MSD distributor and 6A spark box for me. 

I did Pertronics. A superb electronic device. Also used the larger coil to enhance the effect. Points are a pain. 

Remember when every 3000 miles you had to replace points & plugs, and an oil change?  Now its 10,000 miles between oil changes and 100,000 for plugs.  And they say cars are not built the way they used to be -- good thing!

I've been having a problem with  my 74 L82 developing a misfire at higher rpm and progress down the rpm range. I replaced the condencer and it was good for about 400 miles and then it returned. I did this three times with the milage between the misfire developing getting shorter. Found the coil to be bad and replaced it along with the condenser. Problem solved for about 400 miles and it returned. After checking on how to test ignition componets it a old repair manual I found that both the new coil and condenser tested bad. Also read that if the coil doesn't have the correct resistance the condenser will go bad. I checked The diffrent points of resistance in the ignition system and found the 9" coil wire had 13,500 ohm resistance. Since resistance in the plug and coil wire should be 5,000 to 7,000 ohm per foot this coil wire was bad. I made a new coil wire and it tested out at 3200 ohm. I replaced the wire along with a new coil and condenser and so far so good it runs great. I hope the problem is now solved, but time will tell since I only have a little over 400 miles since the repair.

You guys have hit on similar experiences with my 72 Cutlass. I've been chasing a problem where the engine stops just like turning the key off. However, I have tried to restart with the ignition may work or no go. I have popped the clutch for a compression start, which sometimes works or no go. The last time it started on the 3rd compression attempt then accumulated gas in the exhaust pipe exploding with a bang.  The problem goes away or may only miss like it's going to stop, but I catch it and continue on. I have been plagued with this for almost 40 years. I can run for months without a hint of a problem. Garages simply replace points but that does not solve the problem but momentarily. I have replaced ignition run and start wires, ignition switch, coil and whatever. I'm not stupid and I've own the car since new. It has 309,000 miles on it and the engine has never been apart. I would appreciate input.

Jan Gerhart

Jan, Your intermittent problem sounds a bit like one I had with a Park Avenue. It ended up being a wire that had been rubbing on metal through vibration. We located it in a dark garage at night, and saw the arc when the problem manifested itself. What a hair pulling frustration.

Thanks for the info. What I can't get my mind around is the infrequency. Like I mentioned in my note, I may go a year, then it occurs maybe without a complete shutdown. Other times it feels like a miss. Sometimes I just turn the key and it starts. I've pulled on the distributor wires, jiggled the ignition switch to make it happen. No resolution.

Thanks for your comments. Any info helps.

Jan

Had the exact same thing happen on mine many years ago. When ever I take a rotor off of any car now, I crank the screws down good!

I'll try that. The problem has to be between the ignition switch and distributor. I have things going on now, but will dig into it in a couple of weeks.

Thanks,

Jan