1979 ironhead points setting ????

Ive looked in my service manual and it doesnt say what gap I need in the points for my bike. Its hitting fine on the front cylender but the pipe doesnt heat up very fast on the rear one.so I dont beleave its hitting correct in the rear cylender. one thing to note on it is when I pull my plug wire 3/4 the way off it seems to start hitting (weered ) Yes I did replace the plug wire to see if that was the problem but it diddnt seem to make a difrance. I thought the points setting could be off. just looking for info or pointers on this. Thanks

79 points setting

An old mechanic named Pop White in Lutz, Florida showed me a trick on my old ironheads. Take the cellophane off of a pack of cigarettes, place it between the points and then set them to where you can smoothly pull the cellophane from the points. Always worked good for me. Hope it works for you.

I tryed the cig. celphane thing and also the spark plug and it does run but backfires threw the carb and also the exs. Ive got a question, I put a new set of points on this bike and it hasnt quite ran the same sence so could it just be the wrong set of points. the ones I purchased was from an auto parts store not a bike dealer. becouse it was late and the bike shop was closed.

I installed another set of points and got it running. but one problem it will only hit on the front cylender. the pipes not getting hot on the back pipe. I did check for fire on the rear one and it is sparking correctly. I put my finger over the sparkplug hole and it blows it off. I also lookied inside the cylender and it apeares that both valves are opening and closing. when Im giving it gas it does mist out the carb. I also adjusted the timing and it diddnt seem to help eather. compression - fuel - spark - should hit. I also replaced the plug wire and also the plug. I just cant figure this one out. as usual its probily somthing small Im just overlooking but who knows.
let me know if you all ave any ideas that I could try or if you have ran across this before.
Thanks for all the advise so far.

79 points

I agree, condensers can cause some strange problems in the points area. It is also a very cheap fix. good luck

Don't know for sure, but could the coil cause a problem like thi?

diidnt fix it

Well I tryed the coil and it diddnt fix the problem but I needed a new one anyway becouse it was out of spec. so I desided to pull the cam cover and I beleve I found the problem. the cams for the rear cylender fell out so I dont know if they were out . but the int. cam for the front cylender was off by one tooth. so my thoughts on this is that the valve may have been open just enoph on the exs. stroke to blow the fuel out the carb that was suposed to be going into the rear cylender. and if this cam was off theres a posibility that the other ones could of been out also. I will let you know if it works as soon as I get it back together.
thanks again for the help, its been one big learning experiance. thats what makes them so much fun though and gives you alot of pride in the machine.

got her hitting on both cylenders BUT

Well I got her togather and its now hitting on both cylenders. but now on acceloration it back fired trew the carb a little . Probily the accelorator pump. I will try to rebuild the carb and let you know if that fixes it.
(slowly getting there) Bill

sporty cams

You may have solved your plroblem. Be very careful lining the cams back up. Some of them have to be lined up with both cams on either side of it. If you had one of these cams off a tooth. It would really make a difference. Because now you have two cams off, possibly three instead of one. When you put your cams back in go ahead and change your cam bushings too. Just take your time lining them up and double check often. It really isn't hard to put them back in, just keep checking your alignment marks on your cams. Good luck. I hope you and the sporty are back in the wind soon. Take care

up and running good now BUT now have to take the trans down

well after rebuilding the carb and replaceing the points plate, plug wires , plugs, points , plugs, and coil. she hits on both cylenders and runs great. tell I took it out for a spin . It kept popping out of 3rd and than just had 1st and N. so I pulled the trans down and found the coggs on the 3rd gear was wore and also the shift arms were wore bad on the pins and also wore some on the arms wher the gears ride. the shift shaft was damaged also. so I will be replacing the arms and also the 3rd gear . If you know any other things I need to look out for just let me know.

I just wanted throw in my two cents here. It sounds an awful lot like the timing is 180 degrees out. That happened to me and it is very difficult to see as it all looks the same.

Softtail

Huh?

If an engine is 180º out of timing it will not run trust me. Put a distributor in a big block Chevy 180º sometime and try lighting her up. KABOOM! and large flames will result.

1979 Ironhead Points setting????

Agreed on a Big Block multi cylinder engine. The thing about MOCO engines is they only have two cyl's. It is possible to install a distributor in 180 degrees out and it will run but not well. I have not worked on a 1979 but I did have a '70 XLCH. The timing lobes are different sizes and they will alter the opening points time. It sounds as if he got it running now but to me it sounds unusual that so many things were bad at once.

Like I said, it was only 2 cents but worth a look. My '70 had been junked by a very raggedy wrench and I had to rebuild the whole thing. I ended up chopping it and it is still around somewhere. It had the distributor in 180 out and would run.

Congratulations on job well done.
Softtail

It was bad that so many things were bad but I beleave that the person that had this bike diddnt know his head from a hole in the ground and now Im needing to fix all his screw ups. so Im glad Im a do it yourselfer or I would have way to much money in this bike. I will defenitly have alot of pride in it bytime its all said and done. LOL I will keep you poasted

one hell of a project.

Congratulations, I have been where you are and it is a GREAT feeling when it finally works out. Drop us a line when you get it done and let us know how that first ride was. I bet the smile will never go away.

Good Luck and Ride Safe
Softtail

79 sporty tranny

You might want to have the tranny door checked for cracks and install new seals and bearings. Also I had a boss welded to the inside of my door to keep it from having problems like that again. A guy at Stewarts racing did it for me. They drag race harleys and he said they did that to their sportsters and it made the tranny dang near bullet proof. But they found cracks in my tranny door that I couldn't see. When you get this sporty running you sure will know a lot about it which will sure help with an ironhead out on the long roads. They are great bikes. Take care of it and it will take care of you. It all will be worth the trouble soon.