Need Help! Distributor Problems....

yep! isnt everything though? lol as soon as i get this thing running though im going to clean everything up.

 

That's it! Rick!

 

The movable point is ALWAYS insulated. The fixed point HAS to be grounded to complete the circuit when the points close. Distributors with vacuum advances have a ground wire from the point plate to the housing. And on rare occasions dirt/oil between dist housing and engine can cause problems due to poor grounds.

 

Keep us posted on what how you turn out!

 

my vote is for the breaker plate ground wire. if your getting a pulse on the coil (spark into the dist cap), then points, condenser are ok (at least to fire). it's either a bad breaker plate ground wire or a faulty rotor.......on a super rare occasion i've the dist housing itself not be grounded properly.

 

You should have the wire from the negative (-) terminal on your coil going to the side of your distributor (sounds like that's what you have). This is NOT a ground wire though...it has 12 volts on it. When you take off the distributor cap you should be able to trace the connection from the outside of the distributor to one side of your points. Open your points, take your meter or light and make sure you have 12 volts on that side of your points. Now, with the points still open, check the other side of the points. There should not be any voltage on that side...it should be grounded to the distributor case.

If all the above is correct then you should be able to open and close your points and see a spark every time they open.

 

OOOOKKK!!! CHECK IT OUT WE GOT IT RUNNING!!!! AND THE MYSTERY DIAGNOSIS ISSS! (drum roll please lol) The NEG wire going from the coil to the distributor was touching the housing of the distributor!! So we put a smaller wire with a small fork connector and we got spark. We put everything back together and she turned over and with some timing poped off!

Thanks to everyone for the help we really appreciate it!! Its always something small huh? lol look for some vid and pics later!! Hopefully this weeked she will be making her first trip around the block in a loooongg time! THANKS AGAIN!

 

Congrats!