1968 Mustang Eleanor Project E3

[NickT916]

i wasnt able to do much work to my other project, but im almost done with this E3 project, before i can continue my E4 project, thought id post a few pictures of this thing

[NickT916]

attempt at start Eleanor. coil not creating spark to the distributor. I tried different coil, same thing, when im turning the engine, positive side of the coil is getting power, but what should be making the coil to spark, the MSD box? or the rotation of the distributor? GRRrrr, have no idea what to check, electronics are not my friend...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/T_U2BWemPFc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/T_U2BWemPFc</a> (External Embedding Disabled)

[NickT916]

the coil spark wire might have been loose, seems like it didnt want to snap in to place before, i had to bend the piece a little, for it to fit in snug into the coil, i then jumped the wife from the MSD that connects to the Distributor and when i disconnect the jumper it gave me a strong spark, i will have to double check everything else tomorrow and give it another shot

[Kevin O]

It sounds like that wire might have been loose.   You also want to make sure you have really strong grounds on everything.. the distributor, MSD box, etc.   Don't trust crimp connectors, and do the "wiggle test" with a test light.. test each connector while wiggling the connector to make absolutely sure there is continuous ground.   Man, we got burned by loose connectors in the past wasting tons of other diagnostic time.     Keep us posted, and good luck!

[NickT916]

how does Distributor gets ground, just being mounted to the block? or from the 2 wires that are connected to the MSD box?

I am able to get spark from the coil now, i connected a spark plug to the coil wire and grounded it, and it sparks during cranking, however, when coil wire is connected to the distributor cap, it does not send spark to the spark plug wires, could this be maybe if distributor is not gounded good enough to the block?

[Kevin O]

What distributor are you using?    Most MSD units have a 3 pin connector on them, 2 for signal and one ground.   Your video sure sounds like no spark. 

[NickT916]

What distributor are you using?&nbsp; &nbsp; Most MSD units have a 3 pin connector on them, 2 for signal and one ground.&nbsp; &nbsp;Your video sure sounds like no spark.&nbsp;

i was having some issues with getting spark from the coil and not getting spark, i found a bad connection at the firewall, so i rewired and made new connectors. It was to late to try to start the engine tonight, but i gave it a crank and timing gun flashed on the coil wire. Im hoping all is good tomorrow and i will have spark going to the spark plugs... its a bit tricky, usually this stuff is somewhat simple, but there is always something LOL

[Kevin O]

Electrical problems can be tricky, but we have learned to OVER GROUND everything!   Especially on a car that has new paint and all new stuff... sometimes the new crimp connectors don't function properly.   New paint makes it hard to ground.   Test and check 'em all with a light and the wiggle test, you'll be surprised to find a connection that works perfectly in one position may fail just by moving the wire an inch or so.   Let's hope today's your day!

[NickT916]

Basically what i gathered is this, when i disconnect the coil wire from distributor, connect spark plug to it and ground it, and also connect timing gun to it, i get a spark as i should, also the timing gun flashes, but when i connect the coil wire to the distributor, and connect timing gun to the coil wire, it does not flash, so the distributor is not getting the ground. Im assuming the distributor gets its ground from the MSD ignition box, since it only has 2 wires going to the distributor. MSD box gets its ground from a direct negative from the battery tho, and that is good, could it possibly be a faulty MSD box?

[Kevin O]

Still need a little more info here..

What engine?   What distributor, stock?  Points or electronic?     Is your setup wired just like the image you scanned and posted?   

[NickT916]

engine 427W, MSD elect with magnetic pick up, wired exactly like the image.

I think the problem is now solved, its a bit late to fire it up, but first i had key on wire back connection at the firewall, that was fixed, then coil was sparking but distributor not sending the spark to the plugs, i checked the distributor for resistance and it came at around 560 ohms, which is about what it should be, i checked everything else, including jumping the MSD ignition box to test it and it functioned as it should, so everything was fine and tested as it should, but after wasting so much time, it ended up as simple as the distributor being about 1/4 inch off from where it should be. I dont know if i moved it doing some other wiring or something, because it wasnt tightened all the way, so i can adjust it later, or maybe during cranking it shifted a bit. Since it was off a bit, a spark was to far to reach the prons, and would not make any contact. After double checking the TDC again during the compression up, i made sure everything else was fine, and all of the wires were connected in order... if it wont start friday, i wont have a clue what it is, because EVERYTHING was checked gosh!!

[NickT916]

Shes alive

[Kevin O]

Congrats!  Post up a video of it running!

[NickT916]

here we go , thank you for your help! everything seems great, U joints and suspension nipples still need to be greased, muffler tips secured and it will be ready for a test drive )))  hopefully in a few days.


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/1kLiCc5M8W4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/1kLiCc5M8W4</a> (External Embedding Disabled)

[Kevin O]

Awesome!   Looks and sounds great, Nick!   Great job, and thanks for sharing it with us!