I know this has been covered before but I just can't find it so could some one tell me what the dwell for the points should be? I like to check the dwell to see if the point gap is good. Thanks for the help. George

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George E Walling

George, my manual lists the dwell at 48 to 53 deg. Cheers, Frazer

Frazer thanks I'm dealing with a SC engine. George

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George E Walling

The dwell was pretty much the same on all models.

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Do most people check the dwell? I have never felt the need .

Thomas, I have always checked my dwell on my american made iron, dwell has a effect on timing so if you just set points with feeler gauge you may or may not be within the right dwell plus it has a effect on coil build up time. This is the way I was taught to do points back in the day of when car only had points. I don't know how important it is on the 356 as I'm not a master on are cars but old habits are hard to break. So now you know what made me ask the question. I hope this answers your question and doesn't create a big debate of the do or don't need to do it. Have a Great 356 Summer. George

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George E Walling

Setting the point gap is another way of setting the dwell; they are interconnected. One advantage of checking dwell versus using a feeler gage, is: if there is any pitting on the points, you will get a false reading with a feeler gage. Using dwell guarantees the correct coil build up time.

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Don't know if others use the dwell to compensate for rubbing block wear. Since dwell and gap are inverse to each other, you can set the dwell toward the lower spec (slightly higher gap) and as the rubbing block wears, the points come into the mid-dwell range (normal gap), and as wear continues the gap approaches higher dwell (narrower gap). This way for me at least, the point gap stays in spec for a longer time as things wear, compensating for the 'bedding in' of the points.

thank you for the info.