Engine Dies when timing is advanced

[Josh Bostic]

Hello, my neighbor just purchased a 1929 Tudor and has been working on it for the past few months, we have worked out all the typical bugs and getting ready to drive this fall. The most recent that has us both confused. After dealing with a very worn out distributor he has replaced it with a brand new one that included everything (points condenser plates, body, shaft) install and timed the car ran great for several test runs until today. Now it dies almost instantly once you advance the timing about 3/4 down, if the timing is retarded all the way up it runs fine. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

[700rpm]

Was the new dissy built to original stock specs? What did you use to time it? I suspect your problem is something about the pig tail wire maybe shorting out. That’s the first thing I would check. Screwing the ignition cable in too far can also cause trouble.

[Kurt in NJ]

Put a piece of paper between the points and advance/ retard it, if it make a spark I would look at the wire under the breaker plate it could be shorting out.

[JayJay]

You might also recheck your timing and be sure to tighten the screw down completely after that. If the screw is loose (the one on the distributor, not the one behind the wheel) then it will slip timing. Don’t ask how i know this.

[mleder]

You should make sure the steering column is in the correct orientation. Your spark lever rod to the distributor off the column which connects to the upper plate has only a certain amount of travel . To see if your in spec move the spark lever in the cabin all the way up. In the cutout of the distributor body the connection to the plate should be all the way to one side . Then move spark lever in cabin all the way down, again the connection to the plate should be all the way to the other side. If this is not the case you cannot and will not have the full function of the degrees of advance or retard that you need to run the engine

[Jim Brierley]

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It's possible that the dizzy is losing its ground?

[Steve Schmauch]

If you replaced the distributor with another original distributor, then something to check is the pigtail between the upper and lower plates. Sometimes the nut works loose or the flag connects with nearby metal and creates a dead short which results in the symptom you describe.

[gdmn852]

Hello, the wire between the plates is a known problem spot, wire loosen on nuts,and shorts out .Another problem spot is the wire in armor cable from ignition can short out inside. But this sounds more like wire between plates in distributor, from movement of spark control.