Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

FORUM RULES: Users agree to these Rules when using Forum.

The site administrator reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of the user agreement without prior notice to the user. It is the responsibility of the user to regularly review the terms of this agreement.

The user agrees to the following terms:

All information that you provide to us for your membership is correct.
You will not use your membership to spam, harrass, or exploit other members in any way.
Vulgar, Abusive, Racist and Sexist Language will not be tolerated.
Commercial-type sales postings will not be allowed.
No mass posting or flooding of the boards is allowed.
No Advertising of parts or cars; no Ebay or business/commercial ads (please use the "Classified" for ads Wanted or For Sale).
VIEWING MULTIPLE TOPICS ON SCREEN: You can choose to see more than 10 Topics at a time ... Log In and choose "Preferences" from the top bar on the Forum page. Scroll down and Change the "Default Topics Returned" parameter to 25 or 50, and save the changes. Since this setting is stored in your browser 'cookies' (if enabled), it seems to use that stored value even if you are not logged in. So, if you use a PC that you haven't logged into the forum from, the setting still seem to remain at the default.
EXTERNAL PHOTO LINKS ON FORUM: You can still use external photo links in your posts on the new forum. They follow the rules of any link in that they have to have the URL link qualified down to the full image file name (example: .jpg). The links will open in a new browser window, the same as an uploaded image attached to a post. Since an image attachment to any post does not display inline with the post, the results are the same. You can use multiple external links within a post. This link is from photos on a site from Don Clink's 'Deuce@75' albums:

http://donclink.com/deuce_75_1/images/dscn2950.jpg

Using links from photo sites such as Photobucket can help in "size" issue with uploaded attachment files. For best viewing in web browsers, photos should be around the 800x600 pixel range, and probably not more than 1024x768. Most cameras today store HUGE jpg image files, as the default settings are in the 7, 8, 10, and 12Mb image sizes. The image files that are then attached are very large, and the browser can't display the full image size without using the scroll bars. Use the re-sizing functions of your photo editing software to reduce the image to 800x600, which reduces the file sixe and the image load time in the browser. Don uses Google's free Picassa3 software, which is an excellent photo management product. All of the photo albums of the Deuce, Grand National, and Auburn that are links on the NORG site were built using Picassa's web creation functions. And it's free? (THANKS to Don Clink for the info!)
HOW DO I SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS ALONG WITH MY USERNAME? You can LogIn on the Forum, and select PREFERENCES. On this page Members can add optional information such as their City,State, Country; Occupation; Hobbies: list a Homepage; list AOL Instant Messanger Handle; Signature; "Make Email Address viewable to others;" and even change the number of Default Topics shown on a page. WHEN others click on your profile, they will see this information.

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 1940 Ford coil and distributor problem

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion

<< previous || next >>

Posted By

Discussion Topic: 1940 Ford coil and distributor problem

TomO

10-24-2013 @ 9:06 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 7252
Joined: Oct 2009

The condenser grounds to its mounting tab. It should be mounted to one of the screws that mount the adapter to the distributor. The wire on the condenser should go to the brass terminal on the adapter.

You should have ordered and received P/N #A12000, 6 volt positive ground coil. I am pretty sure that it has an internal resistor, so you must bypass the resistor under the dash. The - connection is fed from the ignition switch and the + connection goes to the brass terminal on the adapter.

I agree with other comments about using a rebuilt coil. Many of the round coils are made offshore and seem to fail after a short time. The rebuilt coil has the advantage of keeping the original look and a hotter spark than the off shore coils.

Tom

supereal

10-24-2013 @ 7:50 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009

When installing a non stock coil, the mounting of the condenser isn't critical. It can be connected anywhere between the coil terminal leading to the distributor, and the terminal on the distributor, itself. Just be sure the body of the condenser is well grounded.

40 Coupe

10-24-2013 @ 3:50 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 1675
Joined: Oct 2009

NAPA # for the 1937 to 41 replacement original style condenser is FA49 as mentioned it has a metal strap on the side that gets grounded to the bolt holding the distributor base in place on the engine cover. The condenser mounts upright on the brass tab coming out of the base of the coil by a short 10-32 screw and lock washer, through the tab.
Your friends coil may get the engine running but be aware the coil may fail with engine heat. This is why, for reliability, you may want to get the original style rebuild. Check the V8 Times, Skip Haney does this work.

This message was edited by 40 Coupe on 10-24-13 @ 3:55 AM

supereal

10-23-2013 @ 8:34 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009

When you install a kit with a round coil, most require bypassing the original ballast resistor on the inside of the firewall because the modern coils commonly have a builtin resistor. You can confirm this by feeding the coil with a jumper wire directly from the battery. If you then have spark, and the engine starts, you have found the problem.

4dFordSC

10-23-2013 @ 7:20 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Member
Posts: 266
Joined: Oct 2009

On the original style coil, the condenser is mounted to the tang coming out of the bottom of the coil. There is a threaded hole in the end of the tang for that purpose. The original style condensers have a grounding strap with a hole in it that connects to one of the distributor mounting bolts. Pigtail condensers (e.g., NAPA IH-200) can also be used by connecting the pigtail to the tang, and mounting the condenser on one of the bolts that connects the coil to the distributor. In that case, the bolt acts as the ground.

Original coils are notorious for failing with age. The good news is they can be rebuilt with modern materials and are then quite reliable. One of the best known rebuilders is Skip Haney: http://www.fordcollector.com/coils.htm

I assume you have confirmed that power is getting to the coil.

Hope this helps.

bwhitworth

10-23-2013 @ 4:40 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Member
Posts: 59
Joined: Nov 2010

I had a problem with poor running engine, I discovered a split case on the coil that was atop the distributor. I saw a kit for sale from Mac, it was an adaptor plate that fit the top of the dist and had a place to mount the condenser and plug in the coil wire. I also purchased a modern type 6 volt coil to be remotely mounted. The coil is not marked 6 volt or 12v.
I have not got the fist spark out of the coil, I think that I may have gotten a 12v by mistake. I have a friend that had an old red coil in what appears to be in good condition. I installed it on the dist and no spark either. On the original coil the condenser the grounding tab was bent around to the screw that holds the coil to the dist. The red coil has a condenser with a tab and no where to ground it.
Anybody have any ideas what might be wrong? Where do I ground the condenser?
Thanks Bob

<< previous || next >>

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

Merchandise Questions

Membership Questions