A short story

[Herky]

Hey guys,

The old '79 40 is getting ready for the aluminum tub and everything else that goes along with this project. It's been almost a year just to aquire all the parts so I can do it all at once. Anyhow, after sitting for awhile at home and some repairs at a local shop the cruiser is missing. It looks like all the plugs are getting fire to them, but there is some stray voltage coming off the coil. If you pull the cover back from over the coil wire going to the distributor you can see and hear it shorting. I was told my altenator wasn't properly grounded and needed to be rebuilt so I took it off and had it tested. It tested good. Cleaned the mounting brackts re-installed and no improvement. Next step is new ignition wires, cap, rotor, and plugs this weekend. Anything else I need to consider for this problem or install?

Jeremy

 

[e rock]

I think residual sparking of the coil to ground is indicative of at least one plug that's not firing correctly. Definitely replace the plugs and test or replace the wires and try it again.

I remember being 14 and 'helping' my dad work on his truck. He was having the same problem and I figured the little rubber boot must not have been seated all the way onto the coil. I don't remember much of the next few minutes except my dad in tears - from laughing at my stupid ass laying on the ground about 8 feet from where I had been standing. I only wish I could say that I learned from that... :whoops:

 

[Herky]

Man. My post has the crappiest view to reply ratio going. Only one out of a hundred will reply. Did e rock get it all or what?

 

[chitown40]

Check your wires. I had a slight miss on mine a while back and it was caused by a wire that had a SLIGHT burn on the insulation from being too close to the headers.

 

[Herky]

Well I installed new ignition wires, new cap and rotor and new plugs and the short seems to be taken care of. I couldn't find a glairing problem with anything I removed though. I did have an odd ball spark plug but it's been in there for quite awhile. Thanks for the input.