Condensor

I am planning on replacing the condensor and points on my 73 B Roadster this weekend. Is it easy/hard? Any tips? Thanks!

Take the distributor out. That will make life much easier.

Ditto on Tom's advice... and if you mark dist location you can even remove/replace dist on the side of the road and not lose the little screws...and still make it home. If the car is currently running OK the condensor is prob good. Put the new one in the glove box for a spare.

Condensors were my favorite subject last week...Bonnet up (in the snow) on side of the road and no fire to the points. New condensor fixed the prob. However...condensor was not at fault. The wire was crimped (factory Lucas) to connector clip improperly and allowed wire strands to burn thru. Looked like only 3 strands were crimped. New condensor is Standard Ignition brand, works good and has a better crimp.

The B is not running ok, it spits and misfires. I asked and someone suggested that it is the condensor, and since the part is pretty cheap, why not give it a go?

The points will usually show it you have a condensor problem. Pitted points indicate an over or under performing condenser. One condition will pit the base part of the points and the other will pit the moving arm side. I'd have to check an old book in my tool box to tell you which is which. No burn at all on the points contacting surfaces indicate a perfectly matched condenser. There was once a 1963 Plymouth Vallient, I inhereted from my mother, and used as a daily driver until 1985 that I never changed the condenser in. The points contacts would actually wear dramatically and both faces still be shiny as new. My 1976 Honda Civic 1200 daily driver is the same way and has the original condenser in it. A dull light gray coloring of the contact surfaces indicated a well matched condenser also.

Sounds good. New cap and rotor might help too. Shaft bushing wear (wobble) is worth looking at also. Spitting and misfire could be rooted in something other than ignition. Always good to try and check everything.