Ignition? No Clue


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By DryLakesRacer - 13 Years Ago
My '56 has been running fine and we are leaving for Paso Robles from So Cal for my 50th HS reunion next weekend.

Last weekend everything went to the proverbial h---in a handbasket. Started running crappy. Thought it was starving for fuel. I use a 53 Caddy WCFB and figured something was blocking a passage..Happened about 6 months ago. Took it off anddid a needle and seat pressure check and float level. Fuel pump put out 4 psi dead headed. Squirted a bunch into a Gator Aid bottle. Put it back together and it still did the samething. Started quickly but would not take any throttle hot or cold. Backfiring and ruff idle untill it died.

Researched here...Stated looking at the ignition. Checked coil ohm, checked ballast resister, cleaned and checked points set at .015" still ran like crap...

About to give up and go to an electronic ignition when I remembered a problem with '73 Monte Carlo my wife had many, many years ago. Did kinda the same thing. Pull my head out of a warm dark spot and bought a new condener and Whadda-U- know, runs perfect. Now I'll carry a screw diver, holding screw driver, 5/16" wrench and an extra set of points, condenser, ballast resister rotor, cap, and coil just in case............Whadda-U-Think.........JD  

By NoShortcuts - 13 Years Ago
Life is a test! Enjoy the ride to your 50th reunion! Hope the weather is nice!



By the way. You passed! Smile



Regards,
By pegleg - 13 Years Ago
Lot to be said for plain old points. With electronics you'd have had to replace everything but the tailights. And it would have cost a lot more than the points and condensor.
By gekko13 - 13 Years Ago
#1, glad to hear that you were able to correct the problem.  It seems to be an increasing problem that some of the small parts for sale now days are just not up to snuff from the beginning.  I have read about this becoming very serious in other industries because they cannot trust some of their vendors to meet quality spec.s.  Condensors seem to be a common component that is being abused by shaddy suppliers.  I'd like to know if you can identify the source of your defective condensor.  I hate to think about how many "good" ones I probably needlessly tossed over the years.  Hope you had a good time at your reunion.  My fiftieth is coming up in a couple more years.  Cheers.
By DryLakesRacer - 13 Years Ago
Since this is a '56 and I changed the carb and distributor the source of the condenser is unknown as I bought it as a complete unit minus the cap and rotor. I put a "Standard" brand in at about $3.. Blue Point brand is about $8 don't know the quality of each...Wire is a different color on the Blue Point..Found it a day later.Drove 20 miles today and all went well......................JD