Setitng Contact Points Gap XK140 DVX6A 40199E

Struggling with idling issues and wondering if my points gap could be the problem… It is unusual to me that the contact points plate has two slotted / adjustable ends… my experience with other makes / models of cars one end of the points plate has a very determined mount / location to pivot from when setting the gap, and the other end is adjustable. it looks to me like there is some adjustability on both ends of the points sets that I have for my 140, and presumably the adjustment of each end will affect gap and maybe dwell? any tips on how to set these points up? I set the gap to .016 but am having issues with the engine almost stalling on initial tip in of the gas pedal, and I wonder if my points set up is the problem…

Cheers!

If the gap is correct then I would be more inclined to think that it might pay to check the timing.

The dwell spec is what the point gap is attempting to approximate…set the dwell to spec, then move on to other suspects. Point gap vs dwell is analogous to bolt torque vs bolt stretch.

i found the 140 distributer much better than later units after 62 ish as i had a few with uneven cam wear and bent cracked housings. rebuildable scopable by decent shop or some people on list can offer great advice and rebuild. just my 2 cents worth personal email cheques prefered payment preffered. john

So I have redone the timing and the gap, haven’t had the opportunity to road test, but there was no indication that anything was poorly set. I did notice that the plugs were all pretty fouled / black; even thought I cleaned and regapped them when I did the distributor service and have only done a few short 30 min runs since then… maybe just rich carbs fouling the plugs at idle?

Also - plan to regain my old dwell meter and timing light this weekend for further investigations!

Black plugs usually indicates too rich.