Recent content by Curt Chambers

Final update. I took a couple weeks' break to refill my patience bucket and decide what I'm going to do with this car. I want to make one last effort to get it started. So yesterday and today I worked on it again. I started back at square 1. Put in some fresh gas. Changed the fuel filter...

The bulkhead connector was cleaned, inspected, and tested during the restoration process. The entire wiring harness was tested prior to installation because I didn't want to have to deal with issues like this after reassembly. But that doesn't mean there's not a problem in there somewhere. I...

Moved the engine to TDC on the compression stroke (using a compression gauge) and in the process made sure that the distributor was rotating CCW. Verified that the distributor was installed correctly and the rotor was pointing to the #1 tower. Verified firing order at 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Is this...

I sure hope not. But I'm starting to wonder now.

You're not missing anything. That's exactly the way it happened. One day it started and 2 days later it wouldn't. That's how I knew the distributor was in correctly. And ever since then I've been throwing money at new parts. I checked the link to HalifaxHops distributor check, and according...

Yes. Cranking voltage to the Coil + is 8.5v, which I realize is low. However, I've tried a jumper wire giving 12v directly to the coil and it made no difference. I also cranked the engine with the ECU disconnected and got 10.5v at the coil. That could suggest a problem in the ECU-distributor...

This is spreading faster than COVID!

What is the pickup coil resistance supposed to be, as measured through the 2-wire connector?

So a yellow spark is OK? I was chasing another phantom. See my previous post regarding the distributor. I am 100% positive it is installed correctly. Again, the car started and ran fine with the current installation. Do distributors jump out of time on their own?

How can I be 180 out when the car started and ran fine a few weeks ago, with the distributor installed as-is?

Update. Installed the new ECU from Mancini. I even ran a ground wire from the mounting bolt to the engine block. Charged up the battery and checked for spark. Same as before. The spark is strong and regular, but yellow. Repeated the test with a jumper wire to Coil +. Same results. So...

What about points? When I purchased this car it had a points distributor and coil in it. I removed them because I wanted to go back to the correct factory setup. If I don't have success after the next ECU, maybe I should just reinstall those and see what happens? I know electronic ignition...

Here are some wiring harness resistance measurements. ECU Pin #1 to Ballast Resistor = .1 ohm Pin #2 to Coil Neg = .1 ohm Pin #3 n/a Pin #4 to Distributor = .1 ohm Pin #5 to Distributor = .1 ohm Coil Pos to Ballast Resistor = .2 ohm Coil primary winding Pos to Neg = 1.4 ohm Distributor pickup...

So applying this to the test I just ran. With the ECU out of the circuit (disconnected), cranking voltage was more or less normal (10v). That should indicate that the ignition switch, bulkhead connector, and intervening wiring are probably OK. That's why I jumped the gun and ordered another...

Yes