I can work on bikes and not get frustrated, but once I'm on a car... '53 Plymouth Cambridge. 6V, new battery, Coil, points, plugs, Wires, cap and rotor. Everything is wired/gapped correctly. There's power to one side of the coil and intermittently on the other. Is this how it's supposed to be? I'm ***uming the points provide the ground so that the coil can deliver power to the distributor? I'm getting gas in the cylinders, but its not firing. I've been trying to get it running for WEEKS. I'm getting real close to making this thing into a molotov ****tail! Help! Lol
If you are talking about when you crank it yes.Take the negative wire off the coil, get a wire and secure it to the negative side of the coil, take the coil wire out of the cap and hold it near ground, and take the wire you clipped on the negative side of the coil and zap the other end of the wire to ground, you should get a spark,if you do it's either timing,points or condensor.I see you didn't mention condensor did you change it?
You did gap the points with the rubbing block on the points on one of the high points of the cam? That's the thing a lot of guys do wrong is having the rubbing block against the flat between two lobes when they set the points. Since the test light is going on an off I think that you did get it close enough though. Rotor in? And not broken? First thing I would do is pull one of the plug wires and hold it close to the block or head while a helper cranked the engine over to see if I got spark. If not, pull the coil wire out of the cap and repeat the operation to see if you have spark there.
Another place to look is the points advance plate shorting to ground. The post where you have the condser & points lead etc are supoosed to be insulated rom ground. When the points close it shorts the coil to ground, when the points open the ground path thru the coil is the spark plug and it fires. When the advance plate shorts out then the points never really open and the coil won't fire. What you can do is to pull the coil wire from the distr and connect it direct to a plug and then physically open the points or stick apiece of paper between the points contact and just'tap' either the ground or hot wire and the plug should fire if the advance plate isn't shorted. If it fires then it is a likely a rotor or cap problem because those are the only pieces you byp***ed. As long as the points gap etc are ok and the condenser isn't shorted.
Ok, so my parents were over so I could do the brakes on their Caravan today. When we were finished my dad suggested we take a look at the Plymouth (He used to be a Cadillac Mechanic back in the 60's). Short story, we got it running and running GOOD. The long of it, and it's pretty damn embarrasing to say the least (A complete NOOB issue). He said, "Let's make sure it's TDC" so I went about pulling the #1 Plug out and put a Screw Driver in there. He immediately saw the problem. Apparently, the Flatheads VALVE is down there and not the Piston!! Hahahaha. I'm such a bonehead, I really had no idea. Anyhow, he asked why I didn't just use the Flywheel to get TDC (I'm a NOOB that's why), we did that, checked the Plug Wires for firing order and BOOM! She's running! Threw the timing light on to get her perfect and all is good. We took her around the block and she's started right up ever since. HELL, it's starting better than my '05 Cadillac!! Thanks for all the replies. I'd like to say I'll try to keep the NOOB questions to a minimum but I can't promise anything, hahaha. One thing I learned, and am grateful for, is that my Pops hasn't forgotten NEARLY as much as I might think he has. I'm looking forward to him and I rolling to a cruise night in the near future! Thanks again guys!
Glad you found the culprit! Even better that ya got your Dad involved now take him to the cruise as a reward!
Ha ha ha Chrysler is way ahead of you! Look at the cylinder head, there is a little pipe plug above the #6 piston. Take out the plug and you can drop a screwdriver down on top of the piston and "feel" for top dead center. #1 and #6 piston rise and fall together so it is the same as #1. O by the way, the points act as a switch, switching the power on and off to the coil. The coil grounds thru the points. When the points are closed power goes thru the coil, saturating it with electricity. When the points open the field collapses sending a spark thru the spark plug. I know it sounds crazy but that is how it works, the spark fires when the points open. So now you know why the power went on and off at the coil, when the engine turns over.
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