Inner caps on helmet dist.

grumppyoldman

grumppyoldman

Well-known member
Still looking for missing, popping, backfiring problem. This is on a 41 ford, 221 CI. V-8. Today found errosion on two of the contact pin towers. Both are on the same cap. My question is where would the spark be jumping to, the contact surface on the rotor is black, kinda burnt looking. I've ordered new inner plates to eliminate any thing I can to solve the problem. The coil and distributor have been re-built, new plug wires, re-built 94 carb, new fuel pump ( 3 1/4 psi. ) out-put. Installed a Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator, ( Don't do squat ) set it on 1 lb. still have 3lb. fuel pressure. It idles fair, but when I drive it don't run good at all. When accelerating it does pretty good, at steady speed it bucks and jerks. Al
 
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grumppyoldman said:
Still looking for missing, popping, backfiring problem. This is on a 41 ford, 221 CI. V-8. Today found errosion on two of the contact pin towers. Both are on the same cap. My question is where would the spark be jumping to, the contact surface on the rotor is black, kinda burnt looking. I've ordered new inner plates to eliminate any thing I can to solve the problem. The coil and distributor have been re-built, new plug wires, re-built 94 carb, new fuel pump ( 3 1/4 psi. ) out-put. Installed a Mr. Gasket fuel pressure regulator, ( Don't do squat ) set it on 1 lb. still have 3lb. fuel pressure. It idles fair, but when I drive it don't run good at all. When accelerating it does pretty good, at steady speed it bucks and jerks. Al
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I'm going through the same issue on my '47 with 59A engine. So far I replaced the condenser but have not had time to road test. I'll keep everyone updated as to what I find.
 
Are you sure the plug wire are routed correctly from the distributor to the plugs - 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3 etc....
 
Sounds like (1) dirt in the carb ,(2) but you could also hot wire it to eliminate the dash wires .a little burning on the caps is no big deal , look for something else (6) could be a shorted rotor into the shaft if its a used one ,wrap it with tape ,Ted
 
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FlatheadTed said:
Sounds like (1) dirt in the carb ,(2) but you could also hot wire it to eliminate the dash wires .a little burning on the caps is no big deal , look for something else (6) could be a shorted rotor into the shaft it its a used one ,wrap it with tape ,Ted
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If there were dirt in the carburetor would it not idle well?
 
Seth any thing is possible but if there was dirt in the idle ling jets then yes ,on acceleration its running half on the spray jets leather do dar ,Ted
 
FlatheadTed said:
Seth any thing is possible but if there was dirt in the idle ling jets then yes ,on acceleration its running half on the spray jets leather do dar ,Ted
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I'll keep this in mind when I continue to trouble shoot this week. I have had dirt in the idle jet that caused the engine to idle and run on 4 cylinders only before.
 
Some things to check for, some of which have already been mentioned:

1. Correct inner caps, and are they seated & keyed correctly in housing opening?
2. Correct rotor?
3. Condenser good?
4. Points clean, gapped correctly?
5. Ignition resistor good?
6. Ignition switch contacts clean, making good mechanical/electrical contact?
7. Voltage reading at coil?
8. Plug wires connected correctly to inner caps and to correct cylinders?
9. Check for possible pin hole(s) in flex hose between fuel line & fuel pump.
10. Gap between rotor terminal and inner cap terminals set correctly?
 
To get back to the original post, can the bucking and jerking at steady speed be an air leak? Have you tested with a vaccuum gauge?.... Mark
 
No on the vacuum gauge ( yet,) but did find more black crap in carb. cleaned it out. Finally got some results out of fuel pressure regulator, down to 2#, reset idle jet's and took it for a drive, runs better, also changed the timing on the dist. one line to advance. Went by a friend's shop he told me to get rid of all the black fuel line's and use fuel injection line's. The black stuff is coming from the black line's new gas eating it. It's so small it goes through my gas filter into the carb. Still waiting on steel fuel line, got new tank yesterday.Al
 
helmet distributer? could be arking to the shaft going thru the rotor button--look inside the rotor button for carbon "tracks" fix--shrink tape at least two layer to insulate the shaft
 
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