Ignition and everything that goes with it!

WABOOM

WABOOM

Senior Member
I've been getting all the bugs worked out on my '51 Mercury. I bought it 4 months ago and have put about 300 miles on it. I am trying to get all the bugs worked out. It starts and runs good with the exception of a hesitation and stumble only from take off from a stop. It did this from the first day I owned the car. I have had the carb rebuilt. And replaced the fuel pump. Also replaced the coil. All of these things have improved the drivability individually. So far, I haven't been inside the distributor but I plan to today when I replace the spark plugs. I have never messed with points... All of this has me considering converting to a Pertronix set up. I appreciate any advice you can lend on this process. My end goal is of course reliability and am willing to bend on factory correctness to improve drivability/reliability aspects. It is a bone stock factory correct car with 86,000 miles. But it is a driver. Although it is a beauty... some might call it a 10-20 foot looker. She's not perfect.
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I would stick with points as they are simple and easy to change and adjust. Electronic after market systems present other problems and not easy to fix along the road. A good set of points from NAPA and you are good for probably 20K miles. I have points in both my old Fords. The F-1 in my avatar has over 12K miles on the present set and hasn't been touched.
 
To address the stumble, try readjusting the accelerator pump.
If it is in the center location, move to the outboard location.
It can be pried up with a screw driver to relocate the pin.
Also, installing a Pertonix ignition does not address the possibility of a faulty vacuum advance canister.
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I would stick with points, especially if your staying with a 6 volt system. I bought my '51 Ford in 1987. At that time, I did a complete ignition tuneup : points, condenser, cap, rotor, and plugs. (Although over the years I changed out the carburetor a couple of times, I never touched the ignition again.) In 2016, 29 years and 17,000 miles later, the engine started making a funny noise; it still ran great, but the noise concerned me. I had a good '51 mercury engine with the standard speed goodies that I installed. That engine has points too, only this time they're in a Mallory "flattop". This one runs great as well; it's just a bit stronger.

Like an earlier poster said, just make sure that you use quality components in your tune up.
 
If you're referring to me, I won't be of much help, since I've been changing points since my dad figured it was beneath his pay level in 1955. I'm sure some others have some good recommendations.
 
I bought a 49 Ford with pertronics and have not had a problem with it. Starts and runs great


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WABOOM, where are you located? There may be a Barner close enough to show you how to do it. If you're close to me, I'd be happy to show you. Once you see it done you're set.
 
Buy two sets of points, a spare condenser, spare coil, spare rotor and a spare cap so if you get stranded you can easily make repairs. Some folks even carry a complete spare distributor for replacement on the road. If your car is 12V go with a Pertronix conversion.
 
Points style ignition has always worked fine for me. The points/condenser in my 52 Merc have been there since at least the late 1970s and possibly 1969. I cleaned them up with some fine sandpaper and newspaper and they work perfect. I don't know if the points you buy today are built to the same level of quality as the ones from 40 years ago but a good set will last years. Changing points on an 8BA is a picnic compared to the old crab or divers helmet style distributors.
 
RKS.PA said:
WABOOM, where are you located? There may be a Barner close enough to show you how to do it. If you're close to me, I'd be happy to show you. Once you see it done you're set.
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Minnesota. north suburbs
East Bethel specifically
 
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I just love optomistic people, I've been working on my car for 2 years and still find things to fix. Hope you have better luck with yours. I really like the looks of the 51 Mercs. Al
 
As has been said, If your car is still 6 volts, stay with the points setup.
Your off-idle stumble is probably carb related. Try opening the idle air screws 1/4 turn.
That would be ccw
 
I just moved the accelerator pump forward one position and put in new spark plugs. I took the car around the block and the hesitation is gone! Thank you fellas.
 
WABOOM said:
I just moved the accelerator pump forward one position and put in new spark plugs. I took the car around the block and the hesitation is gone! Thank you fellas.
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Curious, did you move it to the last position forward or to the center position?
The center position is considered normal.
 
I found that replacing the stock Merc intake with an 8RT intake and carb made the Merc engine run much better with fewer carb problems.
 

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