Headed for C&C at Speedway early this morning and about 20 miles from home the 40 shut off and refused to restart. Everything looks good so I'm betting on the Pertronix distributor? Only the second time in my 50+ years of driving hot rods all over the country I've had to call a rollback. Thankfully I wasn't very far from home, only about a 90 mile round trip for the rollback. Dam old cars!
Gary, Sorry about your Pertronix failure. Be sure and let us know what caused the failure. I also have a Pertronix in my 40 with an 8BA. Hope it all gets fixed with no additional problems.
Just shut off? Sounds like a Pertronix. I would suggest changing the title of this thread if you find that's the problem. Old Fords themselves are pretty damn reliable. My '51 has done this to me once in the 38 years I have owned it, and that was my fault as I was testing my 12 volt tach driver and it failed and shorted the ignition. Damned electronics!
Seems to be a lot of issues with the Pertronix, I know several people that have broke down on the road with them.
Might be a good idea to carry a spare in the glovebox….just like a set of points and condenser in the old days.
I think statements like this say more about Pertronix than anything else. I have never even considered the need to carry spares during normal use. I do make an exception for trips of over 1000 miles, more because of availability issues than reliability ones.
My 40 did that --never an issue before--no spark. Found an old coil and put it in. Started right up!! Bad pertronix coil. Car had a pertronix kit in the distributor and a pertronix coil-left the old coil in it --no more problem.
I'll report back with the diagnosis. When I got stopped I was about 2 feet outside the white line. I did learn one thing, there a lot of courteous drivers who move over when going by but there a few assholes who try and see how close they can get as they come by including a couple semi's. Nerve wracking sitting along a busy 4 lane in a 40 coupe even in Nebraska. I probably should have been out of the car in the ditch but it was 35 degrees.
Keep us posted. The rest of the quote is the reason I quit doing road side repairs. doesn't matter if its on a 4 lane or a 2 lane (but at least on a 2 lane they may have an excuse), too many jerks out there. I've seen enough just plane lousy drivers, I no longer trust any of them. I'll call AAA, then walk far enough away to be safe, and wait for them.
And you’ll wait hours for AAA to show up, at least that’s been my recent experience. They used to be pretty good at wait times, but the last time I had to use them I waited for over two hours. At that point I tinkered with the car enough to get it barely running and limped it home. Cancelled my AAA membership the next day.
I had a Pertronix die on me also, fortunately it happened in town instead of on my trip to Michigan and back, My problem was traced to using the wrong type of ignition wires but the coil wire burnt up shorting the pertronix ignition. HRP
Never had one fail but I always kept the ballast resister and cleaned the inside of the cap every 2 years.
I have had 2 AAA tows this year and 6 or 7 over the last 8 years. The longest I've had to wait for AAA was about a 1/2 hour, that time I needed a roll back (4x4 truck). The towing operation that did the job had all his trucks out towing, he called me personally and told me the issue. But then most of my towing was within 20 miles of my home and all the operations that tow for AAA in our area all know me. We don't live in a very populaces area, but even then, those AAA towing companies are very busy. I don't expect them to drop everything and put me at the top of their list. Their work load and the distance the available tow truck is from the location I'm at, would make a pretty big difference on how fast they can get to me. If the truck is in the process of loading a car and is a 1/2 hour away from me, I wouldn't expect him to be there in 10 minutes, or even that 1/2 hour. Still not going to stand on the highway side of my ride trying to figure out what might have gone wrong, not these days.
I run the pertronix on my 40 pu and 47 coupe, both quit on me over the space of 18 years and it was the pertronix coil both times, last time I did have a spare.
Update. Super fuse was blown. Now you wonder why? When this happened I totally forgot about this fuse as it's hard to reach and remove. I do carry a spare, guess I'll know where to start if this happens again. To quick to blame the problem on Pertronix. Expensive lesson. On the subject of the coil, a friend in KC has had good success with a Bosch coil he says solved his Pertronix problems? I carry one in the pickup, may get another one for the 40 just in case.
Bubba (RIP) was a fan of the Bosch 012 Blue coil. They used to be fairly reasonable on Amazon but not so much any more. I've been running one on an 8ba with one of his converted Chevy distributors for 4 or 5 years with no issues. One source: 12V Bosch Blue Coil with Mounting Bracket, US Version, 00-012US - Aircooled.Net VW Parts
You might want to check with Pertronix on what coil you need, based on your ignition, as their canisters range in primary resistance from .32 to just under 3 ohms. The Bosch blue primary is 3 ohms, and pretty sure would not work well with Flame Throwers 11 and 111, that require .6 and .32 coils.
John in KC who has had a lot of Pertronix experience recommend this Bosch coil 9224 771008 12 volt high energy ignition coil. It's black not blue if that makes a difference. If I remember right this is a 3.4 ohm coil. I goggled the number and found it on line for $39.
Break downs are frustrating and make for a bad day . But it also creates memories. A Friend of mine would pull out his lawn chair, grab a cold drink and start telling stories while waiting for help . Look at the exchange of information that your misfortune has created. Hopefully it will help others.
Super fuse is probably not the right name. I suppose it's called that in my world because of it very large size? Just a farm boy term. Looks like a regular 2 spade fuse on steroids.
There are many type /style shape of 12v /6v of fuses , I would say he is referring to a Large Max / Maxi fuse , or the old looking Shot gun Fuse, Strap fuse Or large amp circuit breaker
Ok , Supper Fuse Farm fix!! the old screw in glass fuse , When it blew ,& your out in the Country the closest store is 30 miles away , it's closed @ 4 pm ,maybe open on Sat, but Closed @ noon & closed on Sunday ,so you reached down in your pocket you pulled out a old copper penny stuck it in the hole and screw the fuse back in Or old glass fuse , blows in winter , Pop fuse out , take & tear off a piece of foil out of your cigarettes ,wrapped it around the fuse and popped it back in..
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