top of the column housing. And yes, it's grey. To remove the terminal, use a very small screwdriver or pick to release the plastic lock on the one side of it; to install, just push in until it clicks.

 

Upgrade to a DSII and be done with it.

 

You still need a resistor wire to go with the Duraspark. The two problems I would've had converting my '74 to DSII was finding a dizzy that would correctly fit the Cleveland block, as the Cleveland was the only Ford engine in the US that did not get IMCO upgrades in the '74 MY, and running a correct resistance wire under the dashboard. A Pertronix Ignitor II with the proper Blaster coil will be the bee's knees.

 

A Petronix module might be a good solution for you. Just helped a buddy of mine put a set in his 73 Delta 88. We went through the head scratching of whether it needed/didn't need a ballast resistor.