<VV> more on coil voltage

[Ramon Rodriguez III]

To he who said "90% of carburetor problems are ignition!":  As of tonight I
have...  6 month old plugs I cleaned (they weren't bad) just yesterday, 1
year old Seth Emerson plug wires,  1 month old cap and rotor, 1 week old
pertronix I, 1 hour old coil and RU-4 ballast resistor (you guys were
right, with the new resistor it still reads 12v on the side of the coil
wired to the car -as opposed to the side connected to the distributor-
someone said I might be measuring on the wrong side).  The pertronix is
running on a "full voltage" line I installed for it as the instructions
told me to do.

To John Roberts:  The Pertronix 1 unit instructions told me to run a full
voltage wire to power the ignition module, but they also said specifically
NOT to bypass the resistor on the coil.  This seems to fit with what you
said =)



Now back to the symptoms:  The car (until I tinkered on it two days ago)
was perfectly drivable and reliable.  It was sometimes a little hard
starting, very often had to hold the pedal on the floor when cranking for
it to start and was finicky cold.  As previously mentioned it had a
hesitation when you got on the throttle.

The spark plugs (after 6 months) had a nice brown insulator, but were black
and a bit sooty around the edges.  They were not oily... seemed like dry
carbon buildup.

I had fiddled with every adjustment on the carbs to get the car running
decent, so everything was WAY off spec.  Two days ago I pulled off the
carbs and did two different things;  First I installed the #49 jets that
Clarks lists as correct for this year and model (it had #52's previously
which I thought were probably loading it up at idle).  I also went through
the carbs and set EVERY adjustment (including all the bending linkage ones)
to factory specs.  These were all WAY off.

I pumped the pedal once and turned the key, it started the best it ever
has... quickly and with no fuss (the car had not been started in two days
at that time).  I closed up the shop and went to bed.  The following
morning we went out and found a low battery (first really cold day of the
season).  I jumped it and got it started (again a nice startup).  I started
driving a couple minutes later while still on high idle and noticed a
marked lack of power.  I continued driving thinking it would get better as
it warmed up but it got worse and worse.  I pulled up where our mailboxes
are (a mile or so from the house) and the engine quit.  The battery was
still too low to start the car but I'd been smart enough to bring along our
jumper pack.  The car was difficult to start but idled ok.  I put it in
gear and it stalled again.  I got it started again (with much difficulty)
and used the throttle to (barely) keep it alive when I put it in drive.  I
drove a little farther (heading toward home) and started hearing nasty
pinging loudly.  I shut the engine off and let it cool.  I decided that the
leaner jets were too lean for the timing advance I had set (I should have
mentioned I'd been running about 7 degrees more advance than spec for a
while now since the car seemed to like it) so I loosened the cap and (after
a run to the house) set the timing to 8 degrees TDBC (spec).   I tried to
go the rest of the way home but the car died instantly when I put the PG in
drive.  I spent well over an hour trying to get it to drive the short
distance back to the house but the car was HORRIBLY resistant to starting
(sounded like it was firing on one or two cylinders- battery still very
low).  Once I got it started it was idling fine and throttle response in
neutral was fine... but as soon as I put it in drive it died no matter what
I tried... even using a LOT of throttle and setting the idle VERY high.

Today I installed a brand new battery and tackled the problem again.  The
car started great when cold again, and moved around fine for a minute or
two then resumed yesterdays behavior.  We've found that we can start it
with only a little difficulty if we pump the pedal twice before cranking..
this is for HOT starts!  Today we carefully balanced the carbs but the car
doesn't idle well at all below 800-900 RPM even in neutral, and dies when
you put it in gear no matter what you do.

Could going from 52 to 49 jets really have screwed things up that badly,
especially since they are correct for this engine?!  My plan at this point
is to swap the 52 jets back in and make NO other changes to see what
happens.  One other thing I noticed is that the mixture screws seem to want
to be all the way out.... indicating lean mixture which fits.  I just can't
believe the 49 jets are causing all this trouble!  FYI I live at around 800
feet above sea level, and the temp has been around 32 the past two days.

Thanks for any advice,

Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez III
gotta get the 63 back to daily driver status so I can work on my current
project car!
Lake Ariel, PA