Need help again !! No spark

I'M NEW TO THE FLATHEAD GAME.. got my hands on a 1948 ford with an EAB flathead in it (1952-1953).. the car sat in storage for 30 years (so i'm told).. i removed the spark plugs and the motor turned over easily by the crank pulley.. bought a new battery.. the rotor, cap, points, condenser look almost new. the coil looks old as do the plug wires.. cranked over easily but I HAVE NO SPARK FROM THE COIL.. i checked the resistance between coil terminals and it read around 1.8 ohms (in the ballpark of where it should be i think).. could the coil be bad?? will any 6v coil work??any help on firing her up would be appreciated...

 

Use a test light and follow the circuit from ignition switch to coil. Where is the last place you have current? Coil? Points? With the cap off is there spark at the points when you turn it over? Point gap OK?

 

Check the point gap, at the top of the cam.

 

Clean the contacts with a dollar bill folded up (finest emery cloth made). With key on and point closed can you make spark at the contacts with screwdriver.
Contacts corode when sitting........
Just another idea.....

 

That described my Sunday afternoon. It's always the simple things that get over looked.

 

At least you stayed around to fix it. And learned from it.

I remember fixing a truck, when some jackass didn't.
Moron.

 

Ditto on points. Also make sure the wiring of the points, incoming wire from outside distributor, etc. are all in good shape. I pulled mine and rewired the incoming line and made sure it was well insulated since it wasn't when I pulled it. Fresh wires inside, clean contacts, cleaned points. I put the distributor body on the battery ground and rotated the shaft and watched it spark away before I re-installed it. Worked fine after that.

 

Ditto on filing those points, it almost always helps when a car has sat a long time....

 

Exactly what happened to me on Saturday. Cleaned the points and she fired right back up.

 

used the test light today... i have current to the coil and points.. when cap is removed there IS spark at the points and the point gap is set at 18.. with cap back on, i still have no spark to the plugs... think it's the coil?...

 

yes, i can make spark at the contacts with a screwdriver !!

 

Twice now I've had coils that checked out OK on the ohmeter and simply wouldnt' work. Coils aren't that expensive and a new one is recommended on an old engine.

 

Sitting for 30 years !!!!!

It needs a tune up with all the standard tune up parts

 

yes it does.. i am just trying to see if it will fire with what is there before i start spending boatloads of money on the motor if its not werth using. i have a 350/350 ready to go in if it needs too much... i'd rather keep the flatty in it though

 

Sounds like it could be the cap and or rotor.

 

any help on firing her up would be appreciated...



GMC Bubba is the resident pro.

So start with the cheapest parts first , condenser try that . Them bugars always ruin your day.
Drive back and get a set of points. 30 years will corrode anything.
Drive back and get a cap and rotor. You should be able to clean your old ones.
Drive back .... get where im going with tge drive back thing

 

Points loose conductivity through the riveted or spotwelded spring/strip,between the pivot and their tip, the current travels thru to the actual contact part of a set.......IE,THEY FAIL.

 

If you have spark at the points and no spark at the coil it's most likely a condenser.

 

any 6v coil will work.napa has them,

 

Any luck yet? I just went through the same thing, Mine was a broken rotor ,filed the points and I also replaced the coil , Tim Jones

 

If all your parts are good you should be able to take a plug wire connected to the coil output , and ground a spark plug to the block, open your points with screwdriver, should be spark at the plug, if there is you got a rotor or cap problem.........you should not be getting (much if any visible spark) at the points. Condensers (capacitors) for points were electrolytic (I think), if it is that old it probably dried out. As advised in the thread try condenser, then points if the little test fails.........

Good luck


boooooob

 

well, i went out and bought a new coil, points and condenser.. i have spark but, it won't start.. checked the compresson (finger test) and bam, three cylinder are dead! i pulled the intake off, cranked er over and everything seems to be working fine.. i'm gonna pull the heads off tomorrow.. i'm ready to pull the motor and trans and replace with the 350/350 combo i have in the garage. and that sucks cause i really wanted to keep the flatty in it

 

Would you give up that easy? Sat for decades in eastern dampness, you are lucky that the motor is not stuck. But it could have valves that are not quite closing all the way, ..


...or rust flakes on the valves and seats. You can sand them to clean, without removing them.

 

your right F&J, i not gonna give up (right now). i just pulled the head off of the left side where #'s 4 & 5 has very little compresson, rotated the crank till i got each of the valves open and used a brass wire wheel on cordless drill to go around the valves and sand paper on the seats.. NOTE: got fel-pro gaskets for 49-53 heads but they seem to be missing one hole (tear drop looking) in them.. would you know if that is ok

 

I have no idea. If nobody spots your question, try PM'ing Bruce Lancaster, he should know.

 

just looked real hard at the gasket and it does have a small hole where the (tear drop) is.. again, my first go around with the flatty