1971 Type 3 with f.i. condenser not grounding

[whc03grady]

Okay, so I drove with the new points/condenser.
At ~105 miles there was a bad stuttering issue, to the point where I pulled off into a town, looking for a place to mull things over. But not long after getting into town, the car ran fine again. I ate some lunch or whatever and went on my way, which was another ~150 miles, with no problems. Over 28mpg even.
The car sat for over three days. I went to start it this afternoon, and it's stumbly and rough as all get out. Thinking I'm gonna have to mess with the timing again, I loosen the distributor. Hey! Fires up and runs fine now. I check the timing with a strobe anyway and, since everything seems to be in order, start to tighten up the dizzy. Oops, car's stumbling again. ALSO! There are little sparks down there at the dizzy tightening nut as I tighten it. Hmmm.
I think, there was trouble tightening that condenser down; the threads on that screw looked a little flat. Stripped? Probably. Sure enough, when it runs and I put some pressure on the condenser, little sparks dance around that screw. My verdict (tell me if I'm wrong): poorly grounded condenser is the root of my trouble.
So (finally) here's my situation: I'm 250 miles from home. The car runs well when the condenser is pressed up against the fan housing (grounding it, I assume), but when I tighten down the dizzy, it stumbles. I likely have no access to another one of those teeny little screws. Is there another way to ground the condenser if the screw isn't doing its job?

[whc03grady]

O'Reilly's managed to get me a bolt the same size and with the same pitch as the screw, but it's way long. I bought a bunch of washers so hopefully that'll take care of the length. Since it's too dark now, I'll get on it in the morning.

But if the hole in the dizzy body is shot, I don't know what I'll do. Solder? JB Weld? Any ideas? Anything?

[vwlover77]

Ground is ground. Mount the condensor anywhere you can get a good ground connection. Or, solder a wire or use a screw and nut to connect a wire to the condensor mounting flange and ground the wire.

[bajaman72]

A self tapping screw that is slightly larger.

[whc03grady]

For the nonce it is held on by a much longer 4mm bolt, stacked with nuts.
The self-tapping screw is where I'm going next.

[vdubyah73]

Ya oughta open it up to the next larger size and tap it. A self tapping screw will eventually wear out it's hole.
changing the condenser once or twice a year, your bound to self tap an extra set or two of threads in the hole. I promise you that's what will happen. may take 2 or 3 years, but it'll happen.

[dtrumbo]

Ya oughta open it up to the next larger size and tap it. A self tapping screw will eventually wear out it's hole.
changing the condenser once or twice a year, your bound to self tap an extra set or two of threads in the hole. I promise you that's what will happen. may take 2 or 3 years, but it'll happen.

x2. Drill and tap and be done with it once and forever.

[Amskeptic]

Ya oughta open it up to the next larger size and tap it. A self tapping screw will eventually wear out it's hole.
changing the condenser once or twice a year, your bound to self tap an extra set or two of threads in the hole. I promise you that's what will happen. may take 2 or 3 years, but it'll happen.

x2. Drill and tap and be done with it once and forever.

Nuh uh. . . Arc weld it on.
Mitch, be careful that you are not actually having an issue where the wire from the coil #1 (-) enters the distributor. They can fray and short at the plastic grommet.
Still a great car though, right?
Colin

[whc03grady]

Ya oughta open it up to the next larger size and tap it. A self tapping screw will eventually wear out it's hole.
changing the condenser once or twice a year, your bound to self tap an extra set or two of threads in the hole. I promise you that's what will happen. may take 2 or 3 years, but it'll happen.

x2. Drill and tap and be done with it once and forever.

Nuh uh. . . Arc weld it on.
Mitch, be careful that you are not actually having an issue where the wire from the coil #1 (-) enters the distributor. They can fray and short at the plastic grommet.
Still a great car though, right?
Colin

Arc weld the condenser to the distributor body? How will I ever replace it? Or is the old saw about the points and condenser being a team yet another piece of Muirian "wisdom" that we are better off ignoring?
The wires into and out of the grommet look fine. It's a new condenser and all.

Thinking about going to electronic ignition,
whc03grady.