Can anybody tell me how much of a gap the points need? I had to do a roadside repair last night and now need to properly gap them so they don't burn up. It's a stock slant six. Thanks in advance.

16-17 on the gap

.016-.018 will be fine. .014 will also work and increase dwell time, but they will probably burn up a little quicker. Unless it's vital to keep your car completely original you might want to convert to electronic ignition.

I never used to gap points, only use a dwell meter. Once you "gap" points a couple times, LOOK at them and get a feel for what they look like open. Then just use your dwell meter on the starter until you get them close, and finally check them running.

The other problem with gapping USED points is that the gap won't be true, anyway, because of buildup / deterioration of the contacts

Thanks for the quick replies, I plan to change to EI as soon as penguin season is over, but for now, i just need to keep it goin since it's my winter beater.

Stock is .020" but it is not critical and you can change the gap on any point eng & decreasing the gap (even as low as .008") increases the dwell which means the coil has more saturation time (good for performance) esp at higher rpms but also more time for the points to burn (current is flowing thru them for a longer period) but on a perf app you change them more oftener so less gap/more dwell is the way to go there & on your grandma's /6 a .020" or more gap gives the least dwell for the longest point life but not any extra horsepower which she wouldn't know what to do w anyhow. BUT if your points were orig gapped @ .020" then it timed for that, now you roadside gapped a diff gap so you have changed your initial timing so do check that