Mounting ‘Tubman’ condenser on dome distributor

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by tubman

Chris,

I have just finished going through all of your posts, and have come up with a couple of concerns. In your first post, it says that "In preparation for starting it, we have had the distributor rebuilt with a new condenser, we have had new Auto-lite 386 spark plugs put in as well as spark plug wires, cleaned the gas tank, fuel lines, and original fuel sender, and finally installed a new fuel pump". I see later that you got a new coil from Skip. One question that was never answered is "Who rebuilt the distributor?". If it was done by someone unknown at some undetermined time in the past, I would suspect it and I am afraid your only choice is to send it out to someone reputable and have it done again. Also, I see that the tank, fuel lines, fuel pump, and carburetor have all been replaced, but in some of your later posts, it seems that you are back to hand feeding fuel down the carb throat. I think it would be a very good idea to see what is wrong with the fuel system and correct it. Dumping fuel down the carb may work for some, but if you have any other problems, it may be enough to keep the engine from starting.

Stick with it; we'll get it going. When you get a chance, email me the video.

Good morning,

The distributor was sent off to C&G Ford Parts and was rebuilt by them. The fuel system is working good now. I was hand feeding it and using the carb at first just so I would know it was getting the fuel it needed. I plan to sand down the bracket and where the condenser is grounded to see if this is an issue.

I will send the video shortly!

[tubman]

No spark now? There must be something else going on. Now that the condenser is mounted and in the circuit, I feel that any further assistance I could give would be next to useless, as I have not had a car with a front-mounted distributor since 1962. I guess it's up to the rest of you guys to figure this out.

I will say that, although my condensers have been reliable and I have had no failures in over 300 units sold, I suspect that the condenser installation may be the problem because of it's non-standard nature.

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by tubman

No spark now? There must be something else going on. Now that the condenser is mounted and in the circuit, I feel that any further assistance I could give would be next to useless, as I have not had a car with a front-mounted distributor since 1962. I guess it's up to the rest of you guys to figure this out.

I will say that, although my condensers have been reliable and I have had no failures in over 300 units sold, I suspect that the condenser installation may be the problem because of it's non-standard nature.

I completely agree I am going to back this afternoon and make sure everything is grounded good and connected correctly. If it still doesn’t work after this I will begin looking at other options.

Also here is a link to my video if anyone would like to see it. https://youtu.be/TUwOqdNAAmg

[35fordtn]

Use a ohm meter and insure the points are operating as they should. While you have your meter out check the primary and seconday resistance of your coil.
If using the flat coil adapter plate, ensure the hard wound cone shaped spring is not grounding to the housing (common issues causing no spark)
If you want a quick check to see if it's a condenser go to autozone and buy a FD72 condenser. They work perfect but they lack the sex appeal of Tubman's

[tubman]

After watching your video, I saw that it spins over quite rapidly. If you are using a 6 volt battery, it is rapid enough to make me wonder about the compression. To check a "Skip's Coil" you will have to remove it to access the high tension lead. If you don't have an "ohm meter" (multi-meter), you should really have one and they are available for as low as $10.

[34 fordor owner]

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Originally Posted by tubman

After watching your video, I saw that it spins over quite rapidly. If you are using a 6 volt battery, it is rapid enough to make me wonder about the compression. To check a "Skip's Coil" you will have to remove it to access the high tension lead. If you don't have an "ohm meter" (multi-meter), you should really have one and they are available for as low as $10.

Do you mean this as in not enough compression? Also I do have a multimeter, so would I be testing the coil by using the high tension lead? Also testing the points how would I do this with a multimeter?

[tubman]

Yes, it sounds to me that you either have low compression or the world's best battery/starter combination. You want to check the resistance of both of the primary and secondary circuits in the coil. Between the two primary terminals you should get an ohms reading in the single digits, while between the high tension lead and on of the primary terminal the ohms reading should be in the 4 or 5 digit range.

[Mart]

Even with a rebuilt distributor, I would check to see if the points have "furred up" while standing. How long ago was it done?
You need to see if you have a spark.
Take one lead off and fit it to a spare plug with the plug resting on the head. It doesn't need a great ground to the head. A good spark will jump the gap.
When you turn the ignition on, does the ammeter jump towards the discharge side?
Take the coil off the distributor.
Put your multimeter on the contact inside the distributor where the metal prong of the coil low tension side fits into and set to measure continuity.
As the crank turns two revs (by hand ideally) you should get eight ground/no ground cycles at the connection. The ground part of the cycle should be over three times as long as the non ground part of the cycle.
What I am trying to establish is are the points working.

If the points are working, and the coil is good, and the condenser is connected correctly there is no reason why you should not have a spark.

An off the wall thought.. Are you sure the distributor is turning? A remote possibility is that you have a short cam and the adaptor button is missing. Did you feel the distributor fall into place with a solid engagement into the slot? Can you see it turning if you tak the coil or a side plate off?

Have you checked and double checked you have all the plug leads in the correct locations?

Lots of questions. I wish I was close enough to look over your shoulder and help directly.

Does anyone live nearby that could drop by and help??

Mart.

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by Mart

Even with a rebuilt distributor, I would check to see if the points have "furred up" while standing. How long ago was it done?
You need to see if you have a spark.
Take one lead off and fit it to a spare plug with the plug resting on the head. It doesn't need a great ground to the head. A good spark will jump the gap.
When you turn the ignition on, does the ammeter jump towards the discharge side?
Take the coil off the distributor.
Put your multimeter on the contact inside the distributor where the metal prong of the coil low tension side fits into and set to measure continuity.
As the crank turns two revs (by hand ideally) you should get eight ground/no ground cycles at the connection. The ground part of the cycle should be over three times as long as the non ground part of the cycle.
What I am trying to establish is are the points working.

If the points are working, and the coil is good, and the condenser is connected correctly there is no reason why you should not have a spark.

An off the wall thought.. Are you sure the distributor is turning? A remote possibility is that you have a short cam and the adaptor button is missing. Did you feel the distributor fall into place with a solid engagement into the slot? Can you see it turning if you tak the coil or a side plate off?

Have you checked and double checked you have all the plug leads in the correct locations?

Lots of questions. I wish I was close enough to look over your shoulder and help directly.

Does anyone live nearby that could drop by and help??

Mart.

Okay I have the coil off and I am able to see that the distributor is spinning correctly. I have also cleaned the ground for the condenser it was caked it lots of paint. Now as you described checking the points I am figuring I need to have the coil back on to test this right?

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by 34 fordor owner

Okay I have the coil off and I am able to see that the distributor is spinning correctly. I have also cleaned the ground for the condenser it was caked it lots of paint. Now as you described checking the points I am figuring I need to have the coil back on to test this right?

Also not quite positive on where I am supposed to be using the ohm meter in the coil everywhere I check it’s giving me 0. Here is a picture of my coil so you can tell me where to check.

[Mart]

Ignore the coil for now. lets see if the points are working.
The springy thing on the coil connects into a conical location on the points plate. With the coil off, put your meter on that connection on the points plate and check for a circuit to ground or not to ground. It should switch back and forth between grounded and not grounded eight times for 2 rotations of the crank. This would indicate that the points are working.
Mart.

[Will D]

How's it going? Making any headway?

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by Will D

How's it going? Making any headway?

I have been super busy since Friday and haven’t gotten a chance to get out to work on it any. Hopefully I will be able Monday sometime!

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by Mart

Ignore the coil for now. lets see if the points are working.
The springy thing on the coil connects into a conical location on the points plate. With the coil off, put your meter on that connection on the points plate and check for a circuit to ground or not to ground. It should switch back and forth between grounded and not grounded eight times for 2 rotations of the crank. This would indicate that the points are working.
Mart.

Hey everyone, finally got some time to work on the car after a super busy week. I checked for the ground no ground cycles. I did this using the ohm part of the meter and it stayed on 0.00. Did I do this right?

[Mart]

If you had the engine turning and you measured zero ohms that means the points are not making contact when they are closed.

Here's my advice:

Carefully remove the distributor.

Remove the side caps.

Without undoing any screws try and get some wet and dry paper into the points terminals. Clean them and use your ohm meter to check for continuity. As you turn the distributor you should get eight cycles of zero ohms/lots of ohms.

Actually as I am writing this I am not sure what zero ohms means. Do you mean zero ohms as in a perfect contact or overload and in no contact.

Basically though, you need to make sure the points make contact (to ground) when they are closed and are completely open with no contact to ground when they are open.
Have a play with it and see whet you find.

You are going to be on a steep learning curve.

Hey, you're a kid. Are you tech savvy? Can you make videos on your phone and post them unlisted on youtube?
If you then post a link we can see what is going on we will be able to say that's ok or offer better guidance with less guessing.
Mart.

[Lawrie]

Pics of the tubman condenser on our 33.

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by Mart

If you had the engine turning and you measured zero ohms that means the points are not making contact when they are closed.

Here's my advice:

Carefully remove the distributor.

Remove the side caps.

Without undoing any screws try and get some wet and dry paper into the points terminals. Clean them and use your ohm meter to check for continuity. As you turn the distributor you should get eight cycles of zero ohms/lots of ohms.

Actually as I am writing this I am not sure what zero ohms means. Do you mean zero ohms as in a perfect contact or overload and in no contact.

Basically though, you need to make sure the points make contact (to ground) when they are closed and are completely open with no contact to ground when they are open.
Have a play with it and see whet you find.

You are going to be on a steep learning curve.

Hey, you're a kid. Are you tech savvy? Can you make videos on your phone and post them unlisted on youtube?
If you then post a link we can see what is going on we will be able to say that's ok or offer better guidance with less guessing.
Mart.

I went back again today to look at this better and I am getting the ground/no ground cycles. So with this I through the coil back on and for some reason I’m only getting 2.3 volts back at the coil when I was getting 4.2 two weeks ago. Not sure why this would be. Plan to work on it some more tomorrow.

[40cpe]

Voltage at the coil decreases when the points are closed. Bump the engine over and you should be able to tell when the points are open and closed by the volt meter. 2.3 V isn't enough to start the engine. The starter will decrease it even more. Have you tried a jumper from the battery to the coil?

[34 fordor owner]

Originally Posted by 40cpe

Voltage at the coil decreases when the points are closed. Bump the engine over and you should be able to tell when the points are open and closed by the volt meter. 2.3 V isn't enough to start the engine. The starter will decrease it even more. Have you tried a jumper from the battery to the coil?

I have tried this but that was before I had the coil rebuilt I might have to try it now that it is rebuilt.

[Lanny]

If you get it to start with the 6 volt hot wire, don't run it very
long, maybe a minuet or so is about all.





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