The Ford Barn

shew01 · 05-10-2020, 04:27 PM

Over the weekend, I posted several times in new threads to keep the responses related to the issue at hand for the moment. Thank you for your patience in replying to my other posts. As it turned out, this weekend has been a "crash course" in Model As than I anticipated.

Background information:

(I cannot get a rebuilt ignition cable to read 6 volts on the points. Please skip to "Here is where I'm stuck" if you are not interested in the background information.)

My 1931 Victoria is 6 volts, positive ground.

I was initially replacing a leaking radiator. While having the car apart for that, I started on other related projects, like:

- Cleaning the horn since the wiring had to be removed to get the radiator out of the car (the horn now says "ahooga" instead of just "grunting"--that's one of the big wins so far; hopefully the new radiator will not leak, but I haven't got the car back together enough to test that yet)

- Replacing the water outlet with a unit that mounts a thermostat close to the head http://vintageprecision.com/products...ing/index.html; that seemed to go fine

- Replacing the temperature gauge (which was showing discoloration at the coolant hookup and could probably fail at any time, and the temperature gauge line looked like it was weak from previous bending)

- Replacing the armored ignition cable with the one I recently purchased from Dick Crabtree that he keyed to match my door key; doing this now made sense because the previous owner installed the temperature gauge cable through the junction box along with the armored cable, meaning that I had to take apart the dash anyway to replace the temperature gauge

I originally thought I needed to remove the distributor to remove the ignition cable. (My distributor is stuck, and I ordered a puller and a head nut torque tool from Bratton's earlier today. That story is in a separate thread.) It turns out that you can disconnect the speedometer cable on the bottom of the car to get some slack in the speedometer cable line, remove the ignition switch from the dash plate, and unscrew the armored ignition cable, in place, without removing the distributor. You can install a replacement ignition cable the same way.

Here is where I'm stuck.

- This is where I am stuck at the moment. After installing the rebuilt armored ignition cable, Les Andrews, page 1-106 (i.e., the distributor installation instructions), says, "Turn ON the ignition key and check for 6 volts from the point arm to a ground point." I am NOT getting 6 volts on the points.

- The rebuilt ignition switch from Dick Crabtree seems to work correctly. I unscrewed it from the distributor and left the cable in place in the dash. With the key OFF, 6 volts do not go to the armored cable button end. With the key ON, there are 6 volts on the armored cable button end. When the armored cable is screwed into the distributor, it does not send 6 volts to the points.

- I also tested with an emergency jumper cable from Bratton's (https://www.brattons.com/emergency-i...per-cable.html). With the clip end connected to the junction box, the button end reads 6 volts when not screwed into the distributor. When I screw the emergency jumped cable into the distributor, it does not send 6 volts to the points.

I must be missing something. I'm thinking the issue is in the distributor, but I never removed it from the car. I'm not sure where to look.

All ideas are welcome.

05-10-2020, 04:27 PM	#1
shew01 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Roanoke, VA USA Posts: 1,908	Cannot Get Rebuilt Ignition Cable to Read 6 Volts on the Points Over the weekend, I posted several times in new threads to keep the responses related to the issue at hand for the moment. Thank you for your patience in replying to my other posts. As it turned out, this weekend has been a "crash course" in Model As than I anticipated. Background information: (I cannot get a rebuilt ignition cable to read 6 volts on the points. Please skip to "Here is where I'm stuck" if you are not interested in the background information.) My 1931 Victoria is 6 volts, positive ground. I was initially replacing a leaking radiator. While having the car apart for that, I started on other related projects, like: - Cleaning the horn since the wiring had to be removed to get the radiator out of the car (the horn now says "ahooga" instead of just "grunting"--that's one of the big wins so far; hopefully the new radiator will not leak, but I haven't got the car back together enough to test that yet) - Replacing the water outlet with a unit that mounts a thermostat close to the head http://vintageprecision.com/products...ing/index.html; that seemed to go fine - Replacing the temperature gauge (which was showing discoloration at the coolant hookup and could probably fail at any time, and the temperature gauge line looked like it was weak from previous bending) - Replacing the armored ignition cable with the one I recently purchased from Dick Crabtree that he keyed to match my door key; doing this now made sense because the previous owner installed the temperature gauge cable through the junction box along with the armored cable, meaning that I had to take apart the dash anyway to replace the temperature gauge I originally thought I needed to remove the distributor to remove the ignition cable. (My distributor is stuck, and I ordered a puller and a head nut torque tool from Bratton's earlier today. That story is in a separate thread.) It turns out that you can disconnect the speedometer cable on the bottom of the car to get some slack in the speedometer cable line, remove the ignition switch from the dash plate, and unscrew the armored ignition cable, in place, without removing the distributor. You can install a replacement ignition cable the same way. Here is where I'm stuck. - This is where I am stuck at the moment. After installing the rebuilt armored ignition cable, Les Andrews, page 1-106 (i.e., the distributor installation instructions), says, "Turn ON the ignition key and check for 6 volts from the point arm to a ground point." I am NOT getting 6 volts on the points. - The rebuilt ignition switch from Dick Crabtree seems to work correctly. I unscrewed it from the distributor and left the cable in place in the dash. With the key OFF, 6 volts do not go to the armored cable button end. With the key ON, there are 6 volts on the armored cable button end. When the armored cable is screwed into the distributor, it does not send 6 volts to the points. - I also tested with an emergency jumper cable from Bratton's (https://www.brattons.com/emergency-i...per-cable.html). With the clip end connected to the junction box, the button end reads 6 volts when not screwed into the distributor. When I screw the emergency jumped cable into the distributor, it does not send 6 volts to the points. I must be missing something. I'm thinking the issue is in the distributor, but I never removed it from the car. I'm not sure where to look. All ideas are welcome.