Well I'm at my wit's end. Had her running yesterday - well enough to start considering idle issues. Now today, I can't even get it to turn over. Cranked long enough to drain the damn 6v battery, so now I'm hostage to at least waiting until it's charged up again before I can press the button in the hopes something magically works. I guess I should probably just get it towed somewhere that knows what they're doing.
I personally do not like starting fluid, but here is one time it comes in handy. If you squirt some in the carb and it fires, you have fuel issues. If you squirt some in and get no fire, is electrical.
Oh man don't give up. You don't rely on this vehicle. Consider it a learning curve, it's fun learning new things. We have become a class of instant gratification. It's just a big toy. Everything you do, even if it's wrong. Becomes experience.
As someone else suggested, did you check the wire in the distributor for cracked insulation or only a few strands holding it together?
Just load it up on a trailer and bring it to Florida. I will have it running and enjoying it before you get back to Michigan. Get a manual, those carbs are really easy to rebuild.
You're right - Just getting a bit frustrated. Like I said, my expertise is bodywork instead of engine work, so my knowledge in this area is a bit lacking. Taking what felt like a big step forward yesterday only to feel a few steps back today was not very motivating. I'll start by going through everything again. I tried the starter fluid and that did nothing, so it must be in the electrical/ignition. It's odd to me that in a 24-hour period it went from starting nicely and idling to doing absolutely nothing. Do they make 6V plug-in jump starters? That would make troubleshooting a lot easier if I didn't drain the battery ever time I crank the engine for 20-30 seconds.
the ether in starting fluid is so potent, any little spark would make the engine fire, try to start. So you need to concentrate on electrical, check points condenser coil, see where the juice stops flowing
Check the wire that goes to the points. I had one where the wire looked good, but was missing the insulation on the underside because of rubbing against the point plate. Every time the vacuum advance moved the point plate, it'd screw up. Sometimes no start, other times it would idle fine but would shoot ducks and backfire when the throttle was opened. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I too found a worn wire shorting out in your type of distributor. This wire is UNDER the point plate and not seen when removing the cap.
My 53 Ranch Wagon would never start when it was hot. Converted to a 6 volt alternator and never had another issue and had good headlights. Once you get it running decent it is a good conversion.
Well I'm sort of in disbelief. I pulled the distributor, disassembled it, checked all the wiring and it looked decent. Decided to re-wrap the cloth-covered wire because it's ends were frayed and the copper was exposed. Cleaned everything up a bit and reassembled. Re-set the point gap - had to use my spark plug gap gauge at its lowest size, then reduce just a bit "by eye" since it only goes down to .020. Double checked the new condenser install and put it all back together and in the car. Cranked it - she turned over 3 times and fired up. Smooth, no surging, no sputtering. Let it idle for a good 15 minutes to get warmed up...still running great. Turned her off....started up again with barely a single crank. I'm nervously waiting for it to fail...but I sure hope it doesn't!
Don't ya hate it when you "accidentally" fix something while diagnosing the problem? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Great job!! So glad to hear you found it. It's fun for us too. Had this happen 10 yrs ago. Only problem was....I was out of state. Thank God for AAA. Now when your ready. It'll be time to change your distributor. Remove your cap. (Pull off the advance vacuum hose at the carburetor. Give it a suck and watch to see if your advance points plate moves to its full rotation. ) That's what She said........
That's Great to hear Now your Learning about How to work on Car's as far that Dist. when I had the Flathead engine in my Merc I put about 150K on that Dist & No Problems What happen to you could happen to Any Car running a Dist. Just my 3.5 cents Live Learn & Die a Fool
all these guys that say they all over heat either don't know how to work on them or have never had one. It's an engine and if built right will last many years/decades. Your right Carl it's all bullshit. More flattys for us crazy guys.
Let's save our friendly banter about loadamatics for a separate thread. Lets not overload the original poster with opinions. FYI. I am running one on a Dual carb application with two lines running to the carb Venturi's. How about that.
The Jalopy Journal
