I've been reading about your car, and it is a fantastic/impressive journey you've had. Thanks for taking us with you. I'd even try to help if there wasn't so much earth between us. I have an idea for your tail lights. Go to the closest RC airplane supplier and check out some plastic skin called UltraCote. It's an adhesive backed plastic made for skinning RC airplanes. It irons on at low temperature. All kinds of how to's on YouTube. They make one called polished aluminum. Not a replacement for real chrome but at worst it would make both lights the same and at a distance a good stand in for weathered plating. I did a very quick demo for you. Better results can be accomplished if you take your time and with careful prep. You can even overlap it and the seams are not noticeable from a distance.
Good idea! That seems worth looking into. Might have to order it online though, my local hobby store has been gone for years. Now that I'm trading for a pickup I need to decide how to mount the tail lights to a different rear end. The tailgate would be easy and is the normal go-to but what if I have to drive with the tailgate down? I am planning to use the bed for truck stuff... decisions decisions. I won an auction for what looks like a pretty fresh rebuilt B distributor - at least it is complete and really clean. We'll see when it gets here! I know it can be a bit tricky to time a B dizzy with the A timing cover but I will figure it out. Comes with an A cap I don't need but I guess it never hurts to have spares. I don't really understand timing theory but I have gotten pretty good at setting the A by ear so I will just do the same thing here bearing in mind the base timing for the B distributor is slightly advanced compared to the A.
Some good info here. https://forums.aaca.org/topic/356811-ignition-timing-retard-advance-theory/ Since you have a car with a timing advance lever and no vacuum or centrifugal advance, you can adjust it on the road and see how the engine responds. Do keep an ear out for spark knock (unlikely, due to low compression and higher octane gasoline) and watch for overheating due to too much or too little advance. Paul shin's youtube videos go into timing setup, he tries to get it so it can be crank started without kickback. You are getting a feel for this, so learning what is best becomes a positive feedback loop. Love the picture, I dig the coupe but understand why you want to go with a PU. Make sure to recreate this scene when the body gets swapped.
I had the car running great! So great I decided to drive it to work, as I had resolved all the leaks... no water leak, no fuel leak, no oil leak, no tire leak, no nothing! Made it about halfway then it started missing for about 30 seconds... then it died completely... and now it won't fire at all, wouldn't even turn over. Had to tow it home! My first suspect was the battery cables... they were fine, so then I suspected the battery - which was already obviously faulty (acid foaming up out of the vents, negative terminal crumbling) - and made Walmart replace it. That fixed the bad ground issue that was causing the starter to malfunction, but still no fire. Pulled the coil wire out and held it next to the block while cranking... makes lightning, so, coil is good. Next, checked the points... points open and close fine but only a very weak yellow spark. Condenser? That's about the only thing I haven't replaced - only because the condenser I got in my rebuild kit was somehow the wrong type for this distributor. I am sure the problem has to be in the distributor... so I may not even bother messing with it, as the B distributor should be coming in the mail soon.
So this proves the ignition primary (power to coil, coil primary windings, coil to dist., points, and cond.) are all working, along with part of the ignition secondary (coil secondary windings, coil wire). A good spark at the end of the coil wire only has to go through the dist cap center post, rotor, back out the cap, through the plug wires and the plugs. That's where your problem is, not the condenser. Nope, bad condenser would make a poor or no spark at the coil wire.
You were right. I realize now the coil is downstream of the condenser. I cleaned the points and it runs again - but - the points being burned is a symptom of the distributor just being clapped out. I set the gap just a few days ago and it has wandered from its setting - and so has the actual timing. Fortunately I have a replacement in the mail.
Off the top of my head, the causes of the points moving out of adjustment Point fasteners not tight enough Points and/or the breaker plate is bent and does not allow full contact to tighten properly, or the pivot on the points is too big or small Bushings on breaker plate sloppy, not holding position If there is excessive contaminants (oil vapor) deposited on points, leading to poor contact and/or arcing or excessive voltage to points (the coil may need a resistor in the feed circuit) causing arcing. More info http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/adi...aligned due,to the bus bar on the lower plate. https://www.mafca.com/downloads/Technical/DistributorSeminar2012.pdf
Yeah, I can't remember what it was now, but I disagreed with the replacement upper plate I got in the kit so I retained the original. At the time the original points block seemed to be in good, operable condition. However, the last guy to mess with it (proud to say, not me!) had gorilla'd the lock screw for the points and damaged the screw (if not the points block itself). I decided to set the points gap a few days ago after switching to a B distributor cam, having not messed with it until then, and of course now that it's been loosened it seems there's no getting it fully tight again. I could loctite it or something if I was planning to keep this distributor but since I'm upgrading to a B dist, which will be here in 4 days, it's not worth the trouble. The A distributor seems like a fine unit in principle but I want centrifugal spark advance for better bearing life since a high compression head is on the cards for this engine if it continues behaving.
The B distributor arrived early! I had the car running and on the road in about 15 minutes after unboxing it and it's a night and day difference. Timing was super easy - I first set it like the A and then advanced it a little, then worked it back and forth until I had it dialed in. It's actually ridiculous how much it woke the little banger up, of course the old A distributor was pretty clapped out, but even then... I had no idea the difference would be so huge. Throttle response, acceleration, even top speed, and the car runs smoother to boot! I'm hitting third gear halfway up a hill that I used to never get out of second on. In other news, I scored a couple used Firestone 6.00 whitewalls in great shape, only a couple years old and barely used. I'm gonna mount them on the front with the blackwalls out for that period look.
Can anyone give me the scoop on tires? This is new territory for me. Can I mount these myself or am I better off taking them somewhere? Everywhere I see offering 6.00x16 tubes says they are not for automotive use, is this just a liability thing or is there a difference between tractor tubes and car tubes?
I've been mounting my own tires for decades, from motorcycle to big truck / trailer , cars, tube & tubeless. You need some nice size tire irons, or ''spoons''. Don't use a big screwdriver or prybar , especially with tube type, you're liable to cut the tube. It's not that hard to do, on the other hand if there's a place close by for $25-$30 bucks it may not be worth it.
Little update, nothing exciting but I wanted to check in again. I have been chasing a misfire under load + high RPM since basically right after changing distributors. I went through everything and of course the source of the problem was the last thing. Regressed to the Model A cap and baling wire (I lost my brass clips) for now, that fixed it. The other cap/wires look nicer but I am too tired to mess with it any more and just happy to have the car running right again. I also redid the fuel system for the nth time. I came out to the car yesterday and there was gas all over the floor, apparently it developed a heavy leak around the fuel valve. Drained the tank, pulled the whole system apart, cleaned everything up, and applied aviation form-a-gasket to every fitting, since the pipe sealant I was using, despite being rated for gasoline, was being eaten and washed out by the gas. Also pulled the carb apart and deep-cleaned it since I was messing with the fuel system anyway. FedEx decided to ship my inner tubes, which are coming from a town only 5 hours away from me in the same state, the long way, all the way to Memphis, so hopefully Wednesday I will get the new tires mounted.
Nice to hear you got things sorted again. I think I may have my extra copper distributor wires tucked away in the garage. I'll check for them tonight.
FedEx sends everything through Memphis, it's their main hub. I feel your pain, I've ordered parts from California, FedEx sends them past my house to Memphis so they can turn around and send them in my direction.
Man, what a heap! I don't often back the car in but I'm about to have to pull the front passenger brake drum and figured this would give me more space than the other way. Check out that vintage Goodyear up front - about to finally go to the great tire fire in the sky haha. Unless I can figure out some other use for it... I feel kinda bad throwing it away.
Tie a rope around it, set out in the driveway and put up a sign "FREE SWING". Then search the neighborhood for the kids who grabbed it. Do the farmers in the area do the tarp and tire cover over straw/hay? I always have at least one tire (prefer a wider one) to set an engine in the truck bed. Keep this one even if just to tuck under the body when it gets swapped. Beats having to get your hand out from between the rockers and the ground.
Looking pretty sharp! Also had to partially rebuild the front passenger brake while I was in there, I had lost a castle nut on the backing plate and some bits and bobs had got loose inside the drum. Not sure when that happened... the car still stopped fine, didn't even pull...
Appreciate the offer from both you and Joey. I am back on the modern cap now. It was sitting cockeyed on the B distributor. There is an indexing bump/notch/pin, whatever you wanna call it, that matches a slot cut in the cap. It's in a different spot on the A distributor compared to the B. I just cut a new slot in the modern cap to make it work. I missed this detail at first because the clips still grabbed, the car still ran, and the cap was not at a noticeably off angle, so there was nothing to cause suspicion regarding the cap, but it was enough to cause a misfire at speed. The car has now developed a massive oil leak from the drain plug so that will be the next thing to deal with. Looks like it's gonna be annoying to deal with, so I'm planning to procrastinate for a while.
Still reading...kinda missing my old $40 '30 'A' Coupe I bought when 16. One dent in right front fender, pounded it out, pick-&-filed it to perfection...then removed fenders to do a 'Gow Job'. Friend in Auto Shop class bought it, and we took it to school while Auto Shop instructor was on vacation. Every school day (2 periods a day!) Student Teacher was amazed as we channeled the body, rebuilt a '38 box, and overhauled a $50 '41 Ford V8 mill, updated to juice brakes and 15" steel wheels ('48 Merc) Also, made center crossmember in Metal Shop; car rolled out under its own power in 11 days! Shop instructor returned from vacation, was shocked to read glowing marks for otherwise 'challenging' students... -Santa Clara, CA. 1958.
Any idea what happened to the car after that? I finally got rid of the mid 30s Ford seat I've had taking up space forever. A dude is building a 36 Plymouth sedan and figures it's a perfect fit. He's needing some stuff so I told him about this place... And it seems we have a date for the truck body... December 3.
Decided to still pick up the early T bed for $350. It is really solid (panel behind cab is a little fried but not bad) and straight and I like the bed sides… think it will look a little better. If I don’t like it I’ll still have the Model A bed and I’ll just make a trailer out of this one or sell it on.
It really hammers home how tiny these trucks were, or how huge modern trucks are (or both) when the T bed fits between my Ram's fender wells with plenty of room to spare.
Thats one clean ass T bed... Nice score for sure... Keep up the good work, and the oil leak, just keep driving, re fill the oil each time and fix the leak oil change time.. haha.
Stupid ass carb is plugged up with stupid ass dirt from the stupid ass gas tank again. I'm gonna pull the tank and clean it again. This time I'm gonna try something a little more intense. Also I'm gonna have to replace my oil pan, but I think I have the hook up on one already. Hopefully dropping the pan will be less annoying now that I have a quality set of tools... last time I did it with a wrench
Having the correct tools makes a world of difference. Just had that conversation with my dad last week actually..he’s always borrowing my tools
I have been driving my A coupe with junk in the tank for about 20k miles, over ten years or so. Got a clear in line filter, and about every 500 miles when its dirty lookin I take it off, put it back on backwards, flush the crap out and put it on correctly again to drive some more happy miles. I keep a basic tool kit in the door pouch, screw driver and small crescent wrench in case it happens on the road, but really just look at it once in a while and you can see whats going on in the filter. Yes, I should clean the tank, but the job list is long, and it works fine with this method.
The Jalopy Journal
