1954 Ford Crestline +ground,12volt swap and not firing.

I have a 54,changed to -ground and 12 volt.I added ballast resistor in the wire going to the + side of the 12 volt coil.Then - side of coil to the dizzy.Tried to start the car nothing happend.No spark. Has voltage at the coil on + side and will flash a test light on the - side but no spark.Tried a coil of a running car still no spark. With all knowledgeable hamber out there got to be instruction for me to get this thing running for my uncle.

 

You need a bypass wire around the resistor from the I terminal on the starter solenoid to provide voltage to the coil when cranking.

 

We did that to give it 12 volt when starting.Still no spark.

 

Check the condenser...

 

My thought exactly. HRP

 

I will tomorrow .Thank you for the help guys.It was running.I converted over it over its not running now.We drove before we started.I do not get it.I have got to have missed something.Could the condenser have shorted to ground?If it did its going to be first one I have seen.Kind of rare.I,m thinking.I'm going to check the wire of - side of coil going to the points to see if its going to ground.Power is coming in.Its going to ground somewhere along circuit not saturating the coil to make a spark.Ponit are simple but this one is kicking my but.

 

run a single wire from the Ignition terminal on the solenoid to the + side of the coil and it should fire when starting. The ignition system is designed to kill power to everything while the vehicle is in start mode. Most early cars had the ignition lead on the solenoid later on it was changed to a changeover in the ignition switch. On cars with hei dist it maintains 12 volts all the time. If you get it to spin fast enough it will crank when you let off the key . Hope this helps RED

 

redhumphries already did that, first thing I tried.Thanx for the reply.

 

I have had this happen twice, first time it was the condensor, and the second time on a different car i needed to set the dwell on the points.

 

"I added ballast resistor in the wire going to the + side of the 12 volt coil.Then - side of coil to the dizzy" You aren't saying that you have a ballast between the coil and distributor are you?

You've changed -everything- over from positive to negative ground?

You didn't nuke the points with the twelve volts did you?

This is one of those start from the bottom and work your way up things.

Engine properly grounded to the frame? Points and condenser for a twelve volt system? Point gap set? Twelve volts to coil when cranking? Coil wired correctly?

 

points and condenser, probably fried em as soon as ya tried it out......

 

Points and condensers are not voltage sensitive-they can run 6 or 12 volts. I would try another 12 volt coil.

 

tried three coils one off a running car .update. Uncle went out of town.Can't work on it till he gets back.

 

Update.condenser was good,replaced anyway.Found cloth covered wiring going to ground on the inside of dizzy.Replaced wire.Replaced all the parts that had removed.Spun the engine over.Still would not start.It was sparking but very weak.You could hold the spark plug wire in your hand and spin the the engine and would it not shock you that bad.With all the parts changing I had put the first 12v coil back on it .It was junk,I replaced it with a new 12v coil .Started right up.It ran great.Finished the change over.Took it for a test ride.Uncle was all smiles.He said it ran better than before.I told him it should everything was new and adjusted as it should.He was going trade it for a truck that started and ran better,but the body was in very bad shape.His car is in really good shape but was hard to start.I told him if he would not trade I would convert it over 12 volts just so he would not get the short end of the stick.I didn't have the heart let him trade for junk.He took the old car to church today.Boy, it was nice to be able help him.Thank You HAMB.God bless