I appreciate the support.

I have the right size battery cables. My theory right now is that I jostled something, either a delicate wire, points, something, in the distributor while trying to work through my no-start problem.

Essentially it has been cranking more upon start up(I partially attributed to the northern winter), but otherwise working (this is my daily driver). The car was rear-ended and is going to get a $$ repair at an auto body thanks to the insurance company of the car that hit it while parked. I drove it 70 miles (only the trunk and valence were really damaged), parked it Saturday before last, and had to deliver it to the repair shop on a Monday... of course it was bitter cold that Monday morning and it didn't like that at all. It was firing some, but not enough to start up. I gave up so I could get my son to school and go to work, then tried again later when it was somewhat warmer but even after some troubleshooting around flooding/fouled plugs/choke/battery, no luck. It was almost starting a few times but never stayed alive... up until I pulled the distributor cap to inspect and knock off some corrosion from the points. From then on I've had zero firing and that's when I started really looking if I had spark, and removed just about anything electrical, replaced whatever I could buy quickly or had NOS, except still with no spark. Car is on the street so it limits easy work, also my timing light is stuck in the trunk which is jammed shut from the impact. I do have two batteries now, one is kept charged while I troubleshoot with the other until I'm not confident in it's reserve... then it goes up the three flights to the charger on my porch and the other one goes in.

Starter for sure is not 100%, as are many other things...but I'm still skeptical that it's causing the no-start. I think the cold was just too much that Monday, and I think part of my problem was fuel delivery. In hindsight, I wish my first troubleshoot (other than the battery swap) was to pull the fuel filter from the glass bowl, then spray out the screen from the carb and any other cleaning I could have managed there. It just seems like too much of a coincidence that it was stumbling right up until I had to fiddle with the distributor. I have tried verifying timing using the static timing process from Ross' video (or parts of it I can do without my multimeter which arrives today). Tomorrow I hope to do some continuity checks, throw in new plugs from the stockpile even though mine are only 6mo old, and actually make sure the ignition parts are all functioning, and another round of battery swapping.

One question I had was around the point gap. My feelers are only .016 and .018, manual calls for .017 I believe. Would it be better to go with .018? Also, the points have the spring and ribbon which connect to the condenser screw contact...does the order I put the condenser contact and those ribbons under that screw (which is impossible to get a screwdriver on btw) make a difference?

Thanks

I’m just pulling the wire and looking for spark. Now that I have the new Belden plug wires they aren’t straight connect so I’ve been putting a spare plug in and laying it on the engine to watch for spark.

I plan to use the multimeter to test the coil and others tomorrow. I swapped the coil with a new one from Napa, but the new one is dented as usual with the way Napa handles their merchandise. I had an NOS condenser and points those were swapped in but again the meter will tell me if they were the problem or continue to be. I just can’t imagine that the starter would pull so much current and still turnover so reliably. Very much hoping next opportunity everything checks out justifying the charged battery swap (for the 8th time) and magically I have spark.

Thanks, yea I have the wire from the battery to coil on a switch. I’m hoping maybe these last couple of tries were suffering from too low battery from trial and error. Just about everything else’s has been disabled or replaced (coil, cap, wires, condenser, rotor, points). My new multimeter will arrive Wednesday which will help further if there’s no luck by then.

Hi All,

I have a hopefully quick question while I try to sort out a lack of spark. If I have only a hot wire going from the battery hot to the coil, the main hot lead from the battery to the starter, and then the grounds for those associated parts, theoretically I should still get spark (assuming timing is also close) by using the button on the back of the starter solenoid to turn over the motor/starter right?

Essentially I’ve disconnected the oil sender, ignition/starter switch, horn relay, and the original hot lead to the coil (because it was frightening).

I was wondering about this again, so was the higher compression head covered in the service article (seems to be the one I have) an option you could elect for/purchase through a dealer, or recommended to be swapped in during a service at some point in 1950?

Interesting. I wasn’t looking for any increase but I certainly won’t turn it down. Just trying to identify exactly what I have here and how it compares with my current 49 22nd deluxe 288.

Attached are some snaps of the new engine, sorry the engine number is very hard to read so I’m trying to get another picture or make it out better.

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Hi there, I have a 288 marked head with an H on it. I have been searching here but can only find the threads about the HC and edmunds heads. Any info about this one? I was told it was higher compression slightly but I was wondering how much and any info about specs/tuning for getting it going.

Thanks!

That works for me, i supplemented my ailing 288 with chemical magic to get me through the winter. I suppose spring is as good a time as any to try my hand at swapping an engine. I’m interested in the 288 and not goodies so I’d be happy to complete your deal if it’s a usable 288.

Hi there Wat. I could really use a good 288 for my 49. Let me know if you have any ability to get either to Massachusetts.

Thanks all, I’ve retorqued according to the procedure, not enough miles/usage to do it the 5th time yet. The gasket is on otherwise I’d use the plywood technique, it’s not coming back off now. I will try a thorough check of the heater and maybe rig up a bypass valve, though I would think this much water loss in relatively short drives under 10 miles through a heater core would be noticeable.I think I’ll be using a ceramic sealer hoping for more time until I can afford an engine swap or a metal stitching repair/sleeve and valve. Unfortunately both of those will likely not make sense value wise. Buying another running 22nd is the smarter path but I’m going to have a hard time letting go of this car that I’ve poured so much of myself into.