I fondly remember the times back in the late 60's and early 70's (when you could see the ground between the exhaust manifolds and inner fenders) tuning up my wife's car, and then mine in the driveway on Saturdays. First kiss the dog and pet the missus and tell her I'm going into town, then to the auto parts store to get plugs, points, and condensers, then to the beer store, and then back home for some quality time with the cars and the beer. It was even better when my like minded neighbor came over and we could both get in trouble. I loved those days and miss them dearly.

Probably the only accurate explanation of a basic ignition system I've ever heard from anyone in the automotive media. Good job Tony

3:38 - "Nothing on Earth as reliable as a set of points..." Write that down! 📝

When I started out it was using a tach/dwell meter and setting your points, adjusting timing, and adjusting idle mixture.....minor tune...plugs, points, condenser....bigger tune added cap, rotor, and wires if needed...fuel and air filters...maybe a breather element, perhaps a PCV valve....sometimes a carb rebuild. A Chrysler product...better put a spare ballast resistor in the glove box. Where have all the years gone? Uncle Tony's Garage sure brings me back....I sure miss those days. Thanks for keeping it alive Uncle Tony.

How much fun is it to charge a condenser and leave it on a bench for an unsuspecting victim...Young guy asks" what's thi."...ZAP...It never gets old.

Uncle Tony, excellent video!! The ignition coil, is a step up transformer. ( auto transformer, because the primary/ secondary windings are shared. 3- wire connection.) Transformers do NOT work with D.C. HOWEVER, making connection to a coil / transformer and then breaking connection, and repeating the process, you are creating an A.C. signal. The coil steps up this voltage to fire the plugs.. It's almost the same way they used to get 90V AC in the old 1950's car radios, except they had a device known as a vibrator to create the A.C. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Exc video!! Explained so almost anyone can understand. But then u always do

Finally a new episode of Uncle Tony's Garage. I started to go into withdrawals after that 36 hour Marathon. Talk about jonesing.

I swear nobody explains things better than Uncle Tony!!

Where's the nut? He's holding the pliers!

Jesus Christ I needed this. I was told to do a tune-up on my 76 C10, and that involved new "points". Well, me being a completely clueless new school gearhead had no idea what that meant. This was perfectly timed, and I am looking forward to the rest of the videos. I get paid Friday, so I might do the tuneup then if the student loans don't suckle me dry haha.

I really enjoy these videos Uncle Tony!! I used to replace the lean burn with old points ignition..Cheap at the pick a part style junk yards here..Guys were saying electronic ignition gains power and you feel it..I then bought a new orange box etc..well no difference on the street,just empty pockets(was a19 then)! Sure,when I found electronic ignitions at the junk yard I bought them and used them,but points never had an issue with them! One of my old Charger's still has points as does my '78 Dodge Magnum! **Hope you recovered from the 27 plus hours..You're a good guy! Same with Uncle Kathy,well she is a very good lady! Hope Keno was very happy with your effort,and you should be proud too..Remember people are always wary when giving out cash... Yeah some are cheap or just don't have any extra.. "A" for effort and a "Valiant" one at that!!!

I still like points and condenser ignition. They are great for a daily driver.

Great demonstration, Tony.

Had an old Galaxie back in the good old days.289...always needed to service the points when fall weather set in. Cool and humid weather is when they seemed to need cleaning and adjusting. Be alert UTG...THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LERTS. Truly enjoyed your weekend wake a thon. ✌

From a 34-year professional shop owner/operator (and frequent critic), great video and explanation.

I'm 48 and had cars with points as a youth. Points were always a bit of a mystery to me. Your simple demonstration here cleared it all up in my thick dumb skull. Thanks!

I don't miss points, always had problems with them. You did great explaining it

I always used Standard Ignition Blue Streak points,rotors and distributor caps on my Mopars back in the day.

Everyone needs an Uncle Tony as their real uncle! He's like a walking automotive encyclopedia. 🤗

Glad to see you have recovered from the stream.The night portion was really good.I hope you will upload the portion with Lamb Chop at night.It was hilarious.Your streams are a breath of fresh air to the automotive cominunity.

So many people today, think "points" is a bad word. I love em. Like ya said...reliable!👍😎

Think I need therapy..One of my pleasures in life is gapping points...I normally pull out my VW distributors to do it as I find it a little easier and then refit and re time...This was a great video...Thanks Tony......

Points ,I'm 36 Tony I have been playing with points and Carbs since around 10 my grandfather thought me how set timing and etc at an early age. There are a few of us young guys still playing with this stuff.

My brother's German Konig-powered race boats regularly required changing its Bosch or Sems magnetos, often between heats, as they didn't like heat. When he came in from one heat and the magneto was snarly, he always thought it best to exchange it with a "fresh" one. Time between heats was 5 minutes, so time was in short supply. Before we yanked the hot mag off the engine, he always wanted to ensure the fresh mag was good, so he would hold the mag in his hands and spin the gear... with me holding on to the leads. My arms still ache some 40 years later. I much prefer your test, Tony.

wow I've never seen that explained so simply you are such a huge asset for the automotive enthusiast

My request is everyone ALWAYS include a thank you in their comments. Uncle Tony is literally providing a PhD course to us in classic car theory and practice to us for free in these videos. Thank you, UTG!

New subscriber here, you are a fantastic teacher! Right to the point and easy to understand for those that may be new to the older tech stuff. Love the videos keep up the great work!

I'm one of those "slightly" over-40 guys that never had to get deep into points (until I had to re-build an old 1953 5-1/2 horse Johnson outboard). All of the vehicles I drove had electronic ignition. My Dad talked about how they used to set the gap on side of the road with a pull-tab from a beer can. It was good enough to get you home.

always carry book matches. right thickness for most points or to wedge under your 8-track.

The Tiny Little Lighting Bolt... that creates Spark!!! And Movement... Thanks Always Uncle Tony.. Oi oi oi.. great to see ya No Worse for the wear from the Live Mega Stream..

Awesome demo Tony. Used to set my points on old small block Fords with a paper match book cover.

I'm glad to see you've recovered from the live stream,plowing snow for 26 hours straight has taught me sleep deprivation is no joke.

When I was a kid, my best friends stepdad raced sprint and super modified cars, mostly out of San Jose, Ca. Watching this video just took me back to spending time with him. I only wish I would have been smarter at age 13-14 to take advantage of all the knowledge he has. (yep, hes still living) I found out a few years ago, through the beauty of google that he was actually in an indy 500 pit crew sometime around 1962ish if I remember correctly. Im subscribed.

You need your own TV program! Tony . Knowledge is key . And your keychain is solid full ! Ty ! Your videos are awesome 👏

Digging out my dwell meter and timing light and watching again. Just like my old school mentors w/o the dobbies !

Good basic description of the system for guys like me who missed that whole generation of cars. I understood it before, how it worked, you helped fill in the blanks thoughts since I have never messed with one. Like the cam on the distributer shaft that actually did the mechanical opening and closing of the points.

"No one does the voodoo like you do", Uncle Tony...Great demonstration and the close-up camera work was excellent. The lighting was good and I could see everything clearly, Uncle Kathy.

I still have points in my old Gravely Tractors. I love them.

Even with the condenser there's still more spark at the points than I would've suspected. Interesting. This was an excellent way to demonstrate how points work. I miss them.

I've always liked points, I stick with them on a lot of projects. Thier just simple and really don't fail. Back when I was younger I used to adjust them with a matchbook, then I stepped up to the dwell meter LOL I still have a couple of old dwell meters that I use somewhat regularly.

I could hear the ballast of that fluorescent light screaming. They really are the prima donnas of illumination.

Finally a you tube video that isn't totally pointless. I have a points screw driver next to the dwell meter and am asked often what are those, I use my points file on my finger nails.

"I'm just going to screw around with this because it's cool." Absolutely, and a wonderfully illustrated example of how a points system works. Thanks Uncle Tony

Awesome video! Thanks for helping get my 70 year old car back on the road

Man that was great! So glad we all have our Uncle Tony!

Best example of how points work I have ever seen, I am 52 and a car guy! Great job!

Yeah it cracks me up how many have fallen for the Pertronix modules and such because they think they're gaining something. I STILL run points in my car. I check/lube them every other oil change or so(about 8k miles) when I rotate the tires. The last set I had ran 20k miles before I replaced them and even then...they could have gone more but I was already "in" there and so I simply pulled the entire dizzy, viced it, checked the weights/springs etc and installed a new set. Took an ENTIRE 20min or so including break. Whew...exhausting...especially considering the some of the same guys complaining on "how long" it takes to maintain them think nothing of spending that same amount of time every week or so wiping their car down with a diaper and ensuring there are no streaks in their chrome.

Do you get that many idiots that don't understand how points work? You have done many videos explaining how it works and are very easy to understand. Been running them for years on my 69 firebird ramair 3 with no problem if you keep them clean,gapped and dwel set. Keep up the good work and videos cumin.

Shoulda got Lambchop to hold that yellow wire and tell you what the voltage is.

Thank you. I’m 13 and working on a Honda motorcycle. I have been working on small engines, but I have never seen points before.

Best explanation about points I've ever seen or heard! You are a treasure trove of info UT! Congrats on your YT success!

Thanks for this video. I’m getting into motorcycle maintenance and kept hearing the term and wanted to finally learn what this stuff actually does.

Mate, I always had heard "it could be the points" if the family car was playing up. Never knew what they were until now- i'm 55. God Bless you for these awesome vids. You have a great gift of explaining things. Well done, UT.

Back in early 70s Sun tune, had a distributor tester, That you can remove any distributor out of any car set the dwell either on single or dual points. They could run it up to 6500 to 7000 RPMs it sure as heck beat using a feeler gauge. Save a lot of time, and I believed on my 73 240 Z Datsun only charge like $30. Excellent video got me thinking.

Your right to the 'point' with this nicely set up demo Uncle Tony!

Thanks Tony! My boss said he’d fire me if I didn’t learn what points are and you’ve saved my job!

Best demonstration of how points work I've seen! Definitely demystified it for me.

I’m so astonished with how well and easy to understand you word things when explaining what parts do what. Another excellent video uncle Tony! I’ve always wanted to learn the operation of points and people that I’ve tried to learn it from before didn’t explain it very well, this video explains it great to a T

I feel like by the year 2050 these the information on old cars and the knowledge that goes with them will all be hopefully stored here. For the future generations to really learn about the past.

I knew how they worked before I went to tech school in the late 90s, but im glad I did. The teacher actually said : I need to teach you points before we advance in ignition theory. Not all saw the humor in the advance joke. Don't ever say never, there's still lots of points out there in all kinds of old equipment. Good stuff , and it's usually fixable on the roadside.

Hey Tony love the vids you have tought me do much I went out and bought and old jeep from a field and started restoring it and you have helped so much with the engine side of things and working on carbs. Keep it up man!

I always thought it was some big complicated set up you couldn’t have made them any simpler thank you!!

You have the best explanation I have ever heard. And with the demonstrations it drives it home. I've adjusted, replace and set Points so many times. Never had it explained so simply.

Uncle Tony that was a good basic explanation but I’m glad they’re gone. I loved it that my charger here in Australia had the factory electronic ignition. Cheers😊

This is the best description of points I've ever seen or heard. I'm definitely in the points are 'kind of sketchy' age group.' Thanks man

I asked you to make a video on points during the live stream on Saturday and sure enough you're a man of your word tony! Thank you guys so much!

Uncle Tony! You are a great teacher! Thanks for sharing!

Just LOVE your work Uncle Tony! To the point, simple language and no ad-lib extra hullabaloo to try to sound impressive. I still run points in my Valiants, even though folks think they're antique collectors items down here, and are starting to price them accordingly.

This is why i love your Videos. Perfectly and simply understandable explained. Thank you alot !! You add alot of Value to all of us !! Wish you the best :)

its realy good your spreading know how thats dying along with the people that grew up with it ! soon your will have to google what are points an don't think they tell you a paper set of matchs is bout 15 thou you can set points with it an use the light match part to clean them love your blog does remind me how old i am though lol

Outstanding explanation!!! Thank you so much. I’m a pretty good wrench that came up as points were fading out. I appreciate your thorough real world demonstration.

Interesting that there is no performance advantage to electronic over properly tuned points. My ‘73 has that reluctor electronic deal that works great. When I had points on a ‘61 Buick, I always had problems with a unified points and condenser set up. With separate points and condenser, it ran great. The condenser on the unified ones was usually bad. I eventually went to Pertronix upgrade on that car. Maybe I didn’t need to after watching this. Great episode!

Great video Tony. I have fond memories of doing monthly valve lash and point maintenance on my brothers old beetle.

Brings me back to the 1970's 20" Toro cutting grass, maintaining points, and $15 cut some neighbor grass after school.

Thanks U.T. Please cover dual points as well. I am currently building a 225 Buick for my old Willys jeep. I enjoy all your stuff, I have been working on old cars since they weren’t that old. Taker easy!

This is the most teaching channel out here great content as always tony.never let old school die

Professor Tony taking everyone to school on this video. 👍👍👍

Im a young guy and I love points distributors they rock and r super easy to work on. I had to use a finger nail file to clean them on acouple of my dads old cars after they sat awhile lol

Nothing more awesome than watching an oldhead discuss mechanics. Keep it up good stuff!

That was a clever setup!! WOW...I have not put points in a car in years. The last points car I had was a 1970 Buick Electra 225 back in the 80's. Need to get a points car to prepare for an EMP attack!!

Thanks for the excellent description! My Dad always used to have in his car and truck a tool box with all the tools and points, condenser, rotor, cap and plugs to do a tune up along the road if we broke down. That got us going a few times. Poor man, due to being born into a disfunctional family only had a third grade education, but he was wiser and smarter than 99%of the population!

Thats impressive, just how perfect everything is to make a engine run, the fuel the air and the spark. I love it

Glad to see ya alive!!!! Even though it was cut a little short, I'm still super proud of you my man!!! Great job on that 36! Nothing but love to the whole team! ❤️❤️

Brilliant! Perfectly explained and demonstrated. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks man I actually found this really helpful and informative I'm actually an apprentice mechanic and none of the learning material would be able to explain it like you did and actually show it working of a car 🤙

Uncle Tony, Thank you so much for having a KZfaq channel

Fantastic video! I always wondered how they worked

Uncle Tony, that was outstanding. Thank you!

Very good demonstration. Simple as can be.

I’ve been hoping to see this tutorial from tony. I thought I knew how it worked and I pretty much had it right. Young people will find it hard to fathom how brutally simple this is. Surprisingly reliable. Is what has always surprised me.

Thanks for your time and shared wisdom T.

Hey, thanks for these videos, much appreciated! Love this stuff.

Great explanation especially with the visual demonstration.

Great video as always! I love this series of old school tech

Uncle Tony done got me itching to work on something. I'd give you multiple thumbs up if I could.

Thank you, this video helped me immensely, I just spent 2 days trying to figure out why my 77 corolla doesn't have any spark. I thought that the wire on the distributor was supposed to be 12v, which lit a set of points on fire, luckily they had to be replaced anyway. Thanks

I had a teacher that when we were trouble shooting things he would give the reason and what was going on, then he would say then in this component FM occurs and then comes out of that component then does what ever. Well Tony said Voodo. Same thing. FM, I learned later was F'ing Magic.

Great video. My boat has a 302 with points and it really is a simple and easy system to get running. Best of all, I only need a flat screwdriver, a file, and a matchbox on board if something ever happens to make it run.

Hey, Tony! I've been a Mercedes-Benz dealership technician for 7 years now. Loved cars since I was a kid, self taught until going to MB training. I never learned about distributors, points, or anything before ecu efi. I just want to let say I appreciate the video, and you have a new subscriber. Thank you for helping teach me something new, even a few years later it's a great help to us injection kids!