Ignition confused noobie.

[Gufshoz]

I'm a new member to this website and I checked the threads, but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I acquired (talked my brothers out of it) a '31 Model A coupe that father bought in 1944. Last week my dad and I were driving her after installing a new ignition switch and she was purring right along. After about 5 miles I stopped at a store for about 10 min. and shut her off. I couldn't get her restarted until discovering the new switch had a screw which shorted-out against the dash. I tried to restart and MAJOR backfire. From that point she would only cough and sputter. I though the timing may have been knocked off, so I re-timed to the manual; no luck. I have a new style distributor and I loosened the rotor and advanced a few degrees and it was a little better. I over did it, so I retarded a little. I kept doing this, but couldn't ever locate the "sweet spot". While I was doing this, I noticed the distributor had about 2-4 degrees of rotational play. Is this normal or did I do some damage with all the backfiring?

[Gary WA]

Make sure you tape up the wires on the switch so no shorting, may have gotten some fuel in the exhaust. I'd go back to original distributor set-up, shouldn't have done any damage. Check all your wiring in distributor for shorts. Lets us know your findings? Welcome to the Hobby!!

[steve s]

Originally Posted by Gufshoz

I'm a new member to this website and I checked the threads, but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I acquired (talked my brothers out of it) a '31 Model A coupe that father bought in 1944. Last week my dad and I were driving her after installing a new ignition switch and she was purring right along. After about 5 miles I stopped at a store for about 10 min. and shut her off. I couldn't get her restarted until discovering the new switch had a screw which shorted-out against the dash. I tried to restart and MAJOR backfire. From that point she would only cough and sputter. I though the timing may have been knocked off, so I re-timed to the manual; no luck. I have a new style distributor and I loosened the rotor and advanced a few degrees and it was a little better. I over did it, so I retarded a little. I kept doing this, but couldn't ever locate the "sweet spot". While I was doing this, I noticed the distributor had about 2-4 degrees of rotational play. Is this normal or did I do some damage with all the backfiring?

I don't see how the backfire could have caused further starting problem. You're lucky it didn't blow the muffler apart.

When you say "rotational play", do you mean the entire distributor is loose, or that the rotor has some slop. If the former, you must fasten it down using the set screw at its base. If the latter, that's normal--find a recipe for setting the timing that includes allowing for rotor slop.

Also, inferior repro ignition switches have long record of intermittant failure that can make you crazy. If you bought the cheapest one, replace with next grade up.

Steve

[Fred K-OR]

"Also, inferior repro ignition switches have long record of intermittant failure that can make you crazy. If you bought the cheapest one, replace with next grade up."

You may just want to take the wires off the switch, hook them together and then try it. If this works, then you know if it is the switch or not.

Welcome to the Barn!

[Gufshoz]

Steve,
It's not the first time I've gathered evidence for my idiocy...I have a muffler which I split open at the seams last year. I'm going to mount it on my garage wall as a reminder to always keep the coil wire attached to the distributor while starting!

[Tom Wesenberg]

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How long was the screw touching the gas tank and shorting to ground? I've seen a guy leave the key on for 30 minutes and it burned up a repro coil, as the engine was stopped with the points closed.

I've had to bend the terminals on repro switchs to add clearance to the tank. Some repro switches are just a hair too large for the instrument panel hole. This is easily fixed by filing the switch a bit, which is better than reaming out an original instrument panel.

When looking for a repro switch, turn it on and off and feel for a good solid click, or at least what feels like a firm contact in the ON position. My repro switch had no feel of contact and gave me trouble for a couple weeks until I finally got it to miss and I discover just touching the key made it work or not. I took the switch apart and made better contacts for it.

[columbiA]

I have found that the cheap ign switches with the thin armoured wire are little more than junk.Buy the good one that looks like a popout but doesnt pop!I also always stick several layers of tape on the tank directly behind the switch.

[Brobrian]

I don't know if you guys experience this as much as I do, but nearly every time I read a thread about a repair someone has made I have to smile because I've made all those mistakes too. It's like everyone who owns one of these babies has to do all the same stuff. I have shorted out the switch in the tank, bought the wrong replacement switch, shielded the tank from contacts ... Comedic and comforting.

[Deluxe Delivery]

For as little as it costs, i would advise replacing the terminal box to dash panel and terminal box to cutout wiring as a safty measure. Plus you can then rule out any problems from them. At about 8 bucks apiece, they're cheap insurance. The cheap armored cable was the source of my similar problem. Replaced them all and back to normal.

[Mike V. Florida]

If your still having problems, I would replace the coil. As Tom said shorted switches can damage the coil.

[Fred K-OR]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

If your still having problems, I would replace the coil. As Tom said shorted switches can damage the coil.

This could be the problem. I had my aftermarket switch sort out against the tank and before I found it I got on the Barn for advise. At that time Tom also mentioned the potential problem with the coil and mentioned if you had a short that the coil would be warm. My coil was warm and thanks to Tom, I traced the short problem to the switch and saved my coil.

[700rpm]

My experience has been that many problems begin when one deviates from stock original setups. I suggest putting your original distributor back in first, then replacing your cheap ignition switch, then explore other potential problems if your issue still persists. It very quickly gets expensive when you start just replacing stuff without knowing what the real problem is.