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Recently had a no start problem that took me a while to figure out. Figured I'd post the solution to save someone else a few gray hairs.

Car ran fine when it was last started. It refused to start recently.

Plenty of fuel, plugs were wet, hot blue/white spark to all plugs. Compression was 95 - 100 psi on all cylinders.
Cranked for a while without even a cough, then a loud
backfire.

Brought #1 up on TDC compression to check timing mark on flywheel. Nothing wrong here.
Connected timing light to check #1 and timing was way off, almost 180 degree's on the flywheel.

Removed distributor to check things out, and heard a "thunk" when the distributor was tilted. Removed breaker plate to check mechanical advance. Spring had popped off the post the advance weight pivots on. Reconnected the spring, put things back together and tried to fire her up.

Nothing.....And the ignition timing for #1 was still way off, almost 180 degrees on the flywheel.

Took the distributor apart again to check things out and noticed a small skuff mark on one of the advance weights.

This got me thinking bad thoughts, problems with the distributor drive gear or shaft running from the distributor drive gear to the distributor. Pulled the shaft running from the drive gear to the distributor, nothing seemed twisted. Couldn't check the distributor driver gear, the only way to get to this is to remove the block from the crankcase.

Checked the distributor drive on the bottom of the distributor that connects to the shaft going down to the distributor drive gear and the drive was tight on the shaft and the pin that goes thru the shaft was also tight.

I then gently tapped on the bottom of the distributor shaft and the shaft moved. Put the distributor in a small press and gently applied pressure to the shaft. The shaft pressed right out of the drive, even though it was pinned and the pin was tight in the drive.

When I removed the drive from bottom of the distributor, the pin that was supposed to lock it to the distributor shaft had sheared, which allowed the distributor shaft to rotate, throwing the ignition timing off.

Here's what I think happened. The spring on the mechanical advance popped off and when I tried to start the car one of the advance weights jammed against the distributor body causing the pin on the bottom of the distributor drive to shear. The sheared pin was still tight enough against the shaft to spin the distributor shaft as the engine was cranked, although with improper timing.

A hearty "well done" on that one. Goes to show the benefits of being methodical, observant, and logical. Thanks for the good lesson.

Thanks Ross,

Some may question the logical and observant, but I will agree with you on the methodical.

Dave

This reminds me of the time the distributor in my 115C failed. the lobe shaft came undone from the base that has the two pins for the weight springs. After I got the car home I opened the hood, took off the distributor cap and could twist the rotor. Not a lot of mental processing involved, just started checking things, easy stuff first. It too was an easy fix after acquiring a spare parts distributor from the Flackmaster. These lovely old cars will provide challenging opportunities.

(o[]o)

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JW,

Maybe that's why we enjoy them so much, because they can be a challenge to keep on the road.

"Ask the man who takes care of one"

Dave