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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

From what you've said it would certainly seem like your issue has something to do with the distributor. If your car was firing, but not starting it was obviously firing and something changed, which doesn't seem to be accident related.

Are you trying to start it now with the ignition switch bypassed, that is coil wired directly to the battery? If still not spark then seems to me that it has to be your coil or your distributor. Maybe that somewhat delicate wire on the points? Did wires get taken off and accidentally put back on incorrectly? Maybe something got hot and burnt out while trying to start it?

Because it was recently running, not a car that's been sitting for 5 years, I don't think plugs or plug wires would be your issue. Maybe the wire from the distributor to the coil? Maybe something shorting out?

I'll bet it is something simple................finding it not so simple.

Maybe post some pics and somebody will see something that you're missing.

Maybe insurance will cover the cost of getting it running again? It ran before it was hit and now it doesn't.

Good luck!

You might check to see if one of the weights in the distributor have come off their post and are shorting to the case. This can happen by the violent shock in some sorts of accidents. It happened on Miss Prudence from just simply wear over 70 years~! Ernie in Arizona

Thanks Ernie, that’s interesting about the weights. I’m a bit afraid of further exploratory surgery into the dizzy… but I might try to check it out or at least look for evidence.

I couldn’t get out to the car in daylight today, but the meter did arrive and I tested some things I swapped. Interesting results. My condenser was toast almost completely. My king lead was showing continuity on the wire itself but the fold over connectors had nothing. Hopefully this increases the chances that when I put the fully charged battery in it’ll spark away. Anyone want to place a bet?

Limited time again today, but still no spark. I briefly could try out the meter and got some strange results. It seemed to show continuity with the points both open and closed. Maybe it was user error on the new meter as I’ve not used one myself before. Also the condenser installed was showing nothing on the 20 setting. Hopefully I’ll get some more time for troubleshooting tomorrow.

Have a helper take a picture of where you have the leads to test the continuity.

So I got the car started and in the driveway thankfully. It’s still hard starting but I swapped out the condenser again with a known good one, and set the point gap closer to .018. Started getting spark again and eventually it fired. I may have a manifold leak somewhere because it’s starting like it’s sucking air, and benefitting from pumps of the throttle to squirt fluid in. I also think my timing is advanced for its condition, it seems like the engine is hitting compression strokes when trying to start and then not turning over smoothly.

Can someone remind me what to loosen to rotate the distributor (Autolite 4502b) to retard the timing just slightly and see if starting improves? I think my brother did it last time and I don’t want to throw the whole thing off by loosening the wrong thing and trying to turn it.

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On that type of distributor I believe you do it by loosening the screw at the side bracket in the forefront of your photo. If you clean it a bit, you’ll even see increments on it.

Ok great that means this one right should be circled in red? I appreciate the help, all this stuff is fairly “on the fly” so I get in my head about trying it or not, but after reading some other posts I’m pretty convinced part of the start issues is being too advanced. Well that and all the cracks and issues with the block and now probably manifolds. Maybe if the manifold is cracked I’ll rename her to The Cracken, until I get the new engine and goodies in at least!

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Yes, that’s it and need be loosened only enough to make the adjustment. Before trying to time it, look around for any vacuum leaks, especially in the advance diaphragm. On the exhaust leak, it could be something as simple as the exhaust pipe gasket but wherever it is, it shouldn’t be difficult to locate by listing or by hand - feeling near the seams for any extra puffs without getting burned in the process. You may even be able to locate it visually by adjacent discoloration.

This type of distributor also has a separate external ground wire at the bracket which holds the advance so be sure it’s intact.