Quote Originally Posted by pagezeo View Post
Hey gang... UPDATE today.... Hubby changed the coil but not the condensor since he did that already and it fired right up cold and ran GREAT.... turned the key off and then tried to re-start it and we are back to the same problem.... won't start, smell alot of gas, doesn't even start with starting fluid...

He did check the plug and he said he is getting fire at the plug - but not a nice "blue" fire - he said it was more red....

Is there a way to check to check the condensor?

BigTruck..... he is going to switch to hei but he really wants to find the problem first - he is worried that won't solve the problem and then he may be creating more.

Current status....Got mad again and went in the house for some coffee.....

HELP?!?!?!?!

Thanks!
Angie & Pete



The points work like a switch. It completes a ground circuit. Very simple.
If the spark is weak that indicates a coil problem on a point system. If the condenser is bad the you will have excessive arching at the points and it will burn them up.

I would take it slow and start with the distributor. Replace the points. Get em gaped at about 18 to 20 thousands when wide open. (high spot on the lobe) Replace the condenser again, they are cheap. When you hook the wires to the points make sure they do not ground out on anything. The point terminal is insulated from the point body. Some had a nut you would tighten or screw some the wires just clipped in. These must not ground out on the point body or distributor.

Your coil should have 2 wires. One side is 12 volts, the other side runs to the points.

If you take the wire from the points off the coil, attach a new wire, turn the key on, and every time you touch and remove this new wire to a ground point the coil will fire. This is what your points are doing completing and disconnecting a ground source to fire the coil. The condenser stops the points from arching and burning up nothing more.

One more quick thing to mention, If you leave the ignition switch on with out the engine running too long you will also burn up the points and or coil. Good Luck and as you can see, it's really quite simple.