56 Dual Point Breaker Plate

[Beemon]

So I gave up on electronic ignition systems after being stranded twice. I really couldn't stop there, though. I went and bought a Renberles Dyna-Flyte breaker plate, model 880C-D. The ball bearing breaker plate is already a step up from the wick pad. I grabbed my squeeze tube of white lithium grease, lubed it up, gapped the points per the instructions at .018" and pulled the distributor. Swapping plates was a breeze. The kit was complete, and included a condenser mounting bracket to go on the side of the distributor. It was just a matter of rerouting the contact and ground wires and I was done. Dropped the distributor back in, wired it up, and hit the starter to check the dwell. The instructions say 27 degrees on each point for a total of 34-35 degrees dwell. Started the car, set timing to 5, and away I went! I don't expect any type of performance upgrade, other than more dwell time for better coil saturation and smoother vacuum advance travel. The only modification I had to make was that I had to grind down the lead wire screw from the insulating block since it was interfering with the primary point set. I guess Cadillac guys eat these up because they go all the way back to 1937. Enjoy some pics!

 

 

Also pay no attention to my work station there... the garage is a shared space.

 

 

 

[old-tank]

Good score!  Most mid 50's Buicks will benefit from a new breaker plate, whether stock or one like yours.  Does this one use standard points or are they proprietary?  I had a Mallory unit that used points made of 'unobtainium'.

[Beemon]

The plate uses stock points. I was looking at the Mallory units and I figured when it said point set was included that it may be a Mallory point set included...The nice thing about this set is that the break points are the ones located next to the junction block, so if I decided to use single set of points, the timing will just be retarded by 2 degrees due to the offset from the stock plate. To be fair, my stock plate rotates pretty nicely, but it hangs up at the final end of the advance travel going both ways. I also used my dad's fishing weight scale to see what the spring force required to move the advance plate was and there was next to 0 force needed for the ball bearing compared to the original plate (can't remember the number specifically).

[EmTee]

Fancy!  I love the ball bearing action -- that thing should be bulletproof! 

[NTX5467]

That distributor cam looks might nice with sharp lobes!  Did you set the timing before or after the swap? Just curious as dwell affects base timing.

 

What's the maintenance cycle for the ball bearing lube?  I hope you used the correct "point grease" for the rubbing blocks!

 

Looks neat!

 

NTX5467

[Beemon]

There wasn't anything specified in the handbook about maintenance cycles, so I figured every oil change or so I would take the screw out of the vacuum advance and shoot a bunch of lithium grease in there (that's the grease hole). Point grease was indeed used as well! I did have to set base timing at 7 degrees again regardless because I pulled the distributor out. I did notice over the two times I've had the car out (it's parked now because I tore the radio out) that under load it has a slight miss, so I'm wondering if it's to do with the point gap. Either way, I'll be re-checking to make sure both sets are dead on each other and to also check timing again. I would like to get my hands on a dial indicator, too, one of these days and do it right instead of hooking up the dwell meter and bumping the starter while adjusting the points.

[Beemon]

I wanted to give an update on this, because I'm still really new to old cars and such with only 2 years under my belt. One of the point sets I bought was warped at the base, but I didn't think to inspect it because it was "new", so between installation and now, that point set had drifted off somewhere and my dwell was at 31 degrees. I never did check timing, but it was way off where it was supposed to be and the car ran like it had a bad ballast resistor (aka how it ran with the original ballast resistor). After I got back from visiting grandma, I pulled the set out and somewhat straightened it. Turns out when I untightened it, the screw allowed it to relax and go back to a neutral state that pulled it back into the 27 degrees per that set of points (reading was about 20, yikes). After all said and done, and checking the point gap both with the dwell at 27 degrees and with a .018" feeler gauge, I put the cap back on and I was back to 34 degrees dwell.

 

You guys know by now that I don't quit easy and I'm all about changing stuff, so I think if it happens again I'll swap in another set of points before putting the old breaker plate back in (or just running a single point). Still sounds really cool, when you put the screw driver to the distributor cap and listen, it's like a sewing machine in there.

[NTX5467]

Are replacements for your new set-up readily available?  Just curious.

 

NTX5467

[Beemon]

The breaker plate uses stock point set. It's just a matter of walking in and spending another $10. The points haven't migrated since last adjustment, so I think I'm in the clear.