Ignition and everything that goes with it!

[WABOOM]

I've been getting all the bugs worked out on my '51 Mercury. I bought it 4 months ago and have put about 300 miles on it. I am trying to get all the bugs worked out. It starts and runs good with the exception of a hesitation and stumble only from take off from a stop. It did this from the first day I owned the car. I have had the carb rebuilt. And replaced the fuel pump. Also replaced the coil. All of these things have improved the drivability individually. So far, I haven't been inside the distributor but I plan to today when I replace the spark plugs. I have never messed with points... All of this has me considering converting to a Pertronix set up. I appreciate any advice you can lend on this process. My end goal is of course reliability and am willing to bend on factory correctness to improve drivability/reliability aspects. It is a bone stock factory correct car with 86,000 miles. But it is a driver. Although it is a beauty... some might call it a 10-20 foot looker. She's not perfect.

[Ol' Ron]

Perfection, is in there mind of the beholder. Sounds like a beauty to me.

[estout81]

I would stick with points as they are simple and easy to change and adjust. Electronic after market systems present other problems and not easy to fix along the road. A good set of points from NAPA and you are good for probably 20K miles. I have points in both my old Fords. The F-1 in my avatar has over 12K miles on the present set and hasn't been touched.

[51 MERC-CT]

To address the stumble, try readjusting the accelerator pump.
If it is in the center location, move to the outboard location.
It can be pried up with a screw driver to relocate the pin.
Also, installing a Pertonix ignition does not address the possibility of a faulty vacuum advance canister.

[tubman]

I would stick with points, especially if your staying with a 6 volt system. I bought my '51 Ford in 1987. At that time, I did a complete ignition tuneup : points, condenser, cap, rotor, and plugs. (Although over the years I changed out the carburetor a couple of times, I never touched the ignition again.) In 2016, 29 years and 17,000 miles later, the engine started making a funny noise; it still ran great, but the noise concerned me. I had a good '51 mercury engine with the standard speed goodies that I installed. That engine has points too, only this time they're in a Mallory "flattop". This one runs great as well; it's just a bit stronger.

Like an earlier poster said, just make sure that you use quality components in your tune up.

[WABOOM]

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Is there a good video tutorial on replacing and adjusting points that you could recommend?

[tubman]

If you're referring to me, I won't be of much help, since I've been changing points since my dad figured it was beneath his pay level in 1955. I'm sure some others have some good recommendations.

[Habusailor]

I bought a 49 Ford with pertronics and have not had a problem with it. Starts and runs great


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[Steves46]

Originally Posted by WABOOM

Is there a good video tutorial on replacing and adjusting points that you could recommend?

You may want to check YouTube. I have seen several videos on replacing/adjusting points. Steve

[shoe box Jack]

I have a Bubba chev. disy. in the 49 after 40.000 miles all is good. Jack.

[RKS.PA]

WABOOM, where are you located? There may be a Barner close enough to show you how to do it. If you're close to me, I'd be happy to show you. Once you see it done you're set.

[19Fordy]

Buy two sets of points, a spare condenser, spare coil, spare rotor and a spare cap so if you get stranded you can easily make repairs. Some folks even carry a complete spare distributor for replacement on the road. If your car is 12V go with a Pertronix conversion.

[RalphG]

Points style ignition has always worked fine for me. The points/condenser in my 52 Merc have been there since at least the late 1970s and possibly 1969. I cleaned them up with some fine sandpaper and newspaper and they work perfect. I don't know if the points you buy today are built to the same level of quality as the ones from 40 years ago but a good set will last years. Changing points on an 8BA is a picnic compared to the old crab or divers helmet style distributors.

[WABOOM]

Originally Posted by RKS.PA

WABOOM, where are you located? There may be a Barner close enough to show you how to do it. If you're close to me, I'd be happy to show you. Once you see it done you're set.

Minnesota. north suburbs
East Bethel specifically

[grumppyoldman]

I just love optomistic people, I've been working on my car for 2 years and still find things to fix. Hope you have better luck with yours. I really like the looks of the 51 Mercs. Al

[Kahuna]

As has been said, If your car is still 6 volts, stay with the points setup.
Your off-idle stumble is probably carb related. Try opening the idle air screws 1/4 turn.
That would be ccw

[WABOOM]

I just moved the accelerator pump forward one position and put in new spark plugs. I took the car around the block and the hesitation is gone! Thank you fellas.

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by WABOOM

I just moved the accelerator pump forward one position and put in new spark plugs. I took the car around the block and the hesitation is gone! Thank you fellas.

Curious, did you move it to the last position forward or to the center position?
The center position is considered normal.

[19Fordy]

I found that replacing the stock Merc intake with an 8RT intake and carb made the Merc engine run much better with fewer carb problems.

[WABOOM]

Originally Posted by 51 MERC-CT

Curious, did you move it to the last position forward or to the center position?
The center position is considered normal.

It was in the center hole. I moved it to the hole closest to the front of the car.

[tubman]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

I found that replacing the stock Merc intake with an 8RT intake and carb made the Merc engine run much better with fewer carb problems.

The Ford carbs are much more common than the Holley's on the Mercury's and there are more people who work on them, so I don't doubt what your saying. That being said, the Mercury really should have a bigger carburetor because that's what the engineers at Ford originally designed it for. If you are not up to properly rebuilding and adjusting the original carb, a small-base Rochester 2G (mounted backwards) is an excellent replacement. I have a couple of these on my engines and am very happy with them. And remember, nothing beats proper proper maintenance.

There is a member on this forum, "scicala", who has a lot of experience with the Mercury carburetors. I would not hesitate to take advantage of his experience and expertise.

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by WABOOM

It was in the center hole. I moved it to the hole closest to the front of the car.

That makes sense.
The forward hole was generally used in cold weather if needed to help on acceleration.

[WABOOM]

scicala rebuilt my Holley 885 and he did a a wonderful job. He even helped me over the phone today too. Great guy.

[WABOOM]

Originally Posted by Kahuna

As has been said, If your car is still 6 volts, stay with the points setup.
Your off-idle stumble is probably carb related. Try opening the idle air screws 1/4 turn.
That would be ccw

Is the 6 volt Pertronic not good?

[40 Deluxe]

Originally Posted by WABOOM

Is the 6 volt Pertronic not good?

Electronics don't like electrical 'hash', or 'noise'. Run your engine at fast idle after dark and look in at the generator brushes. See all that fire flyin'? That's causing voltage spikes in the system which can mess with an electronic device's brain.

[flatheadmurre]

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Back in the days the radios didn´t like the noise from the generator or the oilpressure sender either...
Look at old cars originally fitted with radios and you find noise suppresion capacitors on the generator and oilpressure sender...
Putting a 0.47uF capacitor at the output of the generator does wonders...
Lost knowledge to be reinvented for a new purpose

[J Franklin]

Was it the carburetor adjustment or the new spark plugs that made it run well?

[51 MERC-CT]

Originally Posted by WABOOM

Is the 6 volt Pertronic not good?

There doesn't seem to be any issues with the 6 volt Pertronix conversion.
Your only advantage is the elimination of having to check and adjust points and timing.
The installation also requires the use of suppressor spiro-wound ignition wires.

[WABOOM]

My car already has modern suppression wires. I dont know why the PO put them on. It one of the only 3 things that are not completely correct and stock on the car.

[51 MERC-CT]

The PO may have installed them to eliminate radio static.

If you are really looking for the stock look then this kit (that I am using) is available.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pnx-708190/overview/

[Drbrown]

Beautiful car ! I also recommend staying with points. I had two expensive failures of pentronix modules due to voltage problems then Charlie NY convert my distributor back to points .... has started and run great ever since.

I had a '51 Merc Coupe (lovely car) and when the carb was set up right, and the points adjusted using a dwell meter, it was a sweet runner and hot off the line .... could out accelerate my friend who had a '51 Ford with dual carbs (but I don't know how good he was at tuning his engine). I liked that side-draft carb. The engine and distributor were easy to work on.

[WABOOM]

I need to get a set of points, condenser, and find someone to put a dwell meter and timing light on my car... Then we will be cooking with gas!!

[Terry,OH]

Solid core wire, spark plug wires, are what you want for a ignition point car.

[Frank Miller]

I've got 15k on a pertronix wth their coil. 6 volt pos ground and solid core wires. I'm not saying it's right. Just saying it works.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

I found that replacing the stock Merc intake with an 8RT intake and carb made the Merc engine run much better with fewer carb problems.

yup when i was in High school my Dad had a 51 merc, we did the same thing to it. that helped out alot.