Distributor Dwell angle vs. Point gap - Welcome to The Amphicar Lovers Digest / Forum

**Distributor Dwell angle vs. Point gap -** 11-09-2001, 12:34 AM

The Amphi manual says to set distributor contact points to .015, but what
would that be in terms of dwell angle?

Doesn't a gap of .015 translate to the same dwell angle on every 4-cylinder
engine?

Thx, Brian Davis
Red '66

**Re: Re: Distributor Dwell angle vs. Point gap -** 11-09-2001, 04:33 AM

A quick note. If your dwell is off so will be your timing. For each degree your dwell is off your timing will also change by one degree. So, if your dwell was off by lets say 30 degrees, your timing also would be off by 30 degrees. Always set dwell first then timing.

t.w.

**Re: Distributor Dwell angle vs. Point gap -** 11-09-2001, 08:25 AM

Brian,

I just had this same question.

Here are the distributor point gap specs.

Contact breaker gap 0.014 - 0.016 in (0.35 - 0.40 mm)
Dwell angle 60 degrees +/- 3 degrees (negative ground)
30 degrees +/- 3 degrees (positive ground)

I found a Triumph Herald web page with the 60 degrees dwell. But,
when I set the dwell on my positive ground Amphicar to 60 degrees, it
would not run. The point gap was much too large. I think the 60
degrees is for a negative ground 4-cylinder car and a positive ground
4-cylinder car the proper dwell angle is 30 degrees.

So, I set my points to 30 degrees of dwell and my Amphicar runs well.

I hope this helps,

Darrell Gaddy
'65 Blue Amphicar - drives but rusty
Hunstville, AL