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OK have been helping a young lad build a 1380 motor for his Mini.

Eventually got the motor running ok but the cam follower on the points is melting , gap closes up and brings things to a halt . Have swapped distributors and same thing happens. Engine temp seems normal.

It is a 90's car so had an electronic distributor but now running conventional points etc

Just told him to lubricate the felt pad on the points but have never come across this before.

Any ideas?

Bad condenser will do it!

On two different distributors?

dodgy coil, or wiring a 9v coil 12 volts melts the points as they get so hot

they will melt within 2-3 min of running normally

An electronic ignition coil can melt the points,try a coil with ohms to match a standard 12v system

+1 on John's comments.

Though I have no first-hand knowledge about the factory electronic ignition, I do know it uses a special low-resistance coil. If you are running points with that coil, excess current is going to flow through the ignition system and components are going to fail. A regular 3 Ohm coil should address the melting heel block on the points but don't forget that the 4-lobe cam that opens and closes the points must be lubricated. If your points have a felt wick, make sure it is saturated with engine oil. If there is no wick, smear a thin coat of light grease on the 4-lobe cam.