Ignition cable blues

[Garcia]

My car came with a replacement ignition switch, and I've been wanting a pop up switch ever since. I managed to get one that I should have just installed as it was, but I wanted to clean it up first. Cleaning was no problem, but for re-assembly instead of splicing a new wire to the brass tip, I removed the tip to attach a new wire directly to it. In doing that, I destroyed the black insulator surrounding the brass tip. I substituted a rubber faucet washer, but when I installed the switch, I had no voltage at the point arm, so I assumed the cable had shorted.

I ordered a cable repair kit, figuring it would be the easiest solution. Wrong. When I attempted to twist the cable into the switch body, I found the cable was too thin. The cable that came with the car and the cable I bought both are 0.54 inch thick. The cable that came with the cable repair kit is 0.51 inch thick. That 0.03 inch is enough to make a difference.

I should have returned the cable repair kit, but I'm not that smart. Instead, I pulled the distributor end off the repair kit cable and attempted to twist it onto the cable that came with the pop up switch. Just as the repair kit cable was too thin to fit the switch body, so was the pop up cable too thick to fit the end piece from the repair kit. I finally managed to get the end (now all bungered up with vise grip scratches) kind of twisted on and everything assembled. I still had no voltage at the point arm.

The cable tested OK for continuity and non-continuity where it should be, so I started looking at the distributor. It turned out that the brass clip from the upper plate to the wireless lower plate had slipped sideways and created a short. Once I got it straight and securely attached, the cable was no problem--I hadn't needed the cable repair kit at all.

I'm slowly learning about reproduction parts. You'd think the folks making them would be able to measure the original parts and make their reproductions the same size, but maybe that's too much to ask. Right now, I have a cable jammed into the connector end and held in place by the clamp on the cylinder head. It seems to be working.

[Bob C]

Should have sent it to Dick Crabtree for restoration.

[CWPASADENA]

Remove the wireless lower plate and use the original lower plate with a wire, just like Henry did it. Be sure to use the correct multi stranded wire that is sold by most of the better parts suppliers or you can use test instrument wire.

The wireless lower plate system has caused all sorts of problems.

That is what I would do,

Also, Dick Crabtree X2. He has restored all my Pop-Out switches as well as door locks.
Excellent work at very fair prices.

Chris W.

[chrs1961815]

As someone who rebuilds the distributors for Model A's, I will tell you for sure that the wireless plates are horrible. Reinventing the wheel when it does not need reinventing. The stock setup works fine when you have a new wire that is the right length and installed correctly. A lot of people don't do that so they think it is just the design.

[700rpm]

This is like the story of "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice".

[Garcia]

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Thanks for the suggestions. As for sending the ignition unit out for rebuilding, I prefer, as much as possible, to do my own work. With the suggestions I got from this forum, I was able to get a burping, backfiring engine to run smoothly, and now I’m just working to improve things.

As for the wireless plate, it’s obviously a bad idea. What can I say, though? It came with the car. I have a couple used lower plates, and when I get to it, I’m going to install a wire on one and put it in the car. I found on eBay a 16 gauge tinned copper wire with 252 strands and silicone rubber insulation. That should work OK.

If I didn’t want to monkey around with the mechanics of the car, I would have gotten a Toyota.

[CWPASADENA]

I found on eBay a 16 gauge tinned copper wire with 252 strands and silicone rubber insulation. That should work OK.

If I didn’t want to monkey around with the mechanics of the car, I would have gotten a Toyota.[/QUOTE]

That should work fine.

Chris W.

[Tom Endy]

Years ago I thought that the wireless lower plate seemed like a good idea, so I rebuilt two distributors with them. I put one on the Vic and the other under the back seat. Soon after I went on a Model A tour to Montana. While up around Salt Lake City, about 1200 miles from home, the car started cutting out at the normal cruising speed. It became hard to start when we stopped for gas. Finally at a gas stop it refused to start. I replaced the distributor with the one under the back seat and it started right up and ran fine.

That night at a hotel I took the offending distributor apart and found an arc on the slanted plate made by the sparking acorn nut of the wireless assembly. There was a severe burn mark at the fully retarded position where I started the car and one at the normal advance position when cruising along.

I made it home ok on the second distributor, but when I disassembled it I found it was headed down the same road.

Needless to say I became a believer in leaving it the way Henry designed it. The secret is to be sure to use the multi-stranded wire in the lower plate supplied by the better suppliers.

Tom Endy

[Bruce of MN]

You always want to take care that the wire is positioned under the terminal nut so that no part of it can touch the distributor body.