Just spent the better part of a month chasing down the reason behind the '35 Chevy not starting. Went through and changed the fuel filters and spark plugs, sprayed some carb cleaner on the choke and linkage. Figured it's getting fuel and air...must be no spark. Replaced the ignition module in the HEI...went from weak, intermittent spark to no spark. Checked the old and new module, both check out good. Bought new cap and rotor. Borrowed a known good coil from a friend. Went to replace cap and noticed that the ground strap (that funky bent metal piece) that becomes the middle prong in the three wire plug isn't there. There is a ground wire that goes under one of the dust cover screws, and this ground strap that goes in the cap under the coil. Just before I got the car from my Uncle, he had a local mechanic do a valve job, and replace the cap/rotor/plugs and wires. They left that ground strap out. Without that ground, the coil will eventually eat itself. The car will start and run ( mine did for almost two years), but the coil will eventually burn out. See the attached picture (which I stole off the web somewhere) to see where it goes. Hope this helps someone.
They probably thought "Gee I wonder why we have this little part left over" and just tossed it. "Oh well, the car runs"
FWIW, my rule of life #87: Any incomprehensible electrical problem in a car will eventually prove to be a ground problem.
Agree completely. Seems the weirder it is, the more likely it's a grounding issue. Add to that the impossibility of uncovering all the bodges that previous (usually incompetent, sometimes downright stupid) owners have done to the car. Yet you have to try... Cosmo
After poking around the internet while trying to find an answer, I think that there are alot of people that have left out that little bit. Seems like they would have included some reference to it in the instructions.
Some guys will fix a car with the intent that they hope it never needs to come back. Some guys will fix a car and look forward to seeing you (and your wallet) again soon.
I had a problem with my HEI where the engine would quit. Some wiggling of the connection to distributor would shut engine off/on.. One of the prongs in the male plug was not making a connection.(no memory in cheap metal plug that came with distributor) I bent the prong to tighten connection but will replace with a quality plug.
Apparently, there are some applications with only a two wire hookup, that don't need the center ground post. I don't see why having an unused ground prong would be a problem, but it might make the cap 3 cents more expensive.
Some of the later ones just used a wire from a coil mount bolt to the center ground and didn't use the strap under the coil. I have run across several with the ground left out over the years.
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