Sept 9 thread on ammeter hookup

Carb Guy

Carb Guy

Senior Member
Hooked up all the wiring as per all the help Tom and several others gave me. Turned on the lights and the meter read charge so reversed the wires on the ammeter as per what all of you said to do, OK at that point. tried to start the engine but no luck at all. so went to Les Andrews book on trouble shooting the ignition. Got out the volt meter and started to go down the check list, 6 volts at the starter but as soon I checked past the fuse hook up on the starter the voltage dropped at all the further check points. So disconnected the fuse holder and hooked the yellow wire right to the starter switch, then I got 6 volts or a little more at the coil posts and both of the junction box posts Turned on the switch and put a piece of heavy paper between the points and no power there. I was having problems with my pop out it did not want to pop out unless I pulled on it then it would work. I had rebuilt a switch years ago so checked the continuity on it before installing it, checked OK .Checked it again and not working after installation. Pulled it out and hooked a trouble switch to the distributor. disconnected the red wire from the coil and hooked the wire from the distributor to the coil. Checked the points with the paper in between and now had 6 volts at the points. Tried starting again but no start. Checked the timing and reset it. Started it again and at least got a back fire. Checked the book again and said it could be a bad condenser so changed it , still no start. What do I do next this is just maddening?
 
When the timing pin drops into the cam gear dimple, is the rotor in this position?

The position of the spark lever doesn't matter for this check.
 

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Got the car running today. My son came over, he went to Tech school right after high school and became a very good auto mechanic. I am not a good meter person and learned some things today. all I can say if you do not know how to test with a meter it is most important and better learn like I did today. First things first this all started when my new battery drained down and that is when I should have started the testing with the meter. At this point I still think it was my ammeter but Can't be sure because I made the mistake of starting to do to many things at once and as I look back that just made things go from something simple to create more problems and I hope I learned from all of this. Now today we did all the meter testing and it all tested OK until we came to the distributor. Opened it up and pulled the cam out and loosened the top plate. And sure enough when I changed the points when doing to many things at once I failed to put the insulating washer under the pig tail connection and it was of course shorting out, fixed that now OK. Now on to the timing, could not feel the indention on the timing gear so ground the pin more to a point, still no luck. Now we took a stiff wire and when we new we were getting close to top dead center we finally felt the indent then set the timing. started the car and finally got it running. Long story short made to many stupid moves along the way. Hope this helps others to not make the same mistakes I did. I want thank all of you that helped along the way and to Tom W. the voltage regulator is working just fine. Thanks again to all the great guys on Ford Barn.
 
One more thing . I bought the new ammeter from Brattons, made in China and complete junk. Talked to Brattons about it and they said they have tried to get somebody to make 2000 of them to their right specs and they get no takers at all. I did manage to get it in and it is not good, and way to much work and a poor fit and loose and other stuff just junk!
 
Glad you got it fixed. There are always restored original ammeters at the national meets.
I'll bet Bert's has some good original ammeters also. 800-321-3142
 
Thanks Tom for your help will check it out on the ammeters. Your voltage regulator after cutting the blue wire and my installing a diode cut out appears to be working OK when we got the car started it showed a good charge on the ammeter. On the ammeter from Brattons the tabs to bend over to hold it in place were all in the wrong place and did not line up with the notches in the instrument panel so I made new notches to get it in and then the tabs were wrong in & out so it could not be tightened down. Had to glue it in place. I wish now that I would have just sent it back and looked around for an original. Thanks again.
 
A piece of bicycle inner tube can be slipped over the repro ammeter and against the panel to hold it from rattling. This after bending the tabs of course. The way today's rubber is however, I wonder how long before it rots off.:mad:
 
I just bought a repro ammeter at Jefferson swap a couple weeks ago from Marv Tomlinson. 10 bucks. Made in Taiwan, NOT China. Put it in our car and it fits fair, the tabs are in the right place, and it registers OK. Time will tell. I intentionally replaced a good original ammeter because I want to use it for a future fine point car. But yes, originals are always the best if you can find a good one.
 
Mike Peters said:
I just bought a repro ammeter at Jefferson swap a couple weeks ago from Marv Tomlinson. 10 bucks. Made in Taiwan, NOT China. Put it in our car and it fits fair, the tabs are in the right place, and it registers OK. Time will tell. I intentionally replaced a good original ammeter because I want to use it for a future fine point car. But yes, originals are always the best if you can find a good one.
Click to expand...

Taiwan is China, it it not ?/
Wayne
 
Thanks for all the help from all of you. To continue the story after we got the engine running I have a trickle charger that I have used for several years and it would not bring the new battery up . My son came over again and we were checking things out again, I said I have not checked the electric wiper and when I put my hand on it it was warm, this is what what Tom W. said to do and sure enough the switch got turned on somehow and the blade was not moving. The ammeter should a very small discharge and as soon as the wiper was turned off all was OK. I thought maybe it was the China made ammeter that was not working right. Everything working right now just have to get the wiper fixed. A long process but ends well. Thanks to all
 
Don't feel bad, Carb Guy, We All make mistakes & doodle around, like a chicken, sans head ! Most folks just won't ADMIT it.
Bill W.
 
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