How old are these points, condenser and rotor button?

[Cooper40]

I'm wondering how old these points, condenser and rotor button are. They are off of a 1949 plymouth? The points might be copper? Thanks.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Cooper40

[joecoozie]

PICS?????

[Cooper40]

@joecoozie Oh sorry! Totally forgot haha. Reload the page and they should be there. 

[Sniper]

The condenser might have a date code on it, don't know if the points would.

[keithb7]

I am not aware of a way to date them. If in doubt replace them. Points, cap, rotor and condenser. Keep the condenser in your glovebox as a spare. The contact section of the points is likely not copper. Just a the arms may have an ore blend with some copper in them.

[TodFitch]

In the old days a good set of points would have tungsten for the contacts not copper.

 

I don't know of any place there might be a date code on the cap, rotor, points. But the nice thing about those parts is that you can tell with a close examination if they are still good or not.

[Doug&Deb]

Before buying new components try filing the points and reset the gap. You may be surprised to find they still work. Honestly the new stuff is pretty hit or miss. I went through 3 or 4 condensers before I got one to work. I’d check any wires in the distributor and replace as needed. 

[Cooper40]

@Doug&Deb I will definitely do that. I'm more just curious if they are the original or not. I'm into knowing about that kind of stuff, how old something is, that kind of thing. 

[Doug&Deb]

On my last Dodge I decided to replace all the tune up parts and after much frustration I ended up with all the old parts anyway lol. 

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Cooper40 said:

I will definitely do that. I'm more just curious if they are the original or not. I'm into knowing about that kind of stuff, how old something is, that kind of thing. 

I really doubt they are original 1949.

I would guess that maybe within a few years of when the car was last driven on the road ..... assuming it has been parked for many years before you got it.

 

The whole idea about filing points is to remove the pits and keep them flat so when they close they get full contact surface with each other.

I know through the 1980's it was easier to spend $2 and bet a new set instead of filing them ..... rotors show obvious wear, the copper contact point gets shorter and the edges get rounded off .... the more wear they have on them the farther the spark has to travel to the distributor cap contacts.

Your rotor is in to good of condition to be original .... looks like it has very few miles on it ..... besides the rotor is square on the sides and many of the rotors in the 40's were round.

 

A trick I would offer, keep what you have to get the engine running. Then put a new condenser on and check that everything is fine.

If the new one works good then take the known good working one & put it in the glove box for a spare.

Then install the new rotor & points .... they are pretty much mechanical and should work .... just poor quality & wear faster then the old stuff.

 

Just comforting to know you have tested working ignition parts for a spare, if ever on the side of the road wondering if it is a ignition problem.

Some new products out of the box do not work ..... just nice to know that you know these parts work.

[desoto1939]

I would also suggest that you try to purchase a NOS breaker plate assembly for your car. In the picture of the internal parts of the dizzy I noticed several of the small wires are starting to lose their covering and the one is so close t the metal body of the dizzy it will cause the dizzy to short out and the car will not fireup.

 

You will need to know the model of the dizzy to order the parts. According to my Autolite Parts catalog the original dizzy parts are:

The information is very easy to understand you just need to know the correct dizzy that is in your car.  All major parts suppliers will ask the same questions.

 

Hope this helps you get the correct parts.

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Bryan G]

The yellow color on the condenser makes me think 60's-80's, at least. They're the one part that can go bad just sitting. Over a car's life, every time the car went in for a tune-up (which would have been fairly often-annually, at least) the mechanic would have likely changed all of those. If I was going to replace the points I would find NOS aftermarket parts no newer than the 80s. You can usually find them on eBay with some research.

[FarmerJon]

 

Luckily, these distributors are easy to remove and put back in correctly. They are simple to service 75% on a kitchen table.

You can test the condenser with a cheap volt meter, and inspect the points for wear. Fill if needed. Check all connector wires for good insulation. Check the points plate for free movement. Check if the vacuum advance canister still holds vacuum (suck on it).

[Sniper]

4 hours ago, FarmerJon said:

You can test the condenser with a cheap volt meter

 

Not really.  All a cheap volt meter can tell you is that it is neither open, nor shorted.  It cannot tell you the value of the condenser and that does matter.  Too much capacitance, or too little will cause the points to erode and which one of the contacts that is eroding tells you which direction you condenser is off.

 

https://austin7club.org/Ignition Condensors.htm

 

Quote

Contact pitting results from an out of balance condition in the system which causes the transfer of tungsten from one point to the other so that a tip builds up on one point and a pit on the other. The direction in which the tungsten is transferred gives an indication for correcting the situation. If the tungsten transfers from the negative to the positive point one or two corrections may be made. Increase the capacity of the condenser, shorten the condenser lead, separate high and low tension leads between the coil and distributor, move these leads closer to the engine block. If the transfer is from the positive to negative point, reduce condenser capacity, move low and high leads closer together and/or away from the engine block, or lengthen condenser lead.

 

If you really want to get into the weeds with this, lol.