1971 ford f100. I replace the points and after 3 hours of running the truck it would not run any longer. after I re gap the points the truck will run for about 30 seconds but no longer

That's 40+ years old. is the points all you are replacing? How about the condenser, the breaker plate? everything else? How many regaps has it been exactly? and when it dies out, and wont restart, you lose spark. right? complete a complete tuneup. The breaker plate i happened to see recently on ebay. Or you could get a rebuild or a improved design aftermarket high falutin racecar one.

I did full tune up. Gas tank. Battery and headers. It still has spark and when I regap it runs but only for afew.

Did the condenser. Not the breaker plate. The truck ran perfect before tune up

Are you regapping more than once and it keeps closing up? A worn breaker plate moves around on you. a sloppy shaft and a worn plate works out to a dwell variation, right? At the Ford garage we used to put breaker plates in all the time, my car included. First shop i was an apprentice in that had the technology. we did not like removing most of them because of the pump drive. and we were workin flat rate. starving sucks.

Thanks

Another idea after rereading is the connection at the points, it is not a spring clip is it? you want the kind where you use the little ignition wrenches. Those clip kind are for the garage sale. They intermittantly die.

Remove the points and install the appropriate reflector and electronic timing device..... This update will eliminate the points fiasco and then set the timing to 8° BTDC..... If you have a vacuume advance....AC on the beast you should be close to perfact....Test the electronic choke if you have one also.....