Yea I did that and it does still jump around, just not as much, and I found out that the multi meter I have access to does have degrees for dwell and I hooked that up and the dwell was at 25, I have tryed everything I know of to gap and time that and I can not get the dwell higher than 26, the pic I posted shows it is suppose to be at 33 degrees and I can't get it any higher than the 26, the wire that runs from the ignition coil to the distributor is really old and was long so I wound the extra up into 3 or 4 small coils and zip tied it, don't know if that is the problem or not, if I time it and it's right at the timing mark mostly other than the little jumping it's doing it seems to run fine but the dwell reads low and the mark still jumps even the amount it is now.

 

It's not the coil wire or it wouldn't start.

 

Ok I managed to get the dwell to 33 degrees but only after gapping the points to .010 why would I have to set it that low?

 

First you need a dwell meter, you can have parrallaxe error with a vom. I'd suggest a feeler gauge or a match book for about .017" with the point cam at max with the point gap at max, that should be around .017". then set the points with a dwell meter, are you using a single point set with condenser or a uniset?

 

I am using a digital multi meter with dwell with degrees and rpm settings, I have been using a feeler gauge to measure the gap, and yes it's a single points system with a condenser, if I have it gapped anywhere around 0.016 to 0.019 it keeps the dwell at 25 degrees and it does not really change between the gap.

 

Given this, I can not help you. If the distrbuter is not worn out.

 

Its probably the distributor, it sat for 16 years not running then we started working on it about a year or so ago, I can set it with gapped points at .018 and then time it and it runs good it just does not have the correct dwell, may just have to set it back to that setting and use it as is till I can get another distributor.

 

I have one other question, I have this thought that the cam where the points ride open and closed may be worn down, how can I test that?

 

You can't other than is the gear driving the cam shaft worn out, that is driven off the cam shaft itself. Remove the distributor, is there any play in the shaft? If so, it is worn out. Either replace it, or the bearing.

 

This is what I'm trying to work with. This is when it's at -4 btbc.