Begging to be a hot rod.

Licensed to kill said:
I usually cruise at around 45MPH. I know that these were designed to run at 65MPH and I believe were even advertised as such
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While my car will do 65mph, my car and I are more comfortable at 45mph.
You can just feel her smooth out and settle in at 45mph.
 
I suspect the HV cable between the coil and distibutor cap may have problems. The cable is quite new, but the crimps at the ends look poorly done. Someone at the cable bench must have been in a hurry. Also found a loose nut on the generator relay. Looser than expected. Ordered another cable. Will go through the timing this weekend, and have a look under the distributor plate. Took her out last evening. Ran fine.
 
I've had a few electrical issues with my car as well and find it somewhat comical to have recurring electrical problems in a car that has a total of like 4 wires LOL. (yes I know it actually has more than 4 wires, I'm being facetious)
 
$300 down the drain. Well not really. The tow truck driver can use it to fix the transmission leak on his tow truck.


Just when you thought you had fixed everything that could possibly go wrong. We'll label this "Trouble No. 356". There's a short somewhere, and I suspect it's in starter. I could be wrong. But that would be a first, so highly unlikely. :D
 

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Purdy Swoft said:
There are many ways to make one of the simplest automobiles complicated .
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Amen!

I am absolutely guilty of this. With all the time, and money I’ve spent “improving” my A, I wish sometimes I had just left it the way ‘ol Henry made it.

At the same time the compulsion to fiddle, and mod is irrepressible.
 
Seems funny, the cars have ran a long time and still are, the way Henry built it. New is not always improved. The old model T & A were built to last..OUESTIONS !! Just my 2cents worth, was"nt trying to offend anyone...........Love my Model "A"
 
500 feet sounds about right for a gas cap not breathing , if you hear air going past the cap when loosened, a new one is needed.
 
Well I can say for certain is that the starter no workee. It must have drained the battery while I was at work. The starter is the only component in the car I haven't been able to examine thoroughly, having no reason to take it apart. But now I get to.
 
Jack Shaft said:
A modern electrical system does..dont think your problem is the cars fault,it only reflects the maintenance performed on it.

AeJJCrj.jpg
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This last spring I wired the entire car with new wiring and in that process I thought about adding a big fuse block for all the different circuits in the car. But ultimately I removed the block because there was too many points a possible failure. I finally installed 3 inline fuses at key points in the circuit. Works like a champ and haven't blown a fuse yet. Even with the starter problem. The starter remains unfused which sounds a little bit scary to me.
 
I ran modern fuse protected relay controlled circuits,this accomplishes two things,one is each circuit is fuse protected, the other is my control switches only see about 150 milliamps.The relays switch the load.It looks busy,but in reality its a bunch of separate circuits.Its common method used modern equipment and cars.My switches and horn button are rated for 15a,but only see milliamps,my relays are rated for 30a but only see about 12a max..my blade fuses are rated close to max load each circuit to protect the circuit.I use a thomas and betts crimper and a separate klein stripper,the T&B crimper has great clamping force.I dont daisy chain circuits through one crimp,I stack terminals..

My wiring wont burn,my fuses will blow.my external harness is 3/14ga SJO rubber coated cable,akin power tool cable protected by coated cloth loom for an early look.

wYc5RtA.jpg


all external crimps are shrink tubed,and harness 'pass throughs' are grommeted..
 
The starter wouldn't start when it was in the car. Took it out and fired up on the ground and it works fine. Dismantled the contact and this is what I got. A lot of missing copper.


PS. Then it died again. No workee.
 

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DannL said:
The starter wouldn't start when it was in the car. Took it out and fired up on the ground and it works fine. Dismantled the contact and this is what I got. A lot of missing copper.


PS. Then it died again. No workee.
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I guess I am missing something but I fail to see how a burned contact would cause an engine to shut-off after driving 500 feet.

The burned contacts could be from several things. It can be from a driver who did/does not depress the start fully causing the contacts to arc. It could be from poor connections that allowed the bus bar to get extremely hot. It could also be from incorrect cable size and/or excessive crank times that caused excessive heat to be generated. And/or, it could be from a faulty starter that is drawing excess current. Generally speaking, once arcing has occurred where the copper contacts have burned, the contact connection continually gets worse with each subsequent start until you reach this condition like in the pictures. In other words, this just didn't happen, as it has been continually gotten worse.

One other thing that I am curious about since the starter failed. A stock Model-A has a provision for starting crank to be inserted at the front of the engine through a hole in the radiator shell. Is there a reason why you did not use that, -or maybe just push start the engine by rolling the vehicle and 'popping' the clutch? While the tow truck driver would not have received money to fix his transmission, you likely could have saved $300 though.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
I guess I am missing something but I fail to see how a burned contact would cause an engine to shut-off after driving 500 feet.

The burned contacts could be from several things. It can be from a driver who did/does not depress the start fully causing the contacts to arc. It could be from poor connections that allowed the bus bar to get extremely hot. It could also be from incorrect cable size and/or excessive crank times that caused excessive heat to be generated. And/or, it could be from a faulty starter that is drawing excess current. Generally speaking, once arcing has occurred where the copper contacts have burned, the contact connection continually gets worse with each subsequent start until you reach this condition like in the pictures. In other words, this just didn't happen, as it has been continually gotten worse.

One other thing that I am curious about since the starter failed. A stock Model-A has a provision for starting crank to be inserted at the front of the engine through a hole in the radiator shell. Is there a reason why you did not use that, -or maybe just push start the engine by rolling the vehicle and 'popping' the clutch? While the tow truck driver would not have received money to fix his transmission, you likely could have saved $300 though.
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The actual cause of the original post was never resolved. Replaced the new distributor cable with another. Drove it maybe three times and then the starter craps out. The crank hole is not aligned with the engine. Bought it that way. Need to lift the engine and see why. Anyhoo . . . when I got the car it was all original for the most part. Unlike most of these cars that have been gone through a hundred times over the last 50 years, this is never had that. This one here is definitely a money pit and it would probably have to be dismantled completely and everything replaced with new or refurbished parts. I've spent the last year and some months putting Band-Aids on everything by replacing each part at a time as they go bad or as they are found bad. Interestingly the car left me stranded with the starter problem less than 500 feet away from the last time it died. About 7 miles from home. Working on a federal installation doesn't allow me the luxury of working on the car in the parking lot. If I can just get it out the gate and into a ditch I could work on it till my hearts content.
 
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Put a 283 in it with a T5 transmission and a Ford 9" rear and of course hydraulic brakes and drive the car like you want to drive it. I started with a stock car and this is were I ended up, just wish I did it in the start instead of trying this and trying that with model A & B motors, 39 transmissions.
 
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