55 T-Bird stalls

[Grumpy Rick]

SUCCESS!!

Yesterday, a mechanic friend took pity on me and checked out the ignition. Everything checked out, new coil, new condenser, no shorted wires in the distributor, resister working correctly. This is all stuff I checked earlier.

What I did not check was the points. I checked the gap, and they were ok, but looked really dark colored. He checked all the above again then checked the points. Power to the points, but never made it through the points. He removed them to look. They were not really pitted much, but discolored. He took some fine emory cloth and sanded them, put them back, and it fired up like new.

I drove the car a few miles to check, but did not want to get stuck if the points burned again.

Thanks, guys for all the thoughtful answers.

By the way, the solenoid was changed out to a 12V when the car was changed, but no one ever hooked up the lug that supplies a full 12V to the coil when starting. We left it that way, since we will be upgrading next week.

I have a later rebuilt distributor that will be installed, with a Pertronix setup and new Pertronix coil. My Carter 4070 fuel pump has arrived, as well as all the power steering hoses, and correct connections, to stop a PS fluid leak.

Also got the service manual, electrical manual, auto trans manual, reference manual, and a new neutral safety switch that will let me start it in park.

Whew.