Two things for your consideration:

1. It's been quite a while since the last time got out the tune up stuff but I decided the amazons were probably overdue since the parts boxes I have are dated 2007. My 45 year old Craftsman dwell meter plus seems to be in good working order, my equally old Peerless Pulsar Timing Light however had crapped out. I replaced it with one from Harbor Freight. It seems to work okay and with a 25% off coupon was only $24.75. I had enough Bosch parts to do both car's points, condenser, rotor & cap, NGK plugs and IPD performance wires ignition wires.

It took me a while to get into the groove, that the points gap determines dwell for instance, that the timing is adjusted by rotating the distributor body etc. That the bigger the gap in the points the bigger the dwell angle.

But I'd love to find a better way to adjust the points beside just trial and error. The best way I've found is to put the feeler gauge in the gap then hold everything while I tighten the base screw. I usually take the distributor out to change the points. Any suggestions?

2. I need to replace the brake lines in my 1995 Geo Tracker, I'd prefer to just buy a made up set than to make my own. I've searched the internet without a good result. Anyone got a source that might have these?

This may be of interest:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=196644

For what it's worth---- I've had bad luck with NGK spark plugs. Actually had a couple of brand-new ones that wouldn't fire at all. Now I use Champions.

I think I've read that comment the opposite way round quite a few times. I've never had a problem with NGK's for it's worth.

I'm with Derek on the NGK's---always the best for my OHV Volvos any how. Autolites have always been reliable as a modestly priced plug in years of 240s,700s.
My parts guys explained why the BOSCH Double Platinum plugs @ 8 bucks a pop are dealer/shop recommended for many FWD's, V6's. We know it's an expensive plug, but they'll last 100K miles w/ electronic ignition, and the labor to change is massive.
So a Volvo 240,140 etc. is an easy change, but your FWD's may have come with a high dollar plug. Never had a problem with the reasonable ones, except the Champion Plugs.

Regards form Sunny Fla, Kayo

I'd always found Champion N-5 and N-9Y plugs worked satisfactorily in my British cars. Then switched to Bosch when I started owning B18/20/30 Volvos. While working for Honda in the very early 80's I switched allegiance to NGK, the plugs Honda used. Those early Hondas had lots of carb problems leading to many "on the car" cleanings as per warranty. The method of setting float level was to raise the level (external screw) till the motor flooded--then back off prescribed amount. The motors would fire up immediately despite being soaked. -- Dave

You're on the right track. Dwell is the period the points are closed though. As the rubbing block wears dwell increases over the life of the points. Increasing dwell also retards the ignition point. So you set the dwell or breaker gap first, then the ignition timing. If you want to be accurate, set the dwell to 58 degrees but otherwise 60 is fine. Set at .016 inch and then see if the dwell is 60 as that will tell you if you are using the feeler gauge correctly. At this point however the cam and shaft wear in the distributor will usually defeat accuracy.
The two piece points are best done on the bench. It's also important to get the contact patch centred between the two sides. That makes for longer point life.
Use breaker point grease or the stuff they provide. Use about 1/4 of what they give you. Dielectric silicone grease works too. No petroleum grease.
Oil the upper felt under the rotor, and the cap on the outside of the distributor for the upper bearing.
Rubbing block on the lobe of any cam, bit of friction on the moving side of the points, adjust to a light drag on the gauge, remove the gauge, tighten not too much, recheck with the gauge and see if it's tighter or looser. Trial and error. That's all you can do.

Can't fault anything said there but IMO don't get too anal about a degree or two of dwell. Most people don't have a dwell meter and back in the day it was an expensive bit of kit for a workshop. 14-16 thou for the points will work fine and using a 15 thou feeler is a good compromise. If the distributor is a bit worn it will vary a bit anyway. Check the points on each cam lobe and see. It's very worthwhile to clean out all the accumulated dirt and grease from the advance/retard mechanism. On the bench is easier but it can be done on the car too. A good spray down with brake cleaner while twisting the rotor part of the shaft will loosen everything up. There are large holes on the underside of the dizzy body for the dirt to wash out. Lightly oil the mechanism after everything has dried along with oiling the top felt and side oiler. A dab of grease on the cam will greatly slow down the wear on the fibre part. They aren't as durable as they used to be. Recheck the points gap after 1k miles, the fibre will have bedded in by then. If the A/R mechanism has been sticking you might be surprised at the improvement in driveability.

Thanks for the responses. The dwell is currently at 64 degrees, just within the parameters set in the shop manual. Timing is 10 degrees BTC @ 700 rpm. It's running and idling quietly but should I try to get the dwell down to 60?

Drive it and enjoy it. A high dwell number will give a bit better coil saturation, better spark, but the dwell will reduce fractionally as the fibre heel wears and the gap reduces.

Dwell increases with rubbing block wear, which is why I stated to set new breaker points with slightly less dwell, which is a bit more gap, as mentioned in my first post.

I agree with that, my bad, dwell does increase as the points gap reduces due to wear of the fibre heel. Sorry about that.

So as the gap decreases the dwell-or period of time that the points are closed-increases.

I'm going to OPEN the points a bit then in that case as 64, the current reading, is very close to the maximum allowed according to the specs.

Thanks for catching that. Seems simple enough:

More gap = less or shorter dwell

Less gap = more or longer dwell.

Must be my aging brain out for a walk.

hairy apple -- reread what you just wrote and I think you'll find it doesn't make any sense. You will need to open the gap a bit to lower the dwell reading. -- Dave

thanks for catching that, I have changed the word close to open.

When you're happy with the dwell, re check the timing. As you move on to the SU's you have to have the timing correct and also have the valve clearances correctly set before tweaking the carbs.

No need to be sorry. We're all here for the same goal - fixing cars.
Happy New Year to you Derek.

Thanks Derek, have printed the responses out and they'll go in my archive.