Im working on an old 460 and its got breaker points, we are having problems with them burning up. it will run great for a little while then coughs and sputters and backfires and dies. if i take a file to the points it will do it over again, seems like too much current is going through them. everything is all new, and i just got a ballast resistor for it and it seems to go a bit longer now before it does the same thing. it has an accel super coil on it for no apparent reason, so im going to swap that out with a plain old coil and see if it helps. any other ideas? it seems like it will idle forever, but once you run it, it goes to hell. im thinking about getting a pertronix unit for it but im kinda skeered that it might fry too.

 

nobody? heres the latest update. I checked voltage going in to the ballast resistor. 12.6 with the engine off, 14 with it on (all RPMs, voltage regulator is working fine). 7 volts out of the resistor with it on at idle, but it will go up to 12 if you rev it. I went and got a new set of accel high performance points. we tried to run it and it lasted less than 30 seconds. thinking the alternator might be spiking the voltage i took off the belt, filed the points, and same thing.

is there anyway that a worn out distributor could cause this?

 

Have you put a new condensor on it?

 

I would have to say it's the condensor also. That was usually what was wrong if your points fried frequently. The only other possibility is that you have them set either too far open or too close. Also make sure the shaft is tight and not moving side to side.