I am trying to set the point on a dodge 440 thats in a 78 motor home. it has a points distributor. i work in a parts store and had to look up an older model imperial to find points, what do i set the gap at? a friend suggested .015, is this right?

Mopar plugs are gapped at .035, while points are .020 for /6 and .017 for all V8s. You can get a gapper at any parts store for maybe five bucks- it's just a set of little pieces of metal of the right size to stick in there. You need the kind that are a thin strip of metal- the disk kind you can use for plugs won't work because you can't fit it down in there.

https://www.allpar.com/threads/replacing-and-gapping-points.229004/

videos as well

https://www.google.com/search?q=1979+Dodge+360+Van+D200+points+gap+setting

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If your engine has the distributor in the front that faces over to the passenger side, it is a big block. Either a 350, 361, 383, 400, 426W, or 440. If you look on the drivers side of the block, you should find a casting number that indicates what engine it is. Being that it is a 1987 motor home chassis, I would bet you have a 400.

Find the gap measurement.
Remove the distributor cap.
Remove the rotor arm, (the black and brass thing under the distributor cap.
CRANK THE ENGINE SO THAT THE LOBE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR SHAFT HAS PUSHED THE POINTS OPEN TO THEIR WIDEST GAP,.
The feeler guage should be pushed between the contacts, it should go in perpendicular , i.e. the nose of the feeler blades should go in like the point of a knife.
There should be a light drag on the feeler blades if, that is, they are set correctly.

So, if the gap is 30 thousandths the blade or combination of blades should amount to 30 thousandths. The blade values should be marked on them.
If the gap is too wide the blades will have no drag on them, indeed they might not in contact with both contacts.
Or the blades might not go in because the gap between the 2 contacts is too small, in this case there will be a lot of drad on the feeler guage blades.
If either of these is the case release the screw that secures the contact to the base of the distributor and whilst maintaining the required gap tighten the screw and re-measure the gap.
When you have satisfied yourself that you have the correct gap refit the rotor arm ensuring that it is fully pushed home.
refit the distributor cap ensuring that the clips are properly secured.
Turn the key.
I should mention that the screw should be well tightened to stop the contact points from slipping.
This is a fairly straightforward job

Good Luck

You could have 3 different engines in that rig.
The firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 for most Dodge 8 cyl engines.
And the odd cylinders are on the driver side.
The small block engines ( 318 ) have the distributor in the back, and the big block engines ( 360 440 ) are in the front.
The rotor on the big blocks turn counterclockwise. The dist cap is usaully stamped with cyl 1 as a starting point.

there has to be a wire from the coil to the distributor to the points inside the distributor
if it has points , check that they are not shorted out and that the moving point is insulated from the distributor plate
check for a condenser attached to the moving point and fixed to the distributor body
if it has an electronic system , it could be a problem igniter unit in the distributor

We do not have any info on motorhomes. The plug gap on the 440 V8 is .035"

Mark the position of the distributor. Remove cap. Loosen the distributor hold down bolt.and turn distributor to raise the points cam follower to one of the lobes on the cam. Remove the screw that holds the points assembly. Remove points with the capacitor attached. Put you new points in the same position as the ones that you removed. Points should have .030" gap. Tighten points- hold-down screw. Turn the distributor to the original (marked) position. Tighten distributor hold-down bolt. You should now be able to start, but you may need to set the timing.

Before you take the cap off the distributor make a scratch on the distributor in line with #1 on the cap. now take off cap. turn motor over until the contact on the rotor is inline with the scratch. The points should now be on the high lobe. If not loosen distibutor hold down and turn to position the lobe, make a refrense mark so when your done setting points you can put the distributor back where you found it. evan if you are a little off it will be ok, i assume you will be timing the motor. Good luck

The ignition condenser is needed for good coil saturation and is directly related to the voltage output of the coil, the weaker the ignition condenser is, the weaker the spark will be from the coil.

The signs to look for when replacing the ignition points are burnt or pitted contact surfaces at the breakers, and for a worn down rubbing block. (where the points contact the cam lobes inside the distributor)

The only things that you can do to prolong the life of the ignition points is to make sure that the rubbing block on the ignition points and the distributor cam lobes are properly lubricated with die-electric grease, and make sure that the dwell angle is properly set. (you would need a dwell meter to set the ignition points properly)

The only reason that the engine would stall from the ignition points is because either the condenser burned out, or the rubbing block wore down and the ignition points closed up. (The ignition points should open and close to provide a primary signal to the coil, if they do close up, you can get home by using a piece of a match book cover to set the gap for the ignition points, it is approximate enough to work well enough to get you back home if stranded from closed up ignition points)

I hope that this was helpful to you in any way.

Ok that's pretty simple Put cylinder # 1 on TDC= top dead center on the (compressionstroke piston all the way up). Mark on metal part of distributor (with marker) where the number one is on the cap( that's where the number 1 wire plugs in) Then in-plant distributor make sure that rotor point is pointed to #1 on the cap, turn distributor shaft until this is achieved or as close as possible try to center shaft so you can adjust... ****** or advance to fine tune after you in-plant distributor if needed. Contact if you need more help . Good Luck