Setting dual points gaps

[OaklandSpider]

Hello All...
just put in new spark plugs, new wires, new condensors, new points and a new rotor. I'm having a hard time getting the rotor to spin/rotate to hit the rubbing blocks so that I can set the points gaps correctly. I have read the manual telling me to tap the starter and/or crank the engine by hand. Any other tricks? I am anxious to get the points gapped correctly so I can adjust the rest of the timing, which I'm sure will involve many more questions to follow...
Thanks...
Peter
BTW...It's a dual points 1977 124 Spider...

[mdrburchette]

I stick the car in a high gear and rock it back and forth. Just make sure you don't run over your own foot.

[manoa matt]

Mark or scratch a vertical/mutual line from the distributor base to the cam box. Loosen the hold down nut and rotate the distributor untill the points rubbing block is on the high point of one of the lobes on the cam. The points should be a max opening. Set them, tighten the screws then rotate the distributor back to line up the marks and tighten it down.

[OaklandSpider]

Thanks Matt...your suggestion worked...although now I have a dead Fiat. I am considering purchasing a very well built American sledgehammer and turning it into a parts car (lots and lots of little parts)...I did everything I know how, correctly and by the book, but it won't start, turnover, nothing....If I could pick it up and throw it cliff right now I would...or give it a Viking funeral: set it alight and let it drift out to sea...
I'll probably try working on it again this weekend.
Peter

[jwhite]

Did it start, turn over etc. before you installed new points? Any spark to the coil.....dead battery? What exactly is happening?

[OaklandSpider]

Yes..it started, turned over and ran before this problem...I have set and reset the points (feeler gauge as close as I can get it) to running and starting widths. Now the starter is just grinding and the engine won't turn over/spark. There is a noticeable gas smell in the engine compartment, so I don't think lack of gas is the problem, there is just no spark. I'll check the battery (even though I put a new one in 3 months ago), but I don't think that's the problem. I even tried compression starting it and it wouldn't catch. The plot thickens...
Peter

[launieg]

When I got the '78 parts car last fall, it would not start (no spark) but had gas smell. So this spring when I finally got back to it, I changed it over to single points as per the IAP site instructions: http://www.international-auto.com/fiat- ... ersion.cfm It then started right away. Oh, I did swap out the coil at the same time (with another used one I had sitting around).

You might want to try it.

By the way, the change took me less than a half hour.

[thechadzone]

Did you try to advance the engine by putting a wrench on the end of one of the cam pullys? If you did, you might have screwed up your cam timing, making it impossible to start. Good luck.

[OaklandSpider]

I did not put a wrench on the cam pulleys...I can't seem to make her start...I'll give it some more work this weekend and keep you (anyone interested) posted...

[So Cal Mark]

do you have a test light for electrical testing?

[OaklandSpider]

Mark...
no electrical test light...I have a timing light, but at this point it's a moot point because I can't her running...
Peter

[kenmataya]

this is an ancient thread, and i imagine the problem is fixed, but try using your old distributor cap.....