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Posted By Discussion Topic: 34 Flathead ignition questions -- page: 1 2 3 4     Motor2Wheel 09-12-2010 @ 9:04 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Sep 2010 Original 6v set up on my flathead. It hasn't run in 17 yrs or more. Fuel tank drained and lines purged completely, oil drained in crankcase and transmission, replaced. New battery installed, motor cranked without plugs installed to verify spark first and get the oil pumping. Cranks fine, no spark on any of the plugs. Voltage checked with switch on and verifed it down to the connection on coil. Coil was removed and it has quite a bit of insulating resin, (PCB?), material evident on exterior. Apparently it has leaked out. I did not touch the points settings yet. I believe they are breaking, but unable to really verify due to the tight location. I am thinking about ways to bench test the coil/condensor. Here is what I'm thinking: Fixture the condensore mounting ring on a common piece of aluminum stock that would extend close to the carbon brush contact. I would then fix a wire onto the contact spring and apply power to the connector. The fixture would be grounded to the positive battery post. Then, I would take the wire from the spring contact and "ground" it for a couple of seconds and remove to see if the carbon generates a spark to the fixture. Has anyone tried something similar, or is there an easier way? Or, does anyone think I should be looking elsewhere for the source of the problem? Thanks for the help. Check's in the mail for membership! supereal 09-12-2010 @ 9:52 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 That's a lot of work, when a simpler test will do. Measure the voltage at the input to the coil. You should see about 3.5 volts with the points closed. As you turn the engine so the points open, the voltage should rise to that of the battery. You can verify the action of the points by removing the wire to the distributor from the coil and attaching an ohmmeter between that wire and ground, As you turn the engine, the meter should show zero ohms with the points open, and the needle should swing all the way over when they close. If the needle swings all the way over when the meter is connected, and doesn't swing back as you turn the engine, the condenser is likely shorted. We just set up a distributor that came in with the "make" set of points open, while the "break" set was working. The distributor generated a weak spark, but not enough to run the engine. As a rule, ALL old Ford coils are bad, particularly if you see evidence of leakage. As coils for your car are hard to find, the better choice is to have yours rebuilt, in any case. For information, call 941/637-6698, or e-mail skip@fordsrus.com. 37RAGTOPMAN 09-12-2010 @ 11:10 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1961 Joined: Oct 2009 Also the points are most likely corroded and need cleaning, CRC ELECTRIC MOTOR CLEANER works real well for this, if you use a mirror and have someone crank the motor over [ with key in the ON position ] you might see the points arcing,if not slip a piece of 320 wet and dry sanding paper, and hone the points a little to help in cleaning them, rinse with more CRC,so are real clean you will have to remove the distributer caps to gain access, to the points, hope this helps,37RAGTOPMAN an KEEP on FORDIN,,!!! if you still HAVE PROBLEMS,, Send the whole unit to SKIP for a rebuild.dist and REBUILT Coil and have him use a NEW condensor, you will be back up and running , in a week or so, and problem solved, GOOD FOR YEARS, This message was edited by 37RAGTOPMAN on 9-12-10 @ 11:12 AM Motor2Wheel 09-12-2010 @ 6:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Sep 2010 Well, I built the fixture anywya and it worked great! The coil has plenty of spark! I took the distributor off and checked the points out and they look almost new. The backing plat appears to be in great shape and the points are clean. I gapped them to 0.028" and figure that ought be good. Am I off on this? I have not mounted the coil back on, but have assembled the distributer back onto the camshaft. I'll get to the rest of it later. Thanks for the help. supereal 09-13-2010 @ 11:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Ignition point gaps should be between .014 and .016. I doubt that your engine will run at all, let alone good, at .028 We check the gaps after setting the dwell on our machine, and at the correct gaps, you will be close, but likely not perfect. Motor2Wheel 09-13-2010 @ 7:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Sep 2010 Thanks! I'll close them up to 0.015 and see what it does. Once I get it running, then I'll check the dwell, but I have to be honest, it's a little tight in there with the belt and fan turning! Do you usually access it from underneath the car and through the two holes in the distributor? It's been a long time since I've worked on this thing, but I remember having to clean the points quite frequently. Another question: I rebuilt the fuel pump and reinstalled it. The diaphragm was pretty hard, so I soaked it in fuel for a while. It loosened up and was making the correct sound when actuated. Do you usually have to prime these to get them to start pumping? Thanks, again. BrianCT 09-14-2010 @ 5:48 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 95 Joined: Oct 2009 Personally ,I don't do any distributor work with the motor running. Got nipped once by the fan blades. 40 Coupe 09-14-2010 @ 6:00 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1675 Joined: Oct 2009 you can not adjust the dwell on the car with the engine running. remove the distributor and send it out to have it adjusted on a distributor machine such as a Heyer or Sun once you get it to run. Sounds as if the fuel pump will also need rebuilding once the engine runs if it makes it that far. todays gas will leak through the old diaphragms. I suggest you bypass the fuel pump and run an aux fuel tank off to the side with gravity feed to the carb. One less think to worry about when starting and no need to prime. You should have fuel before starting, make sure to disconnect the fuel tank fuel line from the fuel pump before starting. supereal 09-14-2010 @ 8:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The distributor can't be adjusted with the engine running. The only external change is the advance slider on the side, which doesn't affect dwell, a function of the point gaps. Dwell is checked on the car with a meter by attaching it to the low voltage terminal leading to the distributor from the coil and the other to ground before you start the engine. Trying to effectively adjust dwell without a machine is not practical. Even on the machine, the action of tightening the point screws can produce a big change in the setting. Trying to adjust anything on the front of the engine while it is running invites disaster. Motor2Wheel 09-14-2010 @ 10:23 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 10 Joined: Sep 2010 Thanks for the input. I don't really think I'm going to try adjusting the points while the engine is running. However, I have to believe that it was done this way originally by Ford mechanics in the 30's. Why else would there be access holes for adjusting them with the caps and coil in place? I do have an old dwell meter that I used to use for tuning Chevy's with the window on the distributor. I could probably make a fixture that has a variable drive motor to spin the distributor shaft. Then, with the same configuration I used to check the coil, I could mount it and use the meter to help make the adjustments. I think I'll try that out. It will be fun, anyway! Thanks, again.

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