33 ignition

Lawrie

Lawrie

Well-known member
I was doing a service on my 33 and after decided to wash down the engine.
Went to drive it back inside and it only fired on half the cylinders
But I had hosed it down good and proper so in the shed I dried it off, but a couple of cylinders still missed.
While looking at the left side plug wire tube it was like a Christmas light inside.
So I took it off and looked at the plug wires,they were cracked and the outer covering was missing in places.
So, I made up up a new set of plug leads for it.
This was what I found on the left side,the wire was not even in its socket,
Before hoseing the engine down it would go like a rocket,
It must have been out of its socket for a while judging by how much of the socket was eroded away.
So my coil ,condenser and distributor must be in good order to fire the plug with the wire like this.
I have made up new wires using the modern wires they have a core of nylon type stuff covered by a small black tube.
They seem to work ok, and fit nice in the terminal plate and harness tube
Lawrie
 

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Lawrie said:
I was doing a service on my 33 and after decided to wash down the engine.
Went to drive it back inside and it only fired on half the cylinders
But I had hosed it down good and proper so in the shed I dried it off, but a couple of cylinders still missed.
While looking at the left side plug wire tube it was like a Christmas light inside.
So I took it off and looked at the plug wires,they were cracked and the outer covering was missing in places.
So, I made up up a new set of plug leads for it.
This was what I found on the left side,the wire was not even in its socket,
Before hoseing the engine down it would go like a rocket,
It must have been out of its socket for a while judging by how much of the socket was eroded away.
So my coil ,condenser and distributor must be in good order to fire the plug with the wire like this.
I have made up new wires using the modern wires they have a core of nylon type stuff covered by a small black tube.
They seem to work ok, and fit nice in the terminal plate and harness tube
Lawrie
Click to expand...
545819


545820


545821
 
New plug wires should have Zero ohms across their length. Don't want resistor type wires or spark plugs.
 
Lawrie said:
I was doing a service on my 33 and after decided to wash down the engine.
Went to drive it back inside and it only fired on half the cylinders
But I had hosed it down good and proper so in the shed I dried it off, but a couple of cylinders still missed.
While looking at the left side plug wire tube it was like a Christmas light inside.
So I took it off and looked at the plug wires,they were cracked and the outer covering was missing in places.
So, I made up up a new set of plug leads for it.
This was what I found on the left side,the wire was not even in its socket,
Before hoseing the engine down it would go like a rocket,
It must have been out of its socket for a while judging by how much of the socket was eroded away.
So my coil ,condenser and distributor must be in good order to fire the plug with the wire like this.
I have made up new wires using the modern wires they have a core of nylon type stuff covered by a small black tube.
They seem to work ok, and fit nice in the terminal plate and harness tube
Lawrie
Click to expand...
Lawrie I believe that’s resistor wire you have use for new wires. I believe that is totally incorrect for your stock system. Too much resistance. You need copper wire kind.
 
Hi Lawrie. +1 on KiwinUS.
Just did mine and used Beru Copper wire
<a href="https://ibb.co/p28JYg9"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/WnwgmQY/20240627-164831.jpg" alt="20240627-164831" border="0"></a>
 
what will happen if I use these wires,
they seem to work nice, but I haven't tried it on the road.
Lawrie
 
Once again thanks for the info.( I'm using NOS ford rotor and terminal plates)
today I am making new wires, I have a roll of copper cored wire and in my stash I have an old brylcreem bottle with the little brass connectors that push into the terminal plate sockets real nice, there was a tag on then that said 2/6 pence per doz,they came from an old hardware shop that closed down about 30 yrs ago
Its an easy job as all my tools are still out from yesterday.

Lawrie
 
OK , I made another set today with copper cores.
Can you explain why the other type is no good,
There is only about .010 gap between the rotor and terminals, and My rotor is in good condition.
Surely the voltage that will go down the wire to fire the plug is only what the plug needs, or does it take some to push the volts through the new type wire.
I was nt paying attention in the science class at high school. I only went there to eat my lunch.LOL
My coil is a skip one and the ignition system is stock 6v,
I kept the first set I made with the new type of wire , I will run them on my distributor machine and have a play
I am curious now.
Lawrie
 
The modern carbon core wires are fibreglass strands, impregnated with graphite. They are fitted to modern engines for radio suppression. As they are higher resistance than straight copper core, the coil must put out more energy to overcome this additional resistance. This additional current tends to easily create tracks through the original bakelite type material the rotor and caps are made of, which considerably shortens their life.
 
OK
the new modern leads have 12.6 K ohms resistance and the copper ones I just made have .4 ohm.
, I now understand the resistance thing
Lawrie
 
I have been looking at the ignition components on an inherited 34 flat head engine. I learned from this so I appreciate that. No resistor plugs and no resistance wire. If one wanted to add a radio someday is there a way to prevent the interference from the ignition?
I have not taken the distributor body with the points all the way off yet. Is it supposed to be able to be removed with the radiator in place?
The four contact points (where the rotor must fire the spark)in each of the two distributor caps seem to have a slight groove in the middle of them. Are those contacts flat when the part is new and the grooving represents wear?
Thanks for any answers.
 
Thanks, I have removed to coil (which I assume is in the top part with the condenser). Is there anyway to test the coil to evaluate its condition?

I also did not know the wires were soldered in. Any tricks on the best/right way to heat them up to be able to remove them?

Thanks!
 
Thanks, I have removed to coil (which I assume is in the top part with the condenser). Is there anyway to test the coil to evaluate its condition?

I also did not know the wires were soldered in. Any tricks on the best/right way to heat them up to be able to remove them?

Thanks!
 
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