49-53 8BA firing order issue

S

santino2010

Member
Hello all I seem to be having an issue with my flathead not wanting to fire up. I been going right by the book with having it at TDC
#1 PISTON but still no fire .
It was running before I took it apart to replace the head gaskets,so I did not mess with the timing or distributor, so when I put everything back together the spark was fairly weak and wasn't a consistent spark.
I should mention that I converted to 12 volts and I'm using a ballest resister so I can use my 6 volt coil , and now when my key is on the ballest resister starts to smoke i'dk if I connected the hot wire wrong or something, but I assume the hot wire coming from the ignition to the ballest resister should go to the + positive side of the coil correct?
I'm very confused😕 any info would surely be appreciated
 
A couple of thoughts : Did you convert it to 12 volts negative ground? Make sure you have everything correct. Not to impune your knowledge, you do realize that Ford had their own way of numbering the cylinders. There have been a few times in my life when I have seen guys who installed the spark plug wires like an SBC.

The smoking ballast resistor seems to give you a good place to start.
 
Oh yes it's negative ground ,
And I I'm pretty sure I know ,I was reading the
Firing order set up and I think I was on point with the diagram, but I'm just learning how to work on the flatheads👍
 
This is another thread where components are being used that may not be compatible. There are coils used in 12-volt systems that have different primary resistance, ie some are for electronic breakers with high energy secondary output that should not be used with a points & condenser type ignition. One way to make up a new system is to use components from known systems such as the 1956 Ford. It was 12-volt negative ground and had a ballast that was designed for that particular coil and the breaker system is basically the same as for the 8BA family of engines. This way you can get components that were designed to work in unison.

Ballast resistors do get hot and if any oily residue or moisture gets on them prior to use, they can vaporize the material making smoke or steam. This is not abnormal. You just have to use a ballast that will control the current properly and give you breaker point reliability.

If your components are compatible, you just may have a bad condenser. Positive ground systems usually need the ignition switch wire to connect to the negative or BAT terminal and negative ground systems connect to the positive terminal but sometimes you need a polarity tester to be certain. You can use a graphite pencil but the testers are not very expensive and are easier to use.

If you are down pat with the firing order, cylinder numbering sequence, and direction of rotation of the distributor, then you should be confident that it is correct. If for some reason your compression is low, then that could also be a problem.
 
Last edited:
19Fordy has it
You need a 12 volt coil.
And now, you may need a new ballast resistor, if yours is burned up
 
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